Which Caddy Rolls Into Camp?

By MARTIN FENNELLY

Published: Jun 19, 2007

When you begin your NFL career with three consecutive 100-yard games, people don't wait to find out what's next.

Which brings us to a phone call Bucs running coach Art Valero received this offseason. It was a newspaper reporter asking Valero if it was true that Cadillac Williams was in Atlanta and was rolled onto a plane in a wheelchair.

"I just got done working with Carnell 10 minutes ago," Valero told the reporter.

At about the same time - word travels fast - Cadillac Williams' phone rang. It was his agent, who'd heard about the wheelchair.

"I'm in town," Cadillac said. "No, I didn't have no type of surgery. I'm fine."

Williams smiled about it last week.

"That's how it is. Once a rumor gets out, it's crazy."

Cadillac talked facts when talking about last season.

"It was just a damn bad year."

No Excuses, Many Questions

He won't talk sophomore jinx. He doesn't believe in them. He won't make excuses about injuries. He doesn't believe in them - excuses, that is. But there's no getting around that there are questions to answer in 2007.

Which Cadillac will it be?

The 2005 rookie who carried the Bucs to the playoffs or the 2006 Cadillac, carries down, yards down, touchdowns down, Bucs down, down, down?

He gained 798 yards, a quiet 798, scoring but once. Around town, people wondered if Caddy is really the guy. Call it the Michael Clayton Effect. Would Adrian Peterson be better? What about the injuries? Is he a little brittle? What about the Caddy?

Don't write this guy off, like with Clayton, but it's no reach to say his three best NFL games were his first three.

Where are they now?

Back to Caddy:

"I'm going to be damn better."

"All of those who think he was in a sophomore slump, well, our whole team was," Valero said. "His rookie year, we rode his back. He played well, we played well and we had an identity."

To last season.

"The longer last season went, the hardest thing was getting Carnell to be patient," Valero said. "He wanted to hit a home run every time. The entire thing was on his shoulders, not just under his arm ... There was huge, huge frustration."

Throw in fewer carries. And fewer looks when he got to the line. And the Bucs never scoring. And bizarre play calling - Caddy running just eight times despite the swirling winds in New York. And the quarterback flux.

"The last thing teams were going to do was let us hand the ball to Cadillac," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said.

Throw in Caddy pressing.

"It was just tough," he said. "There were a lot of times last year where I just felt like I was playing out of my element."

As for brittle, Caddy bristled.

"I've been going through that my whole career. I feel like I'm one of the toughest guys in the game. They can check my record. If something ain't broke, I'm still in the game."

Fine.

Time to bring your game.

Roll The Film

Art Valero had an offseason film project.

"The purpose was to put together the damndest 1-yard runs you've ever seen."

They were Caddy runs, 2007, making something out of less than nothing.

"They were insane runs."

Valero sent copies to Gruden and General Manager Bruce Allen. Cadillac wants to see the film, too.

"To kind of remind me what I am."

We all need reminding.

The word from No. 24:

"I'm definitely going to be damn better."

Now, about the wheelchair ...

"Everybody's got a story," Cadillac said.

This season, this story, is his to write.