Starting over: now that his rocky tenure in New Orleans is history, Ricky Williams is itching to get down to business on his new team in Miami - Special report: the moves that will shape 2002

Football Digest, August, 2002 by Barry Wilner

WHEN MIKE DITKA WAS coach of the New Orleans Saints in 1999, he believed Ricky Williams could turn around his franchise. Now Dave Wannstedt, the man who succeeded Ditka as coach of the Chicago Bears in 1993, has placed similar faith in Williams ... on the Miami Dolphins.

Are you with us?

This is a tale of three cities: Chicago, which turned aside both Ditka and Wannstedt; New Orleans, which said goodbye first to Ditka and then to Williams; and Miami, where Wannstedt landed on his feet in 2000 and now will rely on Williams' feet to put the Dolphins over the top.

The March trade sent the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner to the Dolphins for a 2002 first-round choice and a third-rounder in 2003, which could escalate to a first-rounder if Williams rushes for 1,500 yards this year. It's hardly the ransom paid for Williams by Ditka, who traded his entire 1999 draft and two high picks the following year to the Washington Redskins for the opportunity to select the Texas running back. But it's impressive enough, particularly bemuse the Dolphins fully expect Williams to rush for those 1,500 yards and give the team the running attack it has lacked for so long.

"That [1,500 yards] would lead the league and put him in the Pro Bowl, and hopefully put us in the Super Bowl," Wannstedt says. "We've got five or six Pro Bowl players, so you're going to earn your way from a respect standpoint. How can he do that? By showing up with the guys and doing it."

Not since Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Mercury Morris--yes, those championship-winning years in the early 1970s--have the Dolphins relied on the run more than the pass. But that is certain to change with Williams. Sure, Lamar Smith was a serviceable running back who provided some balance to Miami's offense the past couple of seasons. But when he's healthy, Williams is in an entirely different league.

However, we stress the words when he's healthy. Despite being a solid 5'11" and 235 pounds, Williams has sustained a slew of injuries that have prevented him from maximizing his potential in the NFL. The most notable was a broken left ankle he suffered in 2000 on the very carry that brought his season rushing total to 1,000 yards.

Still, he did average 271 carries per season during his three years in New Orleans. "For the number of touches he gets, nothing unusual jumped out at us," Wannstedt says of Williams' injury situation.

Just as significantly, nothing negative jumped out at Wannstedt in the conversations he had with Williams prior to the trade. Those talks began on a flight from New Orleans to Miami during Super Bowl week, when Williams was headed for a vacation and Wannstedt was headed back to work. It was a chance meeting--Williams calls it "fate"--but during their chat, Wannstedt says he noticed Williams' "maturity" and became convinced the running back "had what it takes to be an outstanding player in this league for a long time."

"Being we were giving up a No. 1 pick, we treated this like we were drafting the guy," Wannstedt adds. "We went all the way back to his coaches and administrators at Texas. And we spoke with people from the Saints. You cover as many bases as you can and then make a decision. We felt everything was a very workable situation."

In his first season with the Saints in '99, Williams was aloof, often conducting interviews with his helmet on and rarely hanging out with his teammates. It didn't help that he was expected to be the Saints' savior.

"They made a spectacle of me," Williams says. "And at the time, I didn't understand why; I didn't think that I deserved it. I was younger then. And I think now, three years into the league, I understand the game, I understand the media more, I am happy to cooperate, and I am happy to play football. I understand the NFL as a business, as a game, as a way to pay the bills. I just understand the whole thing now."

Part of the reason Williams now has a better handle on things is that he is taking the drug Paxil after being diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder. Paxil has helped relieve Williams of his paranoia about crowds and interviewers, and he now contributes without distress when involved in group discussions.

"All I wanted to do was play football," Williams says. "The outside stuff, it was never my idea. But I am the kind of guy where, whatever, I am just going to go along with it. And that's the way things went.

"I don't have any regrets about anything I did because it prepared me for this point, and that's why I know I am going to come in here and help this team win."

Winning is something the Dolphins already have been doing frequently under Wannstedt. After taking over for Jimmy Johnson in 2000, Wannstedt reached the playoffs in each of his first two seasons at the helm. However, he failed to

demonstrate much staying power come January.

Wannstedt has a strong belief in his defense, particularly the secondary, and remains confident in quarterback Jay Fiedler's ability to manage a game. But the coach also knows the Dolphins have been hurt by a lack of playmakers surrounding Fiedler.