This has been perhaps the most widely asked question in all of Philadelphia Sports:
“What if the Eagles drafted Ricky Williams instead of Donovan McNabb?”
The year was 1999, the Eagles had finished the 1998 season, which wound up being the last with Ray Rhodes as head coach, with a dismal 3-13 record. When it came time for the draft, the Eagles found themselves with the 2nd overall pick, a pick which many believed would be used to select Heisman Trophy winning Texas Longhorns running back Ricky Williams.
However, new head coach Andy Reid had other ideas. He wanted a quarterback that he could build his team around.
Draft day came and the Cleveland Browns selected University of Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch with the 1st overall pick. So now it was the Eagles’ turn. Paul Tagliabue (The NFL Commissioner at the time) stepped up to the podium, ready to deliver the next pick. “With the second pick in the NFL Draft the Philadelphia Eagles select Donovan McNabb, quarterback from Syracuse University. Before Tagliabue could finish that sentence, the boos were already raining down from Eagles fans in attendance. (Of course, the boos were not for McNabb, but for the Eagles for not selecting Ricky Williams.)
Since the draft, Donovan McNabb has helped lead the Eagles to four consecutive NFC East division championships (2001-2004), 5 NFC Championship games (2001-2004, 2008), and one Super Bowl (XXXIX, a game that they would lose to the Patriots 24-21).
Meanwhile, Ricky Williams was drafted 5th overall by The New Orleans Saints, and saw mild success with the Saints. Two years later, he was traded to the Miami Dolphins for 2 first round picks. He then tested positive for Marijuana and faced a $650,000 fine, and a 4 game suspension. In 2004 he announced his retirement. He returned the next year to play for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. In 2007, Williams returned to the Dolphins where he still plays today.
Needless to say, the Eagles did just fine with Donovan McNabb under center.
But what would have happened if the Eagles drafted Ricky Williams?
Well, I think things would have gone differently for Ricky if the Eagles picked him in the 1999 draft. I don’t think he would have run into as many legal problems has he did. While he would have been stellar with the Eagles, what about Doug Pederson (who McNabb replaced as quarterback.)? There’s no saying how good we would be without a solid quarterback? The Eagles would have had a solid running game. Ricky Williams, with Duce Staley as a back up. One could only imagine. I do think we would have picked up a quarterback in a later draft. It’s kind of hard to say whether or not the Eagles would have won the super bowl with Ricky Williams or not. I think it would take more than a star running back to win a super bowl, though if we had Ricky Williams, and a quarterback of the same caliber, that would be a whole different story.
Ultimately, the question remains: “What if?”
