ASSOCIATED PRESS
Miami's Ricky Williams said he wasn't very comfortable playing for the Dolphins last season, when he won the league rushing title with 1,853 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. Now the quirky running back says he feels a part of the team.
Williams feeling
at home in Miami
MIAMI >> Multipurpose threat Ricky Williams does his own shopping and cooking, and he deftly maneuvers down the aisle at a grocery store on hip South Beach seeking ingredients for his latest favorite dish -- duck stew.
He's at the celery, cuts back to the tomatoes and heads for the onions. Other customers pay little attention as the reigning NFL rushing champion fills his basket.
"Where I go, people are like, 'Whatever,' " Williams says. "People on the beach don't really watch football."
That's fine with Williams, who has long been ambivalent about celebrity. Perhaps it's no coincidence his career blossomed as he learned to blend in at home on South Beach and at work with the Miami Dolphins.
ASSOCIATED PRESS / FEBRUARY 2003
Ricky Williams posed with University of Hawaii mascot Vili Fehoko after scoring two touchdowns and winning the Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player trophy at Aloha Stadium on Feb. 2.
Seated on a stool at his stall between training camp workouts, the New Orleans Saints' top draft pick in 1999 looks around the Dolphins' locker room and says he's more confident and at ease than in 2002.
"I never felt comfortable here last year, really," he says. "Everything you are is from your history, and I had no history here, so it was kind of hard to feel comfortable. This year I feel this is home. This is my locker room. Before I wasn't a Dolphin. I was a Saint who was in a Dolphins uniform for a year.
"Now I can say I'm a Dolphin."
Williams broke nine franchise records in his first year with Miami, when he rushed for 1,853 yards, caught passes for 363 and scored 17 touchdowns.
By rushing for 100 yards 10 times last year, Williams switched the focus from his personal quirks to his physical gifts -- a breathtaking blend of power, speed and stamina.
"He is," says Dolphins tackle Mark Dixon, "the best player in professional football."
Williams no longer recoils from such superlatives, nor the expectations they create. He's still soft-spoken and frequently turns down interview requests, but his Web-site entries (on run-ricky-run.com) may lead the league in length and candor, and he's so comfortable with adulation that he can now drive through the stadium parking lot after a game with his convertible top down.
He's also brazen enough to suggest his best -- 2,000 yards rushing, perhaps? -- is yet to come.
"I wasn't satisfied last year," he says. "You have to keep doing it. It's not a one-year thing. It's a career thing. You pick a career like this, and it's a struggle to stay on top. It's motivation to come out here and work hard every day."
Last season, Williams slimmed down under 240 pounds and erased doubts about his breakaway ability with the four longest gains of his career. Now, thanks to duck stew and other healthy dishes, he's closer to 225.
"You are what you eat," Williams says. "I see a lot of guys around here who have weight problems and they're walking around eating ice cream. I can't think that's going to help them make the team, let alone make their weight."
