The sulky, oft-injured 1998 Heisman Trophy winner did not endear himself to head coach Jim Haslett and general manager Randy Mueller when the new regime came in last season to replace the failing program of Mike Ditka. And while the Saints were making their unexpected but inspiring playoff run, Williams, again bothered by the injury bug, was a man of uncertain status.
Nobody can help getting hurt.
That's unlucky, not uncooperative. But when a player's attitude is elitist and he's aloof, it sends a signal to his teammates. So when you come up lame after alienating a good portion of the people who would normally give you support in a time of need, sympathy is hard to find. Williams was the only Saints player who did not report for the start of off-season training in March. It was voluntary, but coaches expected their star running back to be there.