Ricky Williams is often remembered more for stuns like the infamous wedding dress magazine cover than his play on the field.

NEW ORLEANS – On Tuesday, after learning of Ricky Williams' retirement after 11 improbable and intriguing NFL seasons, I could only think what might have been.

What might have been if larger-than-life Mike Ditka had not been coach of the New Orleans Saints when the 1998 Heisman Trophy running back decided to leave the University of Texas and enter the 1999 NFL draft.

What might have been if Ditka and club president/GM Bill Kuharich had not packaged nearly an entire draft in '99 (6 picks) and additional first- and third-round draft picks in 2000 in a trade with the Washington Redskins in order to obtain Williams.

What might have been if Williams, an extremely vulnerable, impressionable and emotionally fragile young man, had gone to work for a much younger Mike Ditka who wasn't so desperate to recapture lightning in a bottle when he came out of retirement.

In my opinion, we might be talking about Williams being a viable Pro Football Hall of Fame candidate five years from now, instead of what might have been.

In hindsight, Ditka was wrong to place the hopes, dreams and unrealistic expectations of an organization and Saints' fan base on the shoulders, albeit strong and broad, of a young man who seemed uncomfortable playing that role from Day 1.

Iron Mike was wrong to ask Williams to pose in a wedding dress for ESPN magazine.

He was wrong to address reporters the day after the draft while wearing a dread-lock wig which at the time was how Williams wore his hair.

He was wrong to make Williams try and be something he clearly had no business being ... the savior of a struggling franchise trying to cash in on a huge, illogical investment.

Granted, at the time, we did not know of Williams' anxiety disorder or of the inner demons that constantly tormented him as so artfully told by ESPN's 30:30.

But it was abundantly clear to me that Williams was socially immature and ill-prepared emotionally to be the face of an NFL franchise three weeks shy of turning 22.

I am not making excuses for Williams, who is accountable for his actions on and off the football field. He solely is responsible for his repeated violations of the league's drug policy that resulted in him serving a one-year suspension in 2006. Arguably, that same drug dependence likely caused him to take a year off and seek the "truth'' in Australia in 2004.

Williams, too, is guilty of making bad business decisions. He selected unproven sports agent Leeland Hardy to negotiate his first NFL contract that featured many unlikely (read: improbable) to be earned incentive clauses. And when given an opportunity by Saints officials to make the contract more player friendly, Williams politely declined.

It was Williams who decided to wear a helmet (complete with a dark visor to hide his eyes) at press conferences. Ultimately, it was he who decided to be a boorish person during his three seasons in New Orleans.

In the end, with Ditka and Kuharich long gone after going 15-33 from 1997 through 1999, it was the regime of GM Randy Mueller and Head Coach Jim Haslett that decided to take Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister with the 23rd pick in the 2001 draft and eventually trade Williams to Miami prior to the '02 draft for what ultimately proved to be two first-round picks.

That said, please hear this as well: I believe Mike Ditka is a good man, a deeply religious and philanthropic man with a large, wonderful heart. But, in my opinion, he did Williams a huge disservice at the outset of a promising career in New Orleans. There were times during his rookie season in '99 when RW seemed little more than a well-muscled, boyish freak at a circus sideshow the way he was being promoted to sell tickets and, yes, save jobs.

Let the record show that Williams finishes his NFL career with 10,009 yards rushing, one of 26 players to be in the elite 10,000-yard club.

He leaves with 342 receptions, 2,606 receiving yards and 74 all-purpose touchdowns while playing for the Saints (1999-2001), three stints with the Miami Dolphins (2002-'03, 2005, 2007-'10) and Baltimore Ravens (2011).

He made All-Pro in 2002 after leading the NFL in rushing with 1,853 yards. He was named MVP of the 2002 Pro Bowl and may well be inducted into the Dolphins "Ring of Honor.''

Let the record also show that Errick Lynne "Ricky'' Williams Jr., now 34, failed to reach his full potential in New Orleans and elsewhere, leaving me to ponder what might have been.