Fleur-de-Lis Fever | Ten Years Later, How Ricky Williams Affected New Orleans

Ricky Williams racked up over 1,200 yards in his third season, but the writing was on the wall.  Just two years after pulling off a blockbuster trade to get Williams, the Saints drafted another running back, Deuce McAllister, in the first round.

I mentioned that the Saints would be willing to pay the Redskins a steep price for the No. 5 overall pick, and a steep price they paid.

The Redskins traded their first-rounder (No. 5) to the Saints for a first- (No. 12), third- (No. 71), fourth- (No. 107), fifth- (No. 144), sixth- (No. 179), and seventh-(No. 218) round pick in the 1999 draft, and a first- (which wound up to be No. 2 overall) and third-round selection in 2000.

Now, most of these forfeited picks became busts and no-names (Cade McNown), but the Saints passed on a ton of Pro Bowl and Hall of Fame talent.

By trading away those draft picks and then selecting Williams, the Saints missed out on drafting players such as Torry Holt, Champ Bailey, Jevon Kearse, Joey Porter, Donald Driver, and Brian Urlacher.

Holt and Bailey were drafted right after Williams at Nos. 6 and 7 overall, respectively.

If the Saints had never made the trade, they could have selected Kearse and Porter to add a couple of outstanding pass rushers to the defense and then Donald Driver to give the Saints a No. 1 receiver.

Washington used the No. 2 overall pick in 2000 to select LaVar Arrington.  At this spot, the Saints would have also had their choice of Chris Samuels, Jamal Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Julian Peterson, and Shaun Alexander.

In two seasons, the Saints could have have a team that featured Donald Driver and Shaun Alexander on offense and Jevon Kearse, Joey Porter, and Brian Urlacher on defense.

When the Saints traded Williams to Miami and ended another infamous era in black and gold history, they eventually receiver two first round draft picks.

The Saints used one of those picks to select Charles Grant.  They paired the other first-round pick with their own first-rounder to trade up and select Jonathan Sullivan.

I was just 15 years old on the day Ricky Williams first put on a Saints uniform.  I was swept up in the hype just like many other Who Dats.

I, like every other Saints fan, had witnessed just four winning seasons in my lifetime.  Williams was supposed to be our ticket from the outhouse to the penthouse.

I guess some things were just never meant to be.

While the New Orleans Saints had just one winning season and one playoff win in Ricky's three seasons in the Big Easy, they have not experienced much success since trading away their once highly coveted running back.

In the seven seasons since Ricky Williams left New Orleans for South Beach, the Saints have had just two winning seasons and reached the NFC title game just once.

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