Delayed Honeymoon

There seemed to be an invisible barrier around the dressing cubicle of the New Orleans Saints’ second-year running back. And as the minutes ticked by, it didn’t matter that the awaited audience with the second-year running back had been delayed.

This was high drama.

What was with the white towel draped over his head like a veil?

A veil? It made sense, really. After all, this was the guy who appeared on the cover of a national magazine wearing a white wedding dress.

Suddenly, though, the idle chatter ceased. The veil was dropped and Ricky Williams was ready to speak.

Williams no longer conducts his media briefings through the barrier of a helmet, as he did last season. In fact, he’s traveling lighter off the field these days.

No helmet--and no talk about that contract. And since Sept. 24, no talk about any losses. The Saints lost that day, 21-7 to the Philadelphia Eagles, and haven’t stumbled since, having won five in a row. If they win again Sunday against the Carolina Panthers at Charlotte, N.C., it will be the first time since 1988 they have won six consecutive games.

In Sunday’s 31-15 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Williams tied the team record for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown--five. He has run for eight touchdowns in the last five games.

Last week, against the Arizona Cardinals at Tempe, Ariz., he had nine receptions for 92 yards, both career highs. It was the first time in six games he had not rushed for at least 100 yards.

“Because I’ve had success, people think that everything is different,” Williams said afterward. “But the biggest thing is that I’m the same person, a year older, a year more mature. That’s about it. I’m proud of the way we’re playing. A lot of these people weren’t here last year. It’s the fans’ job to support the team no matter what. They really don’t do that in New Orleans.”

This, clearly, was said before the Saints had returned home for Sunday’s blowout against the 49ers. The giddy bandwagon looked overbooked at the Superdome, the embarrassment of last season’s 3-13 record receding in the rear-view mirror.

One of the victims of that 3-13 season was Mike Ditka, the coach. He was fired. So was Bill Kuharich, the general manager. To get Williams, they had traded the organization’s other 1999 draft choices and the first and third selections in 2000.

Ditka, now with CBS, is matter-of-fact about Williams’ turnaround.

“My life is not about that. I never worried what the critics said,” Ditka said. “We made the decision on what we thought was best for the Saints. . . . I don’t feel justified one way or another. I liked the move a year ago and I like it now.”

Williams was bothered by injuries last season. And as recently as last month, he was nearly scratched from a game against the Atlanta Falcons because of a sore right knee--then was fined $3,500 for missing an appointment with the doctor.

“You can’t do anything unless you are given the opportunity to do it,” Ditka said. “He’s getting the opportunity to do it because of the way they’re playing football. The people who questioned the fact he was a talent are silly. He proved it in college and certainly he’s going to prove it in pro football.

“The man is a great runner of the football. Period.”

Then there was the matter of the onerous contract. Williams signed with Master P’s sports management agency and its managing director, Leland Hardy, negotiated his incentive-laden deal with the Saints.

Williams’ rookie-minimum salary was $175,000 and he hit only one of the 26 incentive categories, increasing last season’s salary by $50,000. (The base for this season is $250,000). Many of the incentives are complicated, some featuring one or two triggering points, and there is a cap of $500,000.

Williams is now represented by Leigh Steinberg, and says he holds no ill will toward Hardy, who has been an advisor to tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams.

“He’s taken a bad rap for my contract,” Williams said.

He paused.

“I’ve taken a bad rap,” he said.

That would be an understatement. This might be the first time a player has been strafed nationwide for not being selfish.

Hardy said the change is “the nature of the business.”

Said Steinberg: “Last season was a cacophony of a whole series of frustrating circumstances. The expectation level was sky-high because he was drafted in exchange for a whole draft. But he had no peers. Rookies tend to be each other’s support group.”

That changed this year with the addition of Chad Morton and Terrelle Smith. Morton, formerly of USC, lives with Williams and they trade tunes downloaded from Napster.

Ditka, who showed support for Williams at the player’s first news conference by wearing a wig of dreadlocks, remains fond of the enigmatic running back and thought he was “naive” last year.

Teammate Keith Mitchell has noticed a difference.

“Ricky, he’s picked it up a lot,” he said. “The chemistry alone, it’s just coming together. He’s talking to other players.”

Williams couldn’t understand what he considered a lack of support from teammates and fans. He’d supported his Chargers in San Diego. Why couldn’t everyone else?

“The Chargers were never really that good when I was growing up,” he said. “No matter what, I was always behind them. I always loved to see them play. That’s what a true fan is. We couldn’t afford to go [when I was little]. As soon as I got older and could afford to, and I could go by myself, I went every week.”

Williams is content to do his own thing--wearing the wedding dress, taking a gamble with an agent out of the NFL’s mainstream, wearing the dreadlocks, the spider web on his left biceps.

There’s a simple explanation for the web tattoo.

“I just always liked Spiderman when I was younger,” he said. “I always wished I could climb walls and walk on the ceiling.”

For now, he’ll stick to running on turf.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BY THE NUMBERS

Ricky Williams has shown improved receiving ability as well as a nose for the end zone in his second NFL season. A look:

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Att Yards Avg TD Rec Yards Fum THROUGH 9 GAMES IN 1999

197 722 3.7 0 18 109 6 THROUGH 9 GAMES IN 2000

232 907 3.9 8 42 381 4

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