By Doug Harrison
The Canadian Football League's all-time rushing leader doesn't have a problem with suspended Miami Dolphin Ricky Williams playing in Toronto and potentially threatening one of his records.
"He has some issues down south that he needs to get a grip on and I'm sure he will be able to do that," Mike Pringle, who rushed for a CFL-record 2,065 yards in 1998, told CBC Sports Online.
Former CFL running back Mike Pringle plans to visit Toronto to watch new Argo Ricky Williams in action.
(Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
Williams signed a one-year deal with the Argonauts on May 28, despite being banned for the 2006 National Football League season for his fourth positive drug test. He also remains under contract to the Dolphins.
Williams will return to Miami after this season, since Toronto won't bind him to the option year that is standard with all CFL contracts.
Three of Williams's suspensions were for marijuana use, while the fourth remains a mystery, though rumours suggest an herbal substance may have triggered it.
Gives Williams running time
Reaction to Williams joining the Argos has been mixed, with those who are not in favour questioning why the CFL — which is devoid of its own drug policy — wouldn't honour the NFL suspension.
"I don't know if it's good or bad [for the CFL] but it gives [Williams] an opportunity to play," said Pringle, who ran for 16,425 yards in 13 seasons.
Williams served a four-game suspension at the start of 2005 for his third violation of the NFL drug program. The year before, he shocked the football world four days before the start of training camp by announcing his retirement at age 27, rather than serve a four-game suspension for his second drug offence.
Pringle feels the CFL must implement a drug-testing plan, which was notably absent from the recent four-year collective bargaining agreement between the league and players' union.
'There is no deterrent now'
Commissioner Tom Wright and CFL Players' Association president Stu Laird will continue educating players while researching a plan best suited for the league.
"I think they should test for steroids, at the very least," said Pringle, who retired from the CFL on Feb. 14, 2005. "There is no deterrent now.
"I know a lot of guys when I played didn't want to go back to the NFL because they didn't want to get drug tested. That is an issue.
"Other professional leagues have [drug policies]. In order to make the CFL part of the true professional sports world, the league has to jump on that bandwagon."
Pringle, who's in the process of moving his family to Atlanta from Mississippi, said he plans to visit Toronto to watch Williams play.
"Ricky's a good running back but he's going to have to play just as hard as he did in the NFL [where he won the rushing title in 2002]," Pringle said. "This is real football, not a cakewalk, and he'll realize that."
