RICKY WILLIAMS SAYS HE'S CLEAN, READY TO RETURN

Dolphins running back Ricky Williams, who has applied for
reinstatement to the NFL, told ESPN Radio on Friday that he hasn't
gotten high on drugs "in maybe three years" and has no need to
resume using marijuana because yoga has eased his stress.

Last April 26, Williams was suspended for one year for violating the
league's drug policy. He said reinstatement involves sending a
hand-written letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and going for a
clinical evaluation.

"For the most part, as long as you follow the rules, you have a
pretty good shot to be reinstated," Williams said. "Half of it is
testing and the other half is you have to talk to someone on a weekly
basis."

Asked by Dan Patrick the last time he was tested, Williams said "two
minutes ago." Patrick asked if he passed. "Sure, yeah," he said.

Williams said "at one time, I was probably smoking too much. To fail
a drug test and be suspended, the normal person would say that's too
much. Anytime someone gets to the point where they fail a test, it's
beyond recreation, even if they say it's recreation."

Williams said that when he played in the NFL before his temporary
retirement in 2004, "stress levels got really high. The only thing
that really helped was to go home, relax on the couch, roll up a joint
and take a couple of puffs."

But he said he's off marijuana because yoga -- "the spiritual
practice part of it" -- has given him "a way to relax without having
to use anything."

Williams said he hasn't spoken to Dolphins coach Cam Cameron. Patrick
asked him what would happen if the Dolphins don't want to keep him.
"Then I'm sure. . . they'll send me somewhere else," he said.

And would he be fine with that? "I'm fine with whatever happens," he
said. "After the past couple years, I've been through really high
highs and really low lows. I'm here today and I'm happy and I realize
nothing can really hurt me."

The Dolphins haven't said if they plan to keep Williams, but Miami
appears to need him to complement Ronnie Brown. The Dolphins lost both
of their veteran backup running backs in free agency -- Sammy Morris
and Travis Minor -- and haven't signed replacements.

Asked how much financially he owes the Dolphins, Williams said he
didn't know. "I know it's a lot," he said.

He also said he doesn't know if he'll get a ruling from the
commissioner before the draft April 28-29. "If the Dolphins are
planning to do something with me, I'm sure they'll make sure it
happens before the draft. If they're going to keep me, then they're
not going to push it and it will just happen whenever it happens."

Asked if he's more concerned about earning the trust of the
commissioner or the coach and players on the Dolphins, Williams said,
"I don't know. I don't concern myself so much with earning trust.
Aside from ill-advised decisions in the past, I know the kind of
person I am at heart and the way I approach the game and the kind of
teammate I am."

Williams said being in the drug program "kind of makes you feel like
a criminal because every time you have to travel . . . you are
required to call the NFL and give them the address and phone number of
where you're going to be . . .

"I've been in the program for four years. So I'm OK with that. The
decisions I've made have put me in here. It's tough at first. But I've
learned to deal with it. It's good practice for me following the rules."

Asked by Keith Olbermann what was the biggest cause of stress that was
too much to handle without marijuana, Williams cited the Dolphins'
over-reliance on him under Dave Wannstedt (whom he did not identify by
name) as well as "having to play through the physical pain."

Said Williams: 'We had a decent offense. We had a great defense. Our
coach was pre-dominantly a defensive coach. Every time we threw the
ball it seemed it was an interception or something really bad
happened. Our offense turned into, 'give the ball to Ricky and play
defense.' To me, that wasn't really football.

"At the same time, I had a lot of respect for this coach. So I didn't
say anything. Our linemen were doing a very good job blocking. I was
kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Williams is living in Grass Valley, Calif., about 60 miles outside of
Sacramento, and teaches yoga twice a week.

"You can say I basically live in a monastery," he said. "Something
very similar. Every day, we get up early in the morning. We meditate.
The life I lead now is very rigorous -- not physically rigorous but
mentally rigorous. We're on a really tight schedule throughout the
day. You don't get much time to relax."

Asked why he wants to return to the NFL, Williams said, "For me, it's
a test to see if all this work I've done is really worth something. If
I can go to the NFL and have success, that would speak a lot for yoga
and what I've learned and offer a lot of people who have dealt with
the same issues I have a way out."