Williams tries football again

Back in the Miami Dolphins' backfield Monday, Ricky Williams made all the right moves.First, he showed up. Then he reached the end zone on his first carry, smiled at cheering fans, apologized for leaving the team in the lurch, said he was done with dope and calmly submitted to a media interrogation regarding his surreal one-year retirement. - NFL Football -
One question, the first one, momentarily stumped him, though: Why did he return?"Why? Why? I don't know. I don't know," he said.Uh-oh. This roller-coaster ride still seems a little rickety.Greeted with hugs from teammates and cheers from fans, Williams returned to the Dolphins for their opening training camp practice Monday under new coach Nick Saban. Lining up for his first play since the 2003 season, Williams took a handoff from Gus Frerotte and sprinted 20 yards to the goal line.But there was no defense on the field. Williams is sure to meet stiffer resistance in the weeks to come as he tries to regain favor and reclaim a starting job."Look, we're kind of in the risk-taking business," Saban said. - NFL Football -
"I've talked to the team about it. I think everybody is accepting of his ability and respectful of him as a competitor. I think everybody is anxious to see that he is committed and to evaluate his level of commitment."At a team meeting Sunday after players reported for camp, Williams spoke briefly and apologized for the impact caused by his retirement a year ago last weekend. The Dolphins went into a nosedive and finished 4-12."There were things about life that I wanted to explore outside of football, and I had never had the chance," Williams said at a news conference. "I realize by making that decision, I affected the team in a negative way and upset a lot of fans."I'm very regretful that people were hurt in the process of me doing that. I do realize that to a lot of people it comes off as being very selfish. - NFL Football -
So I do offer an apology to all the people who were negatively impacted."His words of contrition seemed to satisfy teammates, including center Seth McKinney, who a year ago called Williams a quitter."In the team meeting, he did what he had to do," McKinney said. "He's a man about it. We're all being men about it. Nobody is holding any grudges. We all want him back. He's a great player."CARDINALSArizona is moving its training camp from Flagstaff because of a virus outbreak on the Northern Arizona University campus. The team said no decision had been made on where the camp will be located. Players are scheduled to gather Sunday, with workouts beginning next Monday.Team officials said they hoped to identify a new training site today. One potential site is Prescott, where the Cardinals worked out for a week last year and are scheduled to practice from Aug. 24-26. - NFL Football -
"The overwhelming concern obviously was the health and well-being of our team," said Rod Graves, vice president of football operations. "Despite what have been extraordinary efforts on the part of everyone at NAU to accommodate our team, in the end, even the slightest risk of exposure was something we cannot chance."Last week, more than 100 people attending summer camps at the university contracted the highly contagious norovirus, an illness that is not life-threatening but causes flu-like symptoms. - NFL Football -
REDSKINSFifth-round draft pick Robert McCune signed, leaving Washington with three more picks to sign: Third-round selection Manuel White and first-rounders Carlos Rogers and Jason Campbell. Players report for camp Sunday. - NFL Football -
OTHER SIGNINGSJacksonville signed former Virginia running back Alvin Pearman, leaving the team with two unsigned draft picks. ... New England signed offensive lineman Logan Mankins, becoming the first NFL team to sign a player taken in the first round of this year's draft. ... Baltimore signed draft picks Justin Green and Derek Anderson to three-year contracts. ... Detroit signed cornerback Stanley Wilson and quarterback Dan Orlovsky to three-year deals. ... Green Bay signed safety Marviel Underwood and linebacker Brady Poppinga, its two fourth-round picks.ELSEWHEREAlex Smith, the first pick in April's draft, agreed to terms on a six-year, $57 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers. - NFL Football -
Smith will receive a guaranteed $24 million, a lawyer familiar with terms of the deal said on condition of anonymity. ... First-round pick Marlin Jackson wants to join his Indianapolis Colts teammates at training camp Wednesday, and agent Doug Hendrickson is optimistic he can make it happen. ... Chicago GM Jerry Angelo painted a darker picture of contract negotiations with running back Cedric Benson, the fourth pick in the draft. The sides have not spoken since the start of training camp. ... Ray Oldham, 54, a 10-year NFL cornerback who won a Super Bowl ring with the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers, died Saturday in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn. - NFL Football -

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