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Tuesday’s news that Baltimore Ravens running back Ricky Williams is retiring comes with a bit of an NFC South angle.

Williams once was the biggest thing to ever hit the New Orleans Saints. Remember the 1999 draft, when the Saints traded away all their picks from that year, plus a couple more for the following year, for the right to draft Williams?

Yeah, it made headlines all over the place because it was one of the most daring trades ever -- we’re talking way more daring and dangerous than what the Falcons gave up to get Julio Jones or what the Saints gave up to get Mark Ingram in the 2011 draft.

It was the biggest deal coach Mike Ditka made and (along with a 3-13 record that season) it led to the end of his coaching career.

When coach Jim Haslett arrived the next season, Williams had some success. He had two 1,000-yard seasons, but there were issues. Williams was a unique personality. He didn’t interact a lot with teammates and often conducted interviews behind the shield of his helmet.

"Ricky's just a different guy," former New Orleans receiver Joe Horn once said. "People he wanted to deal with, he did. And people he wanted to have nothing to do with, he didn't. No one could understand that. I don't think guys in the locker room could grasp that he wanted to be to himself -- you know, quiet. If you didn't understand him and didn't know what he was about, it always kept people in suspense."

Haslett was in suspense or, at the very least, never quite could figure out Williams. That’s part of the reason Deuce McAllister was drafted. By the end of the 2001 season, in which Williams rushed for 1,245 yards and caught 60 passes, Haslett was pretty clear that Williams didn’t fit his long-term plans.

In the spring of 2002, the Saints traded Williams to the Miami Dolphins. They were able to get back some of what they initially gave up for Williams by getting four draft picks, including two first-round choices, in return.

Williams’ career would go on to have all sorts of twists and turns. He had success at times in Miami. He also retired from football in 2004, only to return in 2005. Williams was suspended by the NFL in 2006 and wound up playing for Toronto in the Canadian Football League.

Williams returned to the Dolphins in 2007. He finished his career with Baltimore and ended up with 10,009 rushing yards and 74 total touchdowns (66 of them on the ground).

Not a bad career, especially when you consider all the interruptions.

Would it have somehow worked out better if things had been handled differently and Williams spent his entire career in New Orleans? It’s impossible to say for sure.

Williams’ track record suggests he might have encountered some of the same, or different, problems if he had been with the Saints the entire time. Things worked out all right for him. They also worked out for the Saints, aside from the initial price tag to get Williams. McAllister ended up having a very nice career.

Reggie Bush came in and did some nice things at certain times. Along the way, the Saints also added Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles, who have done some pretty nice things at running back.

We’ll start with the New Orleans Saints as we unveil the results of the voting for the most beloved and disliked figures in the history of each NFC South franchise.

Beloved figure: Drew Brees.

Reader comment: " Before the '06 season, this would have been a hard choice for me between Deuce McAllister and Archie Manning, but Drew Brees is the easy choice here. He will always be the man who took us to our first Super Bowl. Not to mention, he is an incredible person who loves the city as much as we love him." ---Tom, New Orleans LA

Runner-up: McAllister. Brees won by more than 40 votes, but McAllister, Manning and Sean Payton all drew some support in this category.

Disliked figure: Aaron Brooks

Reader comment: "I'm a diehard Saints fan, most hated/despised would be Aaron Brooks probably. He just seemed to epitomize the Saints, underachieved and seemed to make the wrong move at the wrong time. Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory kind of stuff. " ---Eric, Jackson, Miss.

Runner-up: Mike Ditka. Brooks and Ditka dominated this category, but former cornerback Jason David also drew a fair amount of votes.

I just got the latest results in your voting for the most beloved and disliked figures in NFC South history and we’ve had a little bit of movement.

According to Kevin Little, the Saint Leo University student who is helping us out by tabulating the votes, the tightest races are in the Carolina precinct.

At least as of late last night Julius Peppers and Kerry Collins were tied for the lead in the disliked category. Although Jake Delhomme was getting a lot of early votes in the disliked category (and still is getting some), I think Carolina fans now are looking at the bigger picture of what the quarterback did for their franchise. Kevin reports Delhomme has now climbed into second place in the beloved category and isn’t all that far off leader Sam Mills.

In the Atlanta precinct, Bobby Petrino is running away with the disliked category. But the interesting thing here is the beloved category, where Matt Ryan, Jessie Tuggle and Arthur Blank are in virtually a three-way tie for the lead.

The exit polls in New Orleans show a very close battle in the disliked category with Aaron Brooks holding a very slight lead over Mike Ditka. Drew Brees is running away in the beloved category.

In Tampa Bay, Hugh Culverhouse has a sizable lead in the disliked category. Mike Alstott’s got a comfortable lead in the beloved category. That’s a little surprising to me. I mean, Alstott was a good player for a long time and a nice guy, but I can’t help but wonder if people are forgetting about the contributions guys like Derrick Brooks, Lee Roy Selmon and Tony Dungy made to this franchise.

Then again, I don’t want to steer the vote. These are your choices. The voting continues through 5 p.m. ET on Friday. If you haven’t voted yet, please send your votes to the mailbag.

I’ll announce the winners next week.

I’ve got some early results on your voting for the beloved and disliked figures in the history of each franchise.

The polls remain open, so send your votes to the mailbag, if you haven’t done so already. We’ll close the voting at 5 p.m. ET Friday and announce the winners next week.

What I’m about to show you is by no means final. It’s just an early overview of how the vote is going so far, according to Saint Leo University student Kevin Little, who is serving as our official statistician on this project.

For the Saints, Drew Brees has a big early lead in the beloved category. In the disliked category, Mike Ditka’s got the lead right now, but Aaron Brooks is right on his heels.

For the Falcons, Matt Ryan has the early lead in the beloved category, but Jesse Tuggle, Mike Smith and Arthur Blank are very much within striking distance. Bobby Petrino is leading the disliked category.

In Tampa Bay, we’ve got clear leaders with Mike Alstott as beloved and Hugh Culverhouse as disliked.

In Carolina, Sam Mills has a pretty solid lead in the beloved category. For disliked, Julius Peppers has the lead, but Kerry Collins and George Seifert are very much in the mix.

Just sent the first round of ballots in our contest for the most disliked and most beloved figures in NFC South history into the capable hands of Kevin Little, who is going to be tabulating the results. A senior Sports Business major at Saint Leo University, Kevin’s doing an internship with the Gator Bowl and has graciously agreed to do a quasi-internship in helping with this project.

The voting continues, probably for the rest of the week, so step into the voting booth if you haven’t yet. I scanned the ballots that were just sent off to Kevin and it was fascinating. First off, you’re doing a great job playing by the rules we set out, although I’m not really sure how we got a ballot that had the most disliked and beloved figures in LSU history -- that one’s not going to be tabulated.

I don’t want to influence the vote, but I’ll throw out a few observations.

• Perhaps the thing that struck me most was the range of emotions from Carolina fans on Jake Delhomme and John Kasay. The former quarterback and the current kicker are getting lots of votes in both categories and that makes some sense. I guess some Carolina fans look at Delhomme’s whole time there and appreciate his contributions, while others are focusing on the quarterback’s horrible final season. Kind of the same with Kasay, the last original Panther. He’s getting a lot of credit for his longevity and the way he carries himself. But there also seem to be a lot of Carolina fans with long memories, who can’t forget Kasay’s lousy kickoff late in the team’s only Super Bowl.
• Speaking of fans with long memories, Hugh Culverhouse’s name seems to be coming in on quite a few ballots in the Tampa Bay precinct and they’re not checking off the most beloved box. Tampa often gets labeled as a town full of transplants. But this shows me that Tampa Bay fans haven’t forgotten Culverhouse, the team’s original owner, and how bad things were in the early years. Bo Jackson also is getting some votes. Even though he never played for the Bucs, let’s make it clear he’s eligible. The Bucs used a top draft pick on Jackson and it turned out to be a waste when he decided he didn’t want to play for the franchise.
• I can’t say there’s anything remarkable coming out of the Atlanta precinct. As you might expect, Bobby Petrino and Michael Vick are dominating the disliked category. Lots of beloved votes are coming in too, but I don’t see anyone running away in that category so far.
• Saints fans are voting the way you’d expect. Drew Brees is getting a lot of beloved votes. Aaron Brooks, Mike Ditka, Tom Benson and Ricky Williams are all running strong campaigns in the disliked category.

We’ll close this out by sharing one New Orleans ballot that I thought was pretty unique and cool.

• Scott in St. Amant, La., writes: I'll throw a slight curve here and say Jim Henderson of WWL TV and Radio. He's been the radio play-by-play man for the Saints since 86, and the sports anchor for WWL TV since the late 70's. The radio broadcast of Saints games is such a local institution that everyone has at least one family member who insists on playing the radio broadcast alongside the TV one. Jim Henderson has been the calm in the storm through many years of Saints fans pulling their hair out at the teams bad decisions, bad play, and just plain bad luck, while his rare, well thought out and scathing rants are a sign of impending regime change. He has become as much a part of the local Saints experience in the last quarter century as old- time baseball announcers like Ernie Harwell and Harry Caray were for their teams.

It started as a suggestion from loyal reader Mark H. in Greensboro, N.C., and it quickly has grown into what I think could be one of the more interesting projects we’ve ever attempted on the NFC South blog.

Mark’s basic suggestion was to pick the most disliked person for every NFC South team.

We’ve kicked around parameters for this and you have been phenomenal about providing input to make this work. While on the basketball court, which is where I do some of my best thinking, Sunday afternoon, I thought of a whole other layer for this project. I thought of also including a vote to see who is the most beloved figure for each NFC South franchise and we’re going to do that.

I’ve also settled on the parameters and here they are:

• Send votes for the figure you dislike most from your team and the most beloved figure from your team to my mailbag. Some of you have already voted, but that was before we set the rules or added the beloved category. So those votes won’t count. Fire away with your new ones and specify the team and the disliked and beloved figures clearly.
• By “figure,’’ I mean anyone associated with your favorite team. That means players, coaches, general managers and owners. For the beloved category, I’d even nominate Carolina equipment manager Jackie Miles, a legend in his own right, and Jill Hobbs, who started working as a secretary for the Buccaneers back in 1976 when she was something like 4 years old.
• After a lot of debate, we’re going to open the time frame up on this to the entire history of each franchise. There was some debate about limiting it to current figures or starting the clock when the NFC South officially became a division in 2002. But the narrow consensus was to make it for the entire history of each franchise. In other words, figures such as Hugh Culverhouse, Doug Williams, Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, Kerry Collins, Sam Mills, George Seifert, Archie Manning, Mike Ditka, Jeff George and Tommy Nobis are as eligible as figures like Drew Brees, the Glazer family, Matt Ryan and Sean Payton are. I’m not implying disliked or beloved for any of those figures. I’m just using their names to illustrate the time frame. Let’s please avoid the votes for guys who only had a cup of coffee in the NFC South – Reggie White, Brett Favre, etc.
• I can’t ask this one strongly enough: Please limit your votes only for your favorite team. If we let Atlanta fans list Brees as a disliked figure or allowed former Carolina punter Todd Sauerbrun to vote for Martin Gramatica, we’d turn this thing into a shouting match and that’s not the goal of this project.
• If you only want to vote for a beloved figure or only want to vote for a disliked figure from your team, that’s fine. Your vote will still count.
• With each of your votes, feel free to include a little of your reasoning. We’ll use some samples when we post the results, so keep them clean and at least try to make the grammar reasonable.
• Carolina fans, I’m going to impose one special rule on you. Do not vote for Rae Carruth. He’s ineligible and any votes for him will not be counted. I understand the venom for Carruth. What he was convicted of was beyond terrible, but it went way beyond the scope of football. So let’s just leave that one alone.
• Other guys who have had off-field troubles for any of the four teams are eligible.
• To ensure the integrity and the accuracy of the voting results, I’ve gone out and hired a prestigious accounting firm to tabulate the votes. Well, wait, I wasn’t able to afford that. But I’ve done something even better. I’ve turned to my alma mater, Saint Leo University, and enlisted the help of Kevin Little, who I’ve been doing some career mentoring with. Kevin is a Sports Business major with a keen interest in the NFL and numbers. Kevin’s agreed to help me tabulate the results.
• I haven’t set an official date for the closing of the polls or when we’ll run separate posts on the winners in both categories for each franchise. We’ll just kind of play that by ear, but I’m hoping to have it ready for sometime right around the start of the regular season.

Lots of good reaction in the mailbag to Tuesday’s column in which I gave my opinion that Tony Dungy is the best coach in the history of the NFC South.

Craig in Fort Worth, Texas, writes: Tony Dungy never coached in the NFC south, right? Jon Gruden was the coach of the Bucs in 2002, when the division got its start.

Pat Yasinskas: Absolutely correct. Not sure if you’re suggesting that should make Dungy ineligible, but I think I made it very clear throughout the process that anyone who ever coached for one of the four franchises that now make up the NFC South was eligible. In other words, guys like Jim Mora and John McKay also were eligible.

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Steven in Ontario, Calif., writes: I am a Bucs fan and I read your blog before anything else about the Bucs. I respect your knowledge, but without Manning and what he did with the Colts, Dungy would be with Jim Mora on your list. I am sure Gruden is a pain (for the media), but he got the Bucs to the "holy land". Football is about winning and the best play.

Pat Yasinskas: Let me say this: Gruden was not “a pain’’ to cover. In fact, he was great for media purposes. He was colorful as could be, always saying very good quotes and never afraid to be controversial. Dungy, on the other hand, could be very dry and boring for those purposes. I went with Dungy over Gruden (and several other coaches over Gruden) for the reasons I stated in my column.

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Mark in Honolulu writes: I have no issues with your selections of best coaches, but think you may have left out one important criteria. One task of management, in all businesses, is the development of those who work for you. Head Coaches are tasked with the development of assistant coaches. How many assistants did the head coach develop into a peer?

Pat Yasinskas: Well, I think that would only support Dungy’s case. Among the guys he had as assistants were Herm Edwards, Lovie Smith, Rod Marinelli, Monte Kiffin, Mike Tomlin and Jim Caldwell. That’s a pretty strong list.

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Curtis in Cordova, Tenn. writes: I just finished your blog about the best coach in the NFC South. While your reasoning is strong, I feel there is one thing you left out. Yes, both Sean Payton and Dungy have won a Super Bowl, but you fail to look at the quality of the opponent. Payton and the Saints defeated the Colts and Peyton Manning coming off of a near-perfect season and only one year removed from being led by Dungy. Dungy and the Colts on the other hand defeated Rex Grossman and the Bears. Three years later, Grossman can barely hold a back-up job after imploding in the Super Bowl and the Bears now are largely considered irrelevant. I doubt you'll find anyone that believes the Colts and Manning will be in the same position three years from now. So, are all Super Bowl wins equal?

Pat Yasinskas: Actually, Dungy’s Super Bowl with the Colts had nothing to do with my decision. Nothing Dungy did with the Colts had anything to do with my decision. I think I made it pretty clear I was only looking at what the coach did while he was with an NFC South franchise. If I included other stops, guys like Mora and Dan Reeves would have been higher on the list and Mike Ditka would have made the list.

I was browsing through my mailbag and saw a question that I think is more than worthy of standing on its own. In fact, it’s one of the most thought-provoking questions I’ve ever received (and you’ve always provided very good questions).

The question is so good, I don’t have an immediate answer because there is so much room for debate. That’s why I want to throw it out to the readers and your opinions.

Here’s the question:

Stephen in Houma, La., writes: I’ve seen the question who is the best coach of all time -- Bill Belichick or Bill Parcells? How about an article on the best NFC South coach of all time -- Sean Payton or Jon Gruden? Would you add Jim Mora to that list or is there anyone else I'm missing? The coach that led Atlanta to its first Super Bowl?

All right, the coach that led Atlanta to its Super Bowl berth was Dan Reeves and he at least belongs in the argument. Let’s set some parameters here. The NFC South didn’t come into existence until 2002, but let’s leave this open to all coaches who ran a team that now is in the NFC South.

Payton’s got to be near the top of the list, even though he’s been a head coach for just four seasons. He’s got a Super Bowl win. So does Gruden. I could end up going with one of them and my gut leans toward Payton because of where his franchise was at when he took over. But I want to ponder this one a bit more and consider guys like Reeves and Mora (the one that coached the Saints, not the one who coached the Falcons).

I also want to step back a bit from my days as a newspaper beat writer because part of my initial reaction to Stephen’s question was to think about the two coaches I covered the most on a daily basis -- Tony Dungy and John Fox.

I think they both belong in any list of top-five coaches in NFC South history, but I want to consider their accomplishments from a bit of a fair distance and compare them to guys like Gruden, Payton, Reeves and Mora. Heck, I’m even going to factor in John McKay, who definitely was the most quotable coach in the history of the NFC South teams. I’m going to go ahead and scratch George Seifert, Sam Wyche, Ray Perkins and Mike Ditka from the list right now.

Go ahead and send your opinions to the mailbag. I’ll share some of your opinions in a future post and, sometime in the next few days, I’ll finalize my list of the best coaches in NFC South history.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

At the 10-year anniversary of the ESPN The Magazine cover of Mike Ditka and Ricky Williams posing as bride and groom, the NFC South -- which didn't even exist back in 1999 -- has another wedding.

NFC South Draft Picks • Atlanta Falcons • Carolina Panthers • New Orleans Saints • Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This time, it's Raheem Morris and Josh Freeman.

"I am married to him,'' Morris said when he was asked if drafting the quarterback meant the two were going to be married. "There's no 'going to be.'''

That's only a slight stretch. At very least, Morris and Freeman are going to be linked to each other for eternity and they hope this union ends up better than the Ditka-Williams nuptials.

The Saints, who have spent much of the past decade trying to recover from that, didn't have nearly as big a ceremony. They took the methodical approach and, just like the Falcons and Panthers, focused heavily on defensive needs.

The Saints took defensive back Malcolm Jenkins in the first round and the Falcons selected defensive tackle Peria Jerry. The Panthers didn't have a first-round pick in this draft, but they traded next year's choice away to get Florida State defensive end Everette Brown in the second round.

In a way, all four teams now are wed to their top picks.

Best move

	Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images
	Drafting Ole Miss tackle Peria Jerry was a safe bet for the Falcons.

It wasn't flashy in any way, but Atlanta's selection of Jerry with the 24th pick was the most fool-proof move by any NFC South team. While there's a bit of uncertainty about whether Jenkins' future is at safety or cornerback, or whether Freeman is polished enough to make an immediate impact or doubts that Brown has the size to be an every-down player, there really isn't much to worry about with Jerry.

He may not have the kind of upside that Freeman, Brown and Jenkins do, but there is little or no downside. Jerry already is what he is. He's a run stopper and a player whom every other team in the NFC South would have been happy with if they had drafted him.

The Falcons got him by patiently waiting for Jerry to come to them. His job will be simple. He'll be expected to come in and take up space in the middle of the defensive line. That's something the Falcons needed after letting veteran Grady Jackson leave.

Coach Mike Smith, who built much of his resumé with Marcus Stroud and John Henderson in the middle of Jacksonville's defensive line, wasn't able to completely build the type of front four he wanted in his first season. This is a big step in getting there because Jerry and Jonathan Babineaux, who was signed to a contract extension midway through last season, have the skills to make Atlanta solid in the middle for a long time to come.

Riskiest move

Nothing else is even remotely close to the Freeman selection when it comes to risk. When you draft a franchise quarterback, something the Bucs hadn't done since Trent Dilfer in 1994, you're obligated to try to build your team around him.

The result almost always is either great or terrible. I'm not doing the math here, but it seems like for every Matt Ryan, there are two or three Joey Harringtons or David Carrs. Tampa Bay's own history with first-round quarterbacks isn't spectacular. Doug Williams worked out for a short stay, but Vinny Testaverde and Dilfer never really prospered in Tampa.

At a time when patience isn't a strong point for most NFL owners, Morris is staking his future on a quarterback who came out of college a year early and is viewed as a raw prospect by a lot of personnel people.

Most surprising move

Carolina trading its 2010 first-round pick to get Brown in the second round this year. That's a gutsy move, but it also is risky. It worked out well last year when the Panthers traded this year's first-round pick to get offensive tackle Jeff Otah. But you can't go without first-round picks for too long without sacrificing talent. But there still is a lot of time between now and next year's draft and I'm guessing the Panthers probably will try to parlay defensive end Julius Peppers into a first-round pick (and more) after this season.

File this away

How many guys does it take to replace Nick Goings? Apparently, two. Goings wasn't a name, but he had a very nice run with the Panthers as a role player, getting time at running back, fullback and on special teams. The Panthers released him in a salary-cap move after last season, but they recognized that created several voids.

That's why they went out and used fourth-round picks on Texas A&M's Mike Goodson and Syracuse fullback Tony Fiammetta. Goodson has some return skills and, like Goings, can catch the ball out of the backfield and provide some depth behind DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Fiammetta is a blocker and might be able to provide some relief for Brad Hoover.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

We'll wait until later in the week to predict who NFC teams will draft. But it's time to make five fearless predictions on other events that will happen during the next week.

	NFL.com Video
	Panthers head coach John Fox looks ahead to the 2009 season.

1. Let's assume for the moment that the Panthers stay put and have their first pick at No. 59. Coach John Fox is going to come out moments after the pick and declare that whoever the Panthers took was "the best player on our board'' and "we had a first-round grade on him." General manager Marty Hurney, sitting next to Fox will turn red. Out in the hallway after the press conference Hurney will lecture Fox about not giving out too much ammunition for agents to use when it comes time for contract negotiations.

2. The Bucs will come out of the draft still wanting more help at defensive end. They'll end up re-signing Kevin Carter. And Carter will end up with more sacks than Gaines Adams next season.

3. At least 10 times this weekend, Atlanta coach Mike Smith will use the phrase "part of the process'' in talking about how this year's draft class will help the team.

4. Unlike 10 years ago when the Saints traded their draft for Ricky Williams and Mike Ditka and company went golfing, Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis will remain hard at work. At the moment, they've got a first-round pick and don't pick again until the fourth round. Just a hunch, but I think Payton and Loomis will find a way to get a choice in either the second or third round.

5. Despite the wishes of many of their fans, the Panthers won't draft a quarterback -- at least not in the first four rounds. They might take an extra body for training camp after that, but that's all. For better or worse, Fox is going to stick with Jake Delhomme.