Ricky has lunch with the TUNA!!!

Ricky: “I have a calming influence on people.”

By Edgar Thompson | Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 06:00 PM

Looking in tip-top shape and sounding excited about this season, Dolphins running back Ricky Williams is back in his old stomping grounds - Austin, Texas, where he won a Heisman and rushed for more yards than any college running back before him.

The Austin-American Statesman caught up with Williams today for an interview that will appear Thursday in the sports section.

One thing is clear: Williams’ luck seems to be changing.

Instead of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Williams turned down an invitation to spend the day on the lake a couple of weekends ago with Bears running back Cedric Benson.

We all know how that turned out.

But Williams, who has violated the NFL’s drug policy four times, told The Statesman that Benson might not be in trouble if he’d shown up.

“I think if I had come down, things might have worked out a little bit differently,” Williams told the newspaper today. “I find I have a calming influence on people I’m around.

“As a high-level athlete, it’s just something that’s ingrained in me. I always think that if I’m there, things would be different. I can’t say how.”

Williams actually might have diffused the situation. His history of marijuana abuse reeks of irresponsibility, but Williams, who turns 31 next Wednesday, likely would have quelled the 25-year-old Benson’s belligerence.

But for a player on his last chance in the NFL, Williams is lucky he missed out on all the fun. His presence would have raised questions and could have damaged his relationship with Bill Parcells.

Williams said he’s fond of Parcells and had lunch with him last week.

“He’s really different than I expected,” Williams told The Statesman. “It seems to me his greatest joy is developing true friendships with his players, being a mentor and trying to help people, not just in football but in life.”

Williams told the newspaper he was nervous entering his first meeting with Parcells.

Williams said he felt he was the kind of hard-working player Parcells likes. But Williams worried his reputation for off-the-field problems had preceded him.

Instead, Williams said Parcells told him he’d share carries this season with Ronnie Brown.

“I was expecting him not to talk to me at all,” Williams told The Statesman. “I was expecting to get a letter in the mail saying I was going to be a free agent.

“I like (Parcells) more than I thought I would.”

Williams discusses more, so check out the story online later.

Interesting approach from the Tuna. Take Ricky out to lunch. Saban embraced Ricky and had big plans for the guy. Cam didn't speak with him and treated him as garbage.

Now the Tuna is taking him out to lunch. They must really want Ricky to feel welcomed and a part of this team, vs. alienating him. I think Parcells knows he still has a lot more football to go.

Also interesting to see that they plan on splitting carries with Ronnie. Smart. Not good for fantasy footballers out there, but smart, Keep the RB's fresh. With Ronnie coming off the injury and Ricky out of football for 2 years, this is smart.

I am glad to see Parcells taking an interest, I expected Sparano to do it, not Parcells. But that is good.

Maybe Ricky will be good this season and want to stay next year.

Another article I found,

Ricky Williams to play two more years

Ricky Williams, fresh off turning down an interview request with a Herald colleague earlier this week, traveled to Austin, Texas Wednesday for a golf tournament featuring a bunch of Longhorns.

At that event Williams talked to the local newspaper and a couple of local television stations and, in so doing, let everyone in on a little secret: He's playing two more seasons and he's outta here.

Williams, whose contract runs out after 2009, apparently plans to play out that deal and hit the road.

"All professional athletes have to come face to face one day with their professional mortality and finding a way to cope with it," Williams told News 8 Austin. "I've managed that. I have a couple of more years of football left in me and then I'll go off and explore the world after that."

Alrightie then.

Williams is 30 years old -- well into declining age for most NFL running backs -- and it has been a decade since he won the Heisman Trophy. So it could be argued Williams may not have two whole seasons left in him.

But the truth is he carried only six times last year before being injured in his one and only game and he didn't play at all in 2006. So Williams has put very few miles on his legs the last couple of years.

You might remember Williams was suspended after the 2005 season. Certainly Earl Campbell, the dean of Longhorn backs, remembers Williams had problems. But Big Earl believes Williams is over his penchant for flunking drug tests.

"People have problems in life and they get straight," Campbell said at the golf tourney. "[Ricky] got straight ..."

Regardless of whether Williams sees his retirement on the horizon, it is clear the Dolphins have plans for him in 2008. The team hopes to split carries between Williams and Ronnie Brown. But based on the fact Brown is coming off ACL surgery, Williams may actually have to step up as the workhorse early in the season until Brown gets completely comfortable.

I said it once and Ill say it again :)    Ricky will be the starting RB in miami before the season is over and he will have the most rushing yards for the Fins...

I cant wait to be sitting in that stadium again and to be yelling

RUN RICKY RUN