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One week to go Williams wraps up pre-draft visits at 'No. 1' choice
Posted: Sunday April 11, 1999 03:16 PM
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Browns had very few questions for Ricky Williams. They'd seen enough game film of him running over and away from college cornerbacks to know he'll be a franchise back in the NFL. Williams, however, had one question for the Browns: Was he still in the hunt to be their No. 1 pick? And after meeting with Browns coach Chris Palmer for nearly a half-hour Friday, Williams got the answer he had hoped for. "It appears that I still am a finalist with them to be the No. 1 pick," he said, smiling. The Heisman Trophy winner from Texas stopped to see the Browns on the final day of his three-day tour of six NFL cities that had him visiting the Browns, Eagles, Bengals, Colts, Saints and Rams. Williams said a couple of his visits were a "waste of time" but offered only a "no comment" when asked which ones. However, it became obvious Cleveland wasn't one of them. He enjoyed meeting with Palmer, whom he called a straightforward guy, and although he told teams and reporters in other cities he would love to play for them, too, Williams said Cleveland was his kind of place. "I'd love to play here in Cleveland," he said. "I like the atmosphere. A lot. I'm kind of a throwback player and this is the ultimate throwback town." When Williams' plane touched down in Cleveland, he admitted he wasn't so sure the Browns were still interested in him. But he came away with renewed hope his name might be the one NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announces as the Browns' top pick next Saturday in New York. "I feel a lot better," he said. "My hopes were down before. But I think they're back even right now." After watching Williams work out earlier this week in San Diego, Palmer said the Browns' No. 1 pick had become a three-man race between Williams, Oregon quarterback Akili Smith and Kentucky QB Tim Couch. Couch will have a private workout conducted by the Browns this Sunday in Lexington, Ky. Theories abound with what the Browns will do, and Williams has one of his own. "I don't know, it's tough to tell," he said. "I really think that they don't know who they want, and I think it's going to take them probably until the 17th [to decide]. The draft isn't about the No. 1 player, it's more about a team's needs and what it wants to do." Williams said he didn't try to sell himself to the Browns, and broke out laughing during the news conference when his agent, Leland Hardy of No Limit Sports, began talking Williams up. "You can't," Williams said. "It's a known fact that quarterbacks are harder to find than running backs. I just have to hope that Cleveland can find a good quarterback other than in the draft. That leaves me the next choice." Since winning the Heisman, everything about Williams has been scrutinized -- his dreadlocks, weight, nose ring, tongue piercing, and above all, his choice of representation. Williams' decision to sign with No Limit Sports, founded by rapper Master P., drew wide criticism, and in a recent first-person article in The Sporting News, Williams commented about the misperceptions made about him. "I've never looked back, and I really don't care what people think about it," he said. "It was the best thing for me to do for myself."
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