THE BUZZ ABOUT RICKY

MISSISSAUGA - Some of the small children invited to frolic with the
Toronto Argonauts under the morning sun started dropping like wilted
leaves when midday approached. An ambulance was summoned for one
little girl who collapsed under the weight of the haze, and a handful
of her sweaty peers sought refuge in the shade before it disappeared
altogether.

Players were not immune, baking as they were inside heavy shoulder
pads and helmets that became little more than solar-powered ovens.
But not all of them looked relieved when the workout ended yesterday,
especially Ricky Williams. Because as much as he has tried, the
running back has never found anything but temporary relief from the
heat associated with football.

"One thing about Toronto," he said, "is everyone here is so nice."

In Texas, they considered Williams a deity. In New Orleans, he was a
"weirdo." In Miami, he was a saviour, then a traitor, a pothead and
all of the above.

Williams has been controversial in part because he can not be
defined. He walked away from the National Football League in the
prime of his career two years ago because he wanted to seek The
Truth. That the search also happened to include copious amounts of
marijuana only served to stoke the fire of moral indignation among
those he had left behind.

The 29-year-old was suspended last month for the entire 2006 NFL
campaign after he lost the appeal on his fourth failed drug test. But
it wasn't until Sunday that the Miami Dolphins finally granted him
permission to serve out his punishment playing for the Argos.

His arrival in Toronto drew criticism from those who believe the CFL
should respect NFL suspensions, and from those who believe Toronto is
acting at the height of hypocrisy for embracing a known pot smoker at
the same time the franchise is attempting to act as a mentor for area
school children.

But when he sat in the centre of it all on Sunday, during his
introductory media conference at Rogers Centre, Williams was often
seen looking off into some distant corner of the room. He wore a
bemused grin and a distant air that made it almost seem like he was
watching the whole thing unfold on television.

"You'll learn that Ricky is a completely dichotomous person," said
Chris Jones, a writer for Esquire. "There's two sides to every side
of his personality."

Jones spent eight days with Williams in Australia in the fall of
2004, months after the running back abandoned the Dolphins on the eve
of training camp. Williams spoke with candour about his desire to
live off the land, about his love for football and his dislike of so
much that has come to surround the game.

And there was, of course, the marijuana.

"He's not a stoner," Jones said. "You wouldn't know he was smoking
dope. You could have a totally normal conversation with him. He's
definitely not a Cheech and Chong stoner, like, 'Oh dude, I'm so
stoned.' He was just really mellow."

The marijuana, Jones said, was to help Williams deal with his
oft-crippling social anxiety disorder.

It was that disorder that made Williams conduct media interviews
without first removing his helmet. It also led to a famous episode
where, as a passenger in a car pulling up to a nightclub, he became
overwhelmed with the increasing attention and scrambled across the street.

"A lot of things that people would take for granted as being normal
were a struggle for me," Williams said during an appearance on Oprah
three years ago. "I felt like everyone was staring at me and passing
judgment on everything about me, from my shoes to my hair, and it was
all negative of course."

Williams won the Heisman Trophy in 1998 after tearing up the NCAA
from his position in the University of Texas backfield. His potential
prompted Mike Ditka, then coach of the New Orleans Saints, to trade
an entire draft class to secure his rights.

Injuries, and his odd behaviour, seemed to prevent Williams from ever
gaining momentum in Louisiana.

"People in Texas call him Ricky Williams, but he was really Ricky
Weirdo," former New Orleans quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver once told
a reporter. "I'm telling you, he's going to go postal one day."

He didn't, really.

Instead, he went to Miami, where he set franchise records for yards
(1,853) and touchdowns (16) in his debut season with the Dolphins
four years ago. Williams excelled again in the 2003 campaign before
his infamous departure a week before training camp opened the following year.

His escape from the NFL kicked off a world tour that included stops
in Europe and Australia. Williams might have stayed retired had a
U.S. District Court judge not ordered that he repay Miami
US$8.6-million in incentives and bonus money for breaching his contract.

Williams returned to the Dolphins last year and rushed for 743 yards
and six touchdowns, despite missing the first four games to a
previous drug-related suspension.

It isn't known what substance triggered his last positive test, but
that hasn't deterred the critics of his arrival in Canada.

"I'm very concerned about what it says about this league," Hamilton
Tiger-Cats legend Angelo Mosca told a reporter earlier this month.
"If you have a drug problem or don't want to be tested, come to
Canada. We'll take anybody. We're becoming a dumping ground for
illegitimate people."

Williams will continue to be monitored by the NFL during his time in
Canada, meaning he will be tested up to 10 times a month.

"To us, what's passed has passed," Argos co-owner David Cynamon said.
"Is he a good person? A clean person? A sincere person, both today
and going forward? And that's what we know, 100%, and that's all we can do.

"Everybody, including you and I, have gone through growing pains and
issues. I'm sure some of the most successful and famous people in the
world have had issues and growing pains in certain times."

Williams has been open about his own growing pains. He has stated,
flatly, that it has been at least a year since he last smoked
marijuana and that his goal with the Argos is to "become a better
person, a better football player, a better athlete."

"I think he's really going to like the CFL, and I think he's really
going to like Toronto," Jones said. "I think he's going to feel a
sense of freedom that he didn't feel in the NFL. He'll probably get
less attention, he'll probably be able to disappear a little more
easily than he did in the U.S."

Williams acknowledged his celebrity is somewhat smaller in Canada,
but seemed to think his anonymity was too good to last.

"I guess," Williams said. "But I don't think that's going to last
very long. Anywhere I've ever been, I've never had anonymity. It's
just my personality."