Ricky Williams looking to get back to the NFL

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Updated: March 31, 2007, 2:18 PM ET

Williams starting process to return to NFL

By Len Pasquarelli

ESPN.com

Running back Ricky Williams, exiled for the entire 2006 season because of a fourth violation of the NFL substance abuse policy, has triggered the process that could end his one-year suspension and lead to his reinstatement by the league. Williams

Williams was suspended by the NFL last April 25 and spent last fall playing for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

In advance of the one-year anniversary of the sanctions, Williams has already requested that pertinent reports, including those from the clinician who has monitored his case and from Dr. Lawrence Brown, administrator of the NFL drug program, be forwarded to the league for review by commissioner Roger Goodell, sources told ESPN.com on Saturday. That move ostensibly begins the reinstatement process.

The Miami Dolphins, who hold Williams' contractual rights in the NFL, have offered only generic comments about the veteran tailback and it is not known how first-year coach Cam Cameron feels about the possibility of having him return. General manager Randy Mueller earlier this week told the Miami Herald that Williams' status "hasn't been discussed at all," and that there was "nothing new" to report.

Williams' agent, Leigh Steinberg, told the Herald that his client is working on a book and wants to return to the league.

"Ricky is in the best shape of his life," Steinberg said. "He's passed all of his drug tests and he's at a place where he's ready to come back to the Dolphins."

The sources who spoke to ESPN.com on Saturday agreed that Williams is in compliance with the terms of his treatment and the aftercare prescribed by the NFL, and that there are no known obstacles that would preclude his comeback. One source said Williams, who is living in Grass Valley, Calif., with his fianc