Miami Dolphins Ricky Williams has deeper appreciation for the game than most

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/football/miami-dolphins/story/666115.html

Miami Dolphins Ricky Williams has deeper appreciation for the game than most

By JEFF DARLINGTON
Miami Herald

At a jade factory in Thailand, where the game of football had no business entering a man's mind, Dolphins running back Ricky Williams saw something that brought him back.

It was a chess set, a beautiful one. And Williams knew someone who would treasure it.

On the other side of the world, weeks later, one of football's legends received a gift from a friend, a person no one had heard from in some time. Jim Brown, the greatest running back to play the game, was touched.

''It was unbelievable,'' Brown said. ``Ricky didn't just buy a chess set. That set had meaning. For him to think about me, when he was going through all of the things he was going through and being where he was, that felt really, really great.''

There have been times when it would have been easy to assume Williams' mind was as far away from this sport as it was from his body; times when it seemed he didn't appreciate the integrity and history of a game he had been so gifted to play.

This might be the most misunderstood aspect of Williams' complex soul.

''He still has football within him, and he always has,'' said Earl Campbell, one of the best power running backs in the game's history and a mentor to Williams. ``This game will never leave him. Never.''

You see, Williams doesn't just play football. He also provides one of the strongest connections between the game's past and its present, a quality easily confirmed with the old-school running backs Williams so genuinely admires.

He still talks to O.J. Simpson, Brown, Campbell and many others. He still cares about the lessons they can teach him.

''When you have a sense of history, you feel more supported,'' Williams said. ``If an orphan grows up without knowing their grandparents or their parents, they might feel lost. But if you have a strong connection to that past, it allows you to have a sense of foundation.''

COPYING THE GREATS

John Bianco, the sports information director at the University of Texas, recalls how often Williams would come into his office during his senior year looking for game tapes of running backs from past eras, such as Gale Sayers and Walter Payton.

Bianco once loaned Williams a VHS copy of Payton's career highlights, called Pure Payton. Williams immediately became enamored.

''Minutes before every game during his senior year, Ricky would watch those highlights just to get his juices going,'' Bianco said. ``You might not know it when you look at him, but he's a throwback player. That's why he appreciates those guys.''

In the early biography Ricky Williams: Dreadlocks to Ditka, Williams said he noticed a difference in his performance during games -- specifically road games -- when he didn't have the chance to watch tapes.

Watching Barry Sanders and Tony Dorsett, Williams said, ``affects me subconsciously because I watch the film and then try to visualize how I can copy some of those things on the football field.''

Copying things off the football field has been important, too.

Williams' appreciation for those players extends well beyond the end zone. His relationship with Brown is unique. Although an obvious admirer of his athletic ability, Williams also liked to listen to Brown talk about every other aspect of the game.

''I want to be a good football player, and I think you have to look at what people have done before you to put things into perspective,'' Williams said. ``But the game has evolved. I look at my great-grandparents, and I think they did wonderful things, but they lived in a different time. So, instead, I try to take some of their principles.''

TAKING ACTION

After Brown and Williams met at a photo shoot for a Sports Illustrated cover in 1999, Williams researched Brown's life, including his role as a social activist.

In a gesture that sticks with Brown today, Williams quietly donated $100,000 to the legend's foundation, Amer-I-Can, which, according to its website, offers a life-management curriculum and social support and services to underserved populations and cities.

Williams' gesture, of course, was as much about the man as the cause itself. Brown has a sense of this respect and admiration, which has made him evaluate the role he intended to serve in Williams' life.

''What I try to be for him is someone that will never betray him, someone that he can trust,'' Brown said. ``I try to put myself in that position rather than be some great advisor. I don't want to just give him all of this great advice.

``Advice is cheap. Consistency is what some people need.''

It is that role, however, that led to an interesting development in their relationship when Williams abruptly retired in 2004. Brown said he was disappointed by Williams' decision.

''To be very honest with Ricky, I thought he was making a mistake,'' Brown said. ``I thought it was too soon, that he should establish himself more in football, save a lot of money and then make a decision about what he wanted to do.''

But Brown still believed he wasn't there to tell him what to do -- he was there only to be a loyal friend if Williams wanted him to be.

But did he have some obligation to tell Williams that he believed his decision was a huge mistake? Brown said it was a difficult choice, but he stood firm in his role.

''Anyone that's willing to make a decision and live with it, they have a right to do it,'' Brown said. ``So, no, I didn't try to tell him to stay in football because I don't know that football could have satisfied him at that time.

``He probably had to go through the experiences he's gone through to come back and even appreciate football.''

For months after he left, Williams never spoke to anyone involved in the sport. He said he lost nearly every mental tie to the game during his travels, although it still isn't something he regrets.

WHAT DRIVES RICKY?

Eventually, however, the thoughts came back. His friendship and respect for Brown never faded, which brought him back to that jade factory in Thailand. When he bought Brown the chess set, it might have been the first great revelation -- even if no one could predict it at the time -- that Williams' football spirit would eventually drive him back to the game.

Some can say it is money that caused Williams to find a new sense of motivation recently. Some can say it is family and fans. Both might be true.

However, deep within Williams' mind, where very few have been able to reach, it seems there remains an admiration for the game's history and its great players. That is what fuels his desire to return to an elite level.

People from his past, such as Brown, said it is time for Williams to ''make the most of this new opportunity,'' a sentiment that should be as motivating as any other.

''This game is important to Ricky, and where he is now in this game is important to him,'' Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. ``And maybe, as a result, he'll be a part of that history at some point, too.''

Those who came before him are hoping that's the case.

[Ghost350z]

Exelent post!!!!

[DolFan619]

Exelent post!!!!

  I thought it was a pretty good article.  Especially the part where he likes to watch film of guys like Tony Dorsett, Walter Payton, and Barry Sanders right before games.  Good stuff!

[Banshee]

Thanks for this!

[Rick]

  Very Cool article!!!