Since Heisman Trophy winner RICKY WILLIAMS joined PERCY
"MASTER P" MILLER's NO LIMIT SPORTS, "rumors of Williams's
alleged moral decline have been spreading rapidly,"
according to Paul Domowitch of the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS.
Last week, Austin-based sports agent ED CUNNINGHAM sent
Sandy Williams an e-mail "warning her that her son's
association with Master P was hurting his draft status."
From the e-mail: "Because of some bad decisions made by him
and his advisers, he has slipped to the third slot in the
draft. If he continues his course, he will do no better
than fifth." Cunningham said that the e-mail was his
attempt to "help Williams and his mother before it's too
late." But Domowitch writes that there doesn't appear to be
any evidence that Williams' association with Master P is
hurting his draft stock. Sandy Williams: "For people to say
he's dropping because he's with P is so ludicrous. People
think P is going to be sitting on the other side of the
table negotiating. That's nonsense. ... He has a good
staff." Execs for ISI, which handle Williams' marketing,
"don't expect" the association "to impact negatively on his
endorsement opportunities." ISI Dir of Athlete Services
JAMEY CRIMMINS: "I'm sure some conservative companies, their
eyebrows went up (when he signed with No Limit), but once
you get beyond that, he's still Ricky Williams." Agent BRAD
BLANK: "In a certain culture, Master P is God, but I've
never heard of him in my culture until a few weeks ago. And
the people who advertise in the NFL ... are not necessarily
in the rap crowd" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/19).
