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  • #1

    USC still unsure of WR Williams' status

    Aug. 24, 2004
    By Dennis Dodd
    SportsLine.com Senior Writer
    Tell Dennis your opinion!


    It's looking less likely that USC receiver Mike Williams will play in Saturday's season opener against Virginia Tech.

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    Williams' eligibility status remained up in the air Tuesday, four days before the season begins. He is attempting to regain his amateur status after declaring for the NFL draft, hiring an agent and accepting money from his representative.

    Coach of the No. 1 Trojans, an optimistic Pete Carroll, said on Tuesday there is a "possibility" that Williams could still play in the opener. However, time is running out.

    USC faxed what is thought the be the final documents needed by the NCAA regarding Williams on Tuesday. The school now awaits the NCAA's decision.

    A school source considered Williams' chance at reinstatement at "50-50 at best."

    "It's been so frustrating of late that things have not been able to culminate to an end," Carroll said. "We'll just sit on it and see what happens."

    With him, USC gets another Heisman Trophy candidate (quarterback Matt Leinart already is considered the favorite) added to its already powerful lineup. Without him, the Trojans will have to move on with a largely inexperienced, but talented, set of receivers.

    USC already will be missing starting tailback Hershel Dennis, who is indefinitely suspended for a violation of team rules.

    While there is no "drop dead" date for Williams to be able play this week, the team leaves for the Washington D.C. area on Thursday. Presumably, Williams could hop on a flight as late as Friday, if he is cleared.

    "The NCAA has been so methodical about this," Carroll said. "I'm not surprised it's gone this long, just by the feel of it."

    Williams has been held out of practice the past two weeks as USC put in the game plan for Virginia Tech. Most likely, there are three possible outcomes to his future:

    He could be declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA;
    He could be reinstated by the NCAA;
    He could be reinstated by the NCAA after being suspended for one or more games.
    The 6-foot-5, 230-pound rising junior has been one of the most dominant receivers in the country the past two years. The Tampa, Fla., product caught 95 passes for 1,314 yards and 16 touchdowns last year in helping lead the Trojans to a co-national championship. He was projected as a first-round choice after declaring for the draft.

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    Williams declared for the NFL draft after Maurice Clarett's legal challenge briefly opened the door to players less than three years out of high school. The NFL retained its three-year rule because of a stay by an appellate court. A desperate last-chance appeal by Clarett to the Supreme Court was fruitless.

    After the NFL defended its rules, Williams became ineligible in the NCAA's eyes because he had hired an agent and accepted money. Since then he has declared his intention to gain back his eligibility.

    Complicating matters is the fact that Williams dropped out of school last semester. He will not only have to win reinstatement of his amateur status, but also get a progress-toward-a-degree waiver from the NCAA; Williams did not return to school until the second summer-school session.

    "The thing that struck me so hard is that he jumped the gun," said sports law expert Gary Roberts, deputy dean of the Tulane Law School. "He took some very bad advice in declaring and signing with an agent.

    "He knew the Clarett thing would be appealed. He could have and should have waited. He could have publicly said, 'If Clarett prevails, I'm going to come out, too.' He not only declared his eligibility for the NFL Draft, he did everything he needed to do to get ineligible."

    Meanwhile, USC will move on, playing as many as six true freshmen against the Hokies on Saturday night at FedEx Field. That includes 6-5, 195-pound receiver Dwayne Jarrett from New Brunswick, N.J., who has been called a Johnson clone.

    "To be honest, I don't think it would change too much," Leinart said of Williams' absence. "Having him in the offense does create a little change. He's a big time playmaker. He makes plays all over the field. But we've got the same playbook. We do things without him. ... We haven't tweaked the system at all."
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  • #2
    Re: USC still unsure of WR Williams' status

    Originally posted by DJRamFan(Dennis Dodd)
    "He knew the Clarett thing would be appealed. He could have and should have waited."
    Another example of stupidity getting in the way of common sense. Stupidity on the part of the NCAA for not taking its student interests to heart; stupidity on the part of Deputy Dean Roberts for suggesting that Williams made a strategic mistake in trusting that a female judge's assessment would not be challenged; and, stupidity for Dodd to give publicity to the Dean's establishment ideology.

    Williams was just trying to earn a livelihood as soon as legitimately possible. Even if Williams assumed that any decision would be appealed, he risked not getting to the NFL a year earlier had the lower court's decision been upheld and he did not abide by the conditional entry structure the NFL put in place after Clarett's team gained an early legal and morally defensible ruling.

    Deputy Dean Roberts should be well aware that the NFL is in moral breach and operates under indefensible monopolistic practices. He knows fully well that the cultural pendulium has already shifted and it is only a matter of time when NFL draft restrictions are over-thrown. He should have been on the side of common sense and argued that Williams should be allowed reentry into the NCAA immediately.

    They are now penalizing Williams for having believed in the justice system actually dispensing justice. Ooops, sorry kid, you're not old enough to know the truth about the inertia of the system. And Roberts defends it while he gives it all a cloak of respectability. Oh, maybe the King is wearing no clothes and we are all supposed to believe what the king's cronies parrot - "It's the kid's fault." "It's the kid's fault."

    Rubbish. Again.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: USC still unsure of WR Williams' status

      halt everything that is turning in this solar system. I actually agree 100% with adarian.

      I swear, Mars and Jupiter must be aligned.

      LOL

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: USC still unsure of WR Williams' status

        Originally posted by txramsfan
        I swear, Mars and Jupiter must be aligned.
        ... then peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars. This is the dawning of the age of ...

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: USC still unsure of WR Williams' status

          The NCAA is a mess anyway. They strike down on one thing, then let someone else slide and offer contradictory penalties. My main beef is the differences in eligibility for the four major sports where being drafted doesn't have an effect for hockey and baseball, but it does for basketball and football.

          Comment

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          • DJRamFan
            Heisman hopeful Williams keeps Memphis running smoothly
            by DJRamFan
            Aug. 31, 2005
            By Dennis Dodd
            CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
            Tell Dennis your opinion!





            MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- So what does the most famous man in Memphis -- the big timer with his own stock car -- drive around town?

            "A '97 Blazer," DeAngelo Williams said. "It has more dings. ... The windshield wipers don't work. I have more bumps and bruises. ..."

            Williams might drive a junker, but in Memphis the senior tailback also drives the bus, the one that leads Tigers football out of anonymity.


            DeAngelo Williams is among the best football players Memphis has ever produced. (AP)
            That's no small feat here in the middle of SEC country, where Memphis football isn't even the biggest thing on campus. It might start with what was arguably the biggest offseason story in college football -- a 1/24th-scale model car that sprung from the mind of Memphis sports information director Jennifer Rodriguez.

            Her husband, a big NASCAR fan, collects car models. She got the idea while trying to think of a unique way to kick off Williams' Heisman candidacy. Rodriguez came up with the vision for the 8½-inch by 2-inch, blue and gray No. 20 car -- made in China, for ages 3 and up -- to hype the nation's leading all-purpose runner last year.

            But a fun idea became much more than that. The cars became this summer's Beanie Babies. Everyone had to have one. They were mailed to Heisman voters as a promotion. Fans and collectors jumped on them like they were the last helicopters out of Saigon.

            It has become a lesson in economics. The original supply of 3,500 cars priced at $35 were snatched up by boosters and fans long ago. The school has made at least a $40,000 profit. The car was officially a collector's item before Monday's season opener against Ole Miss.

            In July, Memphis president Shirley Raines needed six more. A cocktail party acquaintance offered athletic director R.C. Johnson $150 for one. Cars have begun showing up on eBay for $200.

            "We're out of them," Johnson said.

            It became a lesson in guerilla marketing. The trend among SIDs lately is that less is more. All the Heisman T-shirts, postcards and bumper stinkers were thought to turn off the media. Why waste the money? Major programs market themselves by being on TV each week.

            Will the car make any difference in the Heisman race? Yes and no. It might get Williams a trip to New York as a finalist but the odds against any player from a non-BCS school winning the hardware are huge.

            Memphis isn't on TV each week and remains overshadowed by John Calipari's basketball program. But maybe that's not the point. The car got Williams and the Tigers mentioned on national television, in major newspapers and, well, on every major sports Internet...
            -09-01-2005, 07:26 PM
          • DJRamFan
            Mike Williams back at USC...for class
            by DJRamFan
            Associated Press
            LOS ANGELES -- Wide receiver Mike Williams is enrolled at Southern California for summer school, but there's no word from the NCAA on whether he will be allowed to play college football next season.


            Williams, who was kept out of the NFL draft by the courts, starts school next week, school spokesman Tim Tessalone said Thursday.


            But Tessalone said the university hasn't heard from the NCAA on Williams' status.


            "It's ultimately the NCAA's decision," he said.


            Williams said the classes were more important than football.


            "I really would hate to go out there and just be gung-ho football and then the NCAA comes knocking two or three weeks later, and the next thing you know they bagged the whole deal," Williams said in a radio interview on KMPC.


            The All-America sophomore left USC shortly after the spring semester began.


            He hired an agent and followed Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett in declaring his eligibility for the NFL draft after a federal judge ruled that younger players could turn pro.


            But that ruling was stayed, and the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City decided May 24 that the NFL has the right to determine when players can enter the league.


            The NFL bars players from turning pro until they are three years out of high school, and Clarett and Williams each have been out of high school for just two years.
            -06-28-2004, 01:29 PM
          • txramsfan
            I hope Mike Williams gets reinstated
            by txramsfan
            He was just chasing the dream we all wish we had. Then when the court system screwed him, not necessarily Clarett, the NCAA committee should let him back in.
            -06-07-2004, 03:28 PM
          • ZigZagRam
            SHOCKING: Ricky Williams Retires!
            by ZigZagRam
            Pre-camp decision stuns Dolphins

            ESPN.com news services
            Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams has told the team he plans to retire after just five NFL seasons, The Miami Herald reported on its Web site early Sunday morning.

            "He wants to get on with his life, wants to move on to bigger and better things," Herald reporter and ESPN commentator Dan Le Betard told SportsCenter.

            According to the Herald's report, Williams wants to travel the world and is tired of the demands and restraints of a professional football career.

            "I just don't want to be in this business anymore," Williams told the paper. "I was never strong enough to not play football, but I'm strong enough now. I've considered everything about this. Everyone has thrown every possible scenario at me about why I shouldn't do this, but they're in denial. I'm happy with my decision.

            "I'm finally free. I can't remember ever being this happy."

            According to Le Batard, the Dolphins are stunned by the news and members of the organization are still trying to talk Williams out of his decision, one the Herald says should be finalized this week when Williams faxes his retirement papers to the league.

            Williams was scheduled to make $3.7 million in each of the 2004 and '05 seasons, and $11.25 million in 2006, ESPN.com's John Clayton reported.

            Last season, Williams rushed for 1,372 yards on 392 carries, averaging 3.5 yards. He has rushed for 1,000 or more yards in four of his five NFL seasons with the New Orleans Saints and the Dolphins, tallying 6,354 for his career. Williams also had 1,806 receiving yards on 229 catches.

            Williams reportedly tested positive for marijuana on Dec. 10, 2003, and faced a fine of at least $650,000 for violating the league's substance-abuse policy for the second time.

            The Saints traded virtually their 1999 entire draft to move up to No. 5 overall to take Williams, a Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Texas.
            -07-25-2004, 12:30 AM
          • Rip32
            Jimmy Williams is a confident kid!!!
            by Rip32
            Feb. 27, 2006
            By Clark Judge
            CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
            Tell Clark your opinion!


            INDIANAPOLIS -- The next great NFL cornerback is here. Just ask him.

            "I can match up with any receiver in the country," said Virginia Tech's Jimmy Williams.

            Williams is at the top of a deep class of defensive backs, with the emphasis on size. At 6-feet-2, 213 pounds, he's bigger than what we've come to expect from cornerbacks -- but get used to it.

            Florida State's Antonio Cromartie is 6-2, 208; Miami's Marcus Maxey is 6-2; Penn State's Alan Zemaitis is 6-1; the University of Texas' Cedric Griffin is just over 6 feet. Then there's Williams, who can line up at either cornerback or safety ... and who has.

            "Are you the best cornerback in this year's draft?" he was asked at this year's NFL scouting combine.

            "Yes, sir," he said. "I should go in the top 10, to be honest with you."

            He might be right. There's a premium on big corners that can cover, and Jimmy Williams can. In fact, he can do it all. He can run. He can hit. He's not afraid to tackle. He's good at jamming receivers; he's good playing off them, too. And did we mention he's confident?

            Williams did, and he'll roll up his sleeves to prove it. On his right forearm there's a tattoo that reads, "Destined 2," and on the other are the words "Be Great." I think you get the idea.

            "Every time I look down I keep my 'swag' and keep myself confident that I want to be good," said Williams. "It's something to remind me every day."

            As if he needs help.

            It was Williams who, prior to the 2004 season, predicted that USC wide receiver Mike Williams wouldn't be productive if allowed to play in the season opener against Virginia Tech. Williams wasn't, but that didn't stop Jimmy Williams' head coach from intervening and banning his cornerback from talking to the media.

            For the rest of the season.

            "I learned after that," said Williams. "You have to watch what you say, but if you're being honest, at the end of the day more people respect you. I had fun with it, and I'll be glad to just go out and play. But I need the media."

            Williams played his first two years as a safety before switching to cornerback, where he led the ACC in interceptions his junior season with five. Williams prefers cornerback -- saying he wants to prove that big guys can excel at the position -- but his NFL future may depend on times in the 40-yard dash at Tuesday's workouts.

            "In my opinion he's a corner who, down the road, can become a safety," said Atlanta coach Jim Mora, a former secondary coach. "If he runs a fast 40 that will confirm it; if he doesn't, maybe you have to rethink...
            -03-02-2006, 08:44 AM
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