DAVIE, Fla. - Suspended Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams hopes to get reinstated by the National Football League and get traded to the Atlanta Falcons, agent Lee Steinberg said Thursday night.
Williams, who was suspended last year for violating the league's substance abuse policy after failing his third drug test, said although he wishes to return to the Dolphins, with whom he posted more than 1,700 yards rushing in 2002, he would now rather play for the Atlanta Falcons and, particularly, with quarterback Michael Vick.
"My mind, after spending many days doing yoga, is telling me that Miami is the place to me," Williams said in an interview with ESPN's Sean Salisbury Friday morning. "My heart, though, is saying that Atlanta is my new home, dude."
Williams compared the two teams, stating that while they are equal on paper -- both working under first-year coaches next season, it's the quarterback position that's making him lean toward Atlanta.
"Don't get me wrong, I've spoken with both Daunte Culpepper and Joey Harrington, and they're great people," Williams said. "But Michael Vick, now he's another story.
"I mean, what am I going to do the night before the game with Joey - play the piano? At least with Mike (Vick), we can hang out, relax and smoke and do some yoga and talk a little philosophy the night before a big game," Vick continued, giggling uncontrollably, evidently amused by his own joke.
Williams admits, however, that talking philosophy with Vick might be difficult, as the quarterback tends to mumble and mispronounce words -- one of the many reasons the Falcons have been plagued with numerous false start penalties since Vick became the starter.
Williams' comment came a week after Vick reportedly was detained at Miami International Airport for carrying a water bottle that contained substances "consistent with marijuana," league sources said.
Although he was exonerated of any wrong doing, a shadow still casts over Vick, as he never publicly denied that he, much like many other NFL and NBA players, smokes pot.
Sports analysts, however, say his actions speak for themselves.
"I think it's pretty clear," said NBC play-by-play announcer Al Michaels. "Firstly, he's from Hampton, Virginia. Who doesn't smoke there? Secondly, it's evident that he's too lazy to watch films and learn the playbook. What makes a multi-million dollar quarterback that lazy? Pot."
Michaels also attributed Vick's poor passing game as a sign that he smokes, as well as the fact that, in November, Vick made inappropriate gestures at fans after the Falcons lost at home to the New Orleans Saints.
"My first reaction when I saw what he did was, 'Oh, my God, what is he smoking?' -- then I realized the answer to my own question," Michaels said.
Vick, who was reportedly seen walking out an Atlanta 7-Eleven Thursday night with a bucket of fried chicken, several bags of potato chips and two cases of Coca-Cola, said while he is honored Williams wants to play with him and for the Falcons, he doesn't think it would be a good idea.
"I mean -- no matter what, I still have a commitment to the Falcons," he said. "The last thing the Falcons need is for the both of us to test positive, then they'll be without a quarterback and a running back, and we'd end up playing in Canada. Wait, is pot legal in Canada?"
Although the League refused to comment on the banter the two players exchanged, a source said an investigation is pending.
"It's high time we put a stop to marijuana use in the NFL," the source said. "The NFL does not put up with drug use. We may put up with wife beaters like Randy McMichael, homophobes and anti-Semites like Jeremy Shockey and crybabies like Eli Manning, but never drug users. No, sir!"
