The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Williams leads AFC to victory, named Pro Bowl MVP
02.02.2003 | Football
HONOLULU -- Ricky Williams' first trip to the NFL Pro Bowl was well worth the wait.
The Miami Dolphins star running back rushed for a game-high 56 yards on 11 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns in helping lead the AFC to a convincing 45-20 victory on Sunday. Williams, who added three receptions for 18 yards, was named the game's Most Valuable Player and became just the second former Longhorn to earn the game's top honor. Defensive back Jerry Gray was tabbed the MVP in 1990.
"What's fun is how laid-back everything is," Williams said following the victory. "It's always great to get in the end zone, but it's especially great to do it against the best players in the world with millions of people watching."
Williams, the first Dolphins RB named to the Pro Bowl since Andra Franklin in 1982, scored from one yard out to open the scoring and later added a 1-yard TD run to give the AFC a commanding 28-6 halftime lead.
The former prep linebacker also saw action on both the kickoff and punt coverage units. He registered a solo tackle and forced a Jeremy Shockey fumble on a second quarter kickoff.
"I had a great time this whole week hanging out with the guys,'' Williams said. "I got a chance to see this beautiful island and relax. Hopefully, I'll be able to come back many, many more times.''
The 1998 Heisman Trophy winner and 1999 Hula Bowl MVP entered the contest coming off his finest season as a pro.
He led the NFL in rushing (the third Longhorn to do so) with 1,853 yards on 383 carries in his first year with the Dolphins. Williams, who started all 16 games, also scored 17 total touchdowns (16 rush) and ranked second on the team with 47 catches for 363 yards. His 2,216 yards from scrimmage placed him second in the NFL behind former Longhorns teammate Priest Holmes.
Williams set franchise single-season records for rushing yards, attempts, rushing touchdowns and 100-yard games (10) and set Miami's single-game rushing mark on Dec. 1 at the Buffalo Bills when he ran for 228 yards on 27 carries. One week later, the San Diego native ran for 216 yards on 31 carries against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football to became the first running back in NFL history to rush for at least 216 yards in consecutive games and just the fourth player to rush for at least 200 yards in back-to-back contests.