Fantasy Football 2004 Post #1: Ricky Williams Conspiracy Theory?

Training camps for the 2nd annual fantasy football league got off to a bamboozling start with news of the retirement of Ricky “I’m going traveling” Williams. Ricky Williams was arguably the best fantasy RB of the last three years: leader in rushing yards, rushing attempts, 100 yard rushing games and 4th in rushing touchdowns. BrisVegas Roosters’ owner Steven “Shakey” Shirtliff was not available for comment but some sources indicate that he was devastated by the news and pleaded with Williams to reconsider his decision for the sake of his team and fantasy teams around the world.

The situation brings about conspiracy theories as Williams traveled to Australia in the offseason and returned home minus his trademark dreadlocks (influenced by Shirtliff?). Sources indicate that Shirtliff did meet with Williams in BrisVegas although the nature of the meeting was unknown. Shirtliff had been seen around town wearing a shiny new teal Ricky Williams jersey (an olive branch from a fellow owner). The next interesting element to this saga was that Williams traveled to Asia immediately after revealing his intention to retire, lo and behold Shirtliff was known to be in Shanghai, China at the same time “on business”, according to his representatives. Coincidence or not? If, and we emphasize the “if”, the two parties met in Shanghai we can only speculate that this is where Shirtliff made his final plea for Williams to reconsider his decision. Or did Shirtliff congratulate Williams for making a smart decision, considering that his first love is what Gen-X/Y refer to as 420.

What makes the situation even more interesting is that rumors have been circulated that Shirtliff had been seeking to move the team to other parts of Asia/Pacific which were offering a new stadium and generous revenue sharing agreements. The removal of Williams would severely damper the team’s performance and enable a move to a new city more easily. League insiders speculate the blackmail or some sort of side deal could be the keys to the sudden retirement, which would contradict earlier reports of Shirtliff’s disappointment. Williams’ representatives passed on the following quote from Ricky when told of such speculation: “All I have to say is that I have 3 kids to take care of, and I’m going to show them the joys of indulgence.”