Williams, a National Football League star who played with Florida’s Miami Dolphins, was suspended for the 2006 season after failing several drug tests.
There was no rule preventing him from spending that year playing in Canada, so the Argonauts signed him. His arrival generated plenty of attention, but Williams was miscast, a high-usage running back on a passing team. He broke his forearm in one game, suffered a gash on his lower leg after one practice, and finished with modest stats: 109 carries for 526 yards. Afterward, Canadian Football League commissioner Tom Wright barred CFL teams from signing suspended NFLers, a stipulation dubbed “The Ricky Rule.”
