Ricky Williams' attorney said he will ask the NFL for reinstatement, but many hurdles -- including more than a year of drug-related suspensions -- remain.
BY JASON COLE
[email protected]
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - If nothing else, the attorney for retired running back Ricky Williams picked a fitting spot to meet with NFL officals and declare he will formally ask the league to reinstate Williams ``as soon as possible.''
On one side of the posh Loews Hotel was the Pacific Ocean, the other side of which is where Williams escaped, camping in Australia or traveling Asia.
On another side was Hotel California, a takeoff on the rock 'n' roll metaphor for hell. That's where the 0-6 Dolphins have been stuck since Williams retired in July, leaving a situation that has festered since.
Now, the question is whether attorney David Cornwell will somehow persuade the league to allow Williams to return this season.
Cornwell said he plans to send a letter to the league shortly regarding reinstatement.
As for Williams, after weeks of travel, including spending many nights in a tent in Australia, he is now taking classes at a college in northern California and wasn't at the meeting.
Based on the reaction of two sources, Williams would be wise to continue his education at this point. Both indicated that Williams, who said he has tested positive for marijuana three times, will be suspended by the league if he is reinstated this season, first for four games then for one year.
CORNWELL'S CASE
That didn't stop Cornwell. He sounded convincing with the media after the one-hour meeting, which included NFL attorneys Dennis Curran and Rapheal Prevot and NFL Players Association executive Stacy Robinson. Cornwell argued that Williams' decision to retire was an emotional reaction to the league's punishing him for a positive drug test from December 2003.
''My position is that given the facts and the circumstances around this test and given the provisions in the NFL drug policy, it would be inappropriate to discipline him in this particular instance,'' said Cornwell, who would only acknowledge the December test.
Williams, Cornwell and Fort Lauderdale attorney Gary Ostrow appealed that test result to the NFL. A decision on the appeal didn't come until after Williams retired in July.
Still, Cornwell said that test was the genesis of Williams' decision to retire. For his part, Williams has given multiple reasons for retiring, among them: because he didn't want to play again and because the Dolphins refused to give him a new contract.
''As things unfolded, the league took a position that we thought was inappropriate and inconsistent with what we thought was going to happen. I was disappointed. Ricky was upset and angry and, as a result, decided he wasn't going to play football,'' Cornwell said.
`EMOTIONAL REACTION'
``This is not a sterile action-reaction environment. This is a human who had a particularly emotional reaction to a set of circumstances.''
Cornwell said that reaction was compounded by a series of ''misunderstandings'' that led to Williams' retiring -- something Williams would not have done otherwise.
Cornwell said the meeting with the NFL executives ``vindicated that there is an opportunity for us to continue discussions and have some appropriate compromise.''
Cornwell, who worked for the NFL for five years, said he hopes that compromise allows Williams to play again this season. Williams still is under contract with the Dolphins, who have won the right to recoup $8.6 million for his leaving the team. That $8.6 million can be recouped regardless of whether Williams comes back to the team.
Curran declined to comment on the meeting other than to acknowledge that it happened.
NFL UNDETERRED
Two sources said the meeting did nothing to change the league's position that Williams faces suspension for the positive tests and a fourth violation of the substance abuse policy because he retired while in the drug program.
League officials also are concerned about the precedent that would be set if Williams were allowed to return this season.
Cornwell acknowledged there is concern about the ''integrity'' of the league's testing program.
According to multiple sources, Williams technically could get around the one-year suspension if he were to wait until July to return. Indeed, Williams likely would be able to play more quickly under such a circumstance.
If he tried to return now, he likely would be suspended four games. Then, upon returning, he would face the year suspension, keeping him out of the NFL until late next season.
If he waits, Williams might face only a four-game suspension, leaving him eligible to play in the fifth week of the season.
Dolphins management has consistently declined to discuss specifics about Williams since he left the team. But players have acknowledged being upset with him. Some of that anger has softened as the team has struggled, with Zach Thomas and Taylor Whitley saying there might be a way for Williams to return.
More likely, however, the Dolphins merely will hope that Williams returns so they can eventually trade him in the offseason or sometime next season.
