Home > News > Cowboys sign Tyrone Williams and Michael Ricks

Rob Phillips
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Sept. 30, 2004, 5:37 p.m. (CDT)

IRVING, Texas -- For two grizzled veterans who were signed to shore up a Cowboys roster riddled with injuries, cornerback Tyrone Williams and tight end Mikhael Ricks sure had an unusual feeling on their first day here at Valley Ranch.

Williams, 31, and the 29-year-old Ricks said they felt like rookies on their first day as replacements for cornerback Pete Hunter and tight end Dan Campbell, both having been placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

Williams and Ricks must adjust to their new surroundings quickly, however. Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells signed the veteran pair Wednesday to patch up his cornerback and tight end positions before the team's next game, Oct. 10 against the Giants. Both players practiced Thursday, with Williams wearing No. 30 and Ricks No. 84.

Campbell, the Cowboys' best blocking tight end, tore ligaments in the top of his foot in the fourth quarter of Monday night's 21-18 win over Washington. Hunter, who started the first three games at right cornerback, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the first quarter of that game. Both will have surgery on Tuesday.

The injury to Hunter had left Parcells with three rookies - fourth-round pick Bruce Thornton and seventh-round picks Jacques Reeves and Nate Jones - playing alongside second-year corner Terence Newman.

The Cowboys' young cornerbacks could learn plenty from Williams, a nine-year veteran who won a Super Bowl with Green Bay is rookie year (1996) and played 111 of 112 possible games in his seven years there. In six years as the Packers' starting right corner, Williams totaled 445 tackles and 19 interceptions.

Parcells has had his eye on Williams for quite some time. His close friend, former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, drafted Williams in the third round out of Nebraska.

"(Parcells) talked to Ron and Ron Wolf was like a father figure to me," Williams said. "For him to speak to him for me, I have to live up to that."

Williams has been no stranger to controversy throughout his career, however. Prior to his rookie season, he served 126 days in jail on a misdemeanor weapons charge stemming from his college days at Nebraska.

After signing a five-year, $13 million deal with Atlanta in 2003, Williams started the first four games before getting suspended one game by head coach Dan Reeves for conduct detrimental to the team. He returned for two games before the Falcons made him inactive for the final nine contests.

After being released by Atlanta on June 2, Williams was not signed as a free agent in the off-season and did not attend an NFL training camp. While less-proven corners such as Antoine Winfield signed lucrative contracts in the off-season, Williams said he didn't receive offers in part because of personal issues. He spent his free time training in Arizona and his home state of Florida.

"I went to a couple sports bars to watch a couple games," said Williams, who was entangled in a domestic dispute with his wife, causing teams to shy away from him. "I washed my car probably about five, six times. I didn't know what to do. It was very tough. I'd never been away from the game that long, so I see what players go through when they do end their career."

Williams said he currently is at 192 pounds, his career playing weight, and simply needs to regain his conditioning. Though Williams has started at right cornerback throughout his career, Parcells likely will spend the extra week of practice alternating his three rookies and Williams in the slot on the nickel defense to determine the best combination of right and slot corners.

After Hunter's injury, Reeves filled in at right corner and Jones worked mostly in the slot. Reeves played well under the circumstances for three quarters, but he gave up a pair of long receptions to Redskins wide receiver Rod Gardner in the final period. Gardner finished with 10 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

Parcells said Thornton will need to play against the Giants even though he has been inactive for the first three games, mostly because he hasn't shown confidence or much grasp of the defense.

"I've always viewed myself as a starter," said Williams, who hasn't played in the slot since his third year in the league. "I never look at myself as a nickel. Any player that comes in here or in this league that thinks they're a nickel back forever and all that, they're in the wrong business.

"It's like a new birth to me. This is a football team that can do some things. When I watch them on film, they've got a lot of talent but right now they're making some mental errors, but that'll come once everybody starts to mold."

Parcells is also counting on Ricks, a six-year veteran, to replace Campbell in the lineup even though Ricks' pass-catching ability doesn't correlate with Campbell's blocking ability.

Originally a second-round pick in 1998 of the Chargers, Ricks played two seasons each in San Diego, Kansas City and Detroit, where he played under then-Lions offensive coordinator and current Cowboys offensive coordinator/running backs coach Maurice Carthon.

Ricks, a native of Anahuac, Texas, has 155 career receptions for 1,939 yards (12.5 average) and eight touchdowns. He was released by the Jets after training camp this year.

"I guess the good thing that came out of that is that I was in a camp, was able to get in shape and then when teams called they told them the things I could do well," Ricks said.

"It's awkward. I feel like a rookie coming in right now because I don't know (many) people here. I know from a standpoint of going through training camp a couple times that when somebody comes in new, it's kind of hard to get into that family because they've sweated through mini-camp and training camp."

Without Campbell, Parcells will have trouble employing the productive two-tight end offense he used the first three games with Campbell and second-year veteran Jason Witten. The Cowboys likely will use more of a two-back offense with Parcells' platoon of running backs, fullback Darian Barnes and Witten as the featured tight end. Either way, Witten will pick up more of Campbell's blocking duties instead of being used mostly as a receiver.

"I think that's more blown out of proportion than it really is," Witten said. "(Campbell and I) switch every play. If you watch the Cleveland game, I'm the fullback and then when we go into Washington he played fullback and I played tight end. So, I think it's interchangeable. I think the biggest thing is we lost a great player."

With Campbell and Hunter lost for the season, Parcells just hopes Williams and Ricks, the two newcomers to the Cowboys' locker room, will play up to their veteran status within a very short period of time.