Welcome to the first volume of the BallHype Spotlight Series: What If... History Weren't. Tortured franchises and athletes surround us. The blogdome's best imagine alternate histories for their rooting interests. We've already looked at re-tellings of recent times for the New York Knicks, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Lakers and the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants. It's time to invade the football ranks, so here's the potent Enrico Campitelli Jr from The 700 Level and FanHouse, describing an Eagles altered state. Enjoy.

In 1998, the Philadelphia Eagles finished the season with a 3-13 record.

In the weeks leading up to the 1999 NFL Draft, despite the desperate need for a franchise QB to get the team going in the right direction, the ignorant sports talk radio hosts were clamoring for the Eagles to select Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams.

610 WIP radio personality Angelo Cataldi weighed in, "They absolutely must draft Ricky!  He's the kind of back that can completely change a franchise.  Plus, he's got good hair!  If they don't draft Ricky, they're high!  The birds don't need a QB, the three way platoon of Bobby Hoying, Koy Detmer, and Rodney Peete is the kind of triumvirate that can win you championships.  We want Ricky!" 

One 35 year-old fan interviewed at the corner of Third and Moyamensing on his way to work -- who happened to have his face painted green and was inexplicably wearing shoulder pads on a Tuesday morning -- felt awfully strong about who the Birds should draft, "If the Eagles don't pick Ricky, I'm going to have to redesign my entire bedroom.  I've already had my mom sew me new green bed sheets with the number 34 in them and I finger painted a mural on my wall.  It was the old Ray Rhodes wall that borders my sister's room, so Ricky gives it a little more style.  Anyway, we need Ricky!  I'd maybe be alright with Cade McNown or Akili Smith but we really, really need Ricky."

Prior to the draft, new coach Andy Reid stated he was leaning towards Syracuse QB Donovan McNabb but Reid wanted to make sure he didn't let the fans down early in his tenure. 

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Paul Tagliabue: "With the 2^nd pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select Ricky Williams, running back from Texas."

The loyal Philly fans who were in attendance at the draft erupted in joy.  It was a glorious day for the lonely members of the Dirty 30.  Sean noted the importance of the day, "THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! Right up there with the time a girl kissed me in the eighth grade in 1984!"

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The Ricky Williams era started off slow during the 1999 season.  Williams would often run as if he were in slow motion in the backfield and equipment managers noticed some odd requests, "He's a strange cat.  First he had me stockpile his locker with TastyKakes Krimpets and now he wants one of those visors for his helmet that you can't see through." 

After two disappointing 5-11 seasons in 1999 and 2000, things came to a blow in 2001.  It was during the NBA finals that Williams career took a turn for the worst.  Williams, his good friend Allen Iverson, and visiting Laker Isaiah Rider who was in town for a basketball game, were busted at the TGI Friday's on City Line Avenue in Philadelphia on charges of having large quantities of a leafy green substance. 

At this point with his days in the NFL running short, Ricky Williams thought about turning to his second love, baseball.  "Their drug testing policies are a joke.  I can get away with anything I want over there," Williams noted.  A little known fact to many: Williams was actually drafted by another Philadelphia team, the Phillies, in the 8^th round as an outfielder in 1995.  In the end though, his attempt at baseball fell short and Ricky decided that making millions of dollars in the sports world was just too stressful for him.

Williams couldn't handle all the hoopla and lost his desire to play the games he once loved.  After his early retirement from the Eagles in 2002, Ricky Williams "studied Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of holistic medicine at the California College of Ayurveda in Grass Valley, California." 

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Paul Tagliabue: "With the eighth pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select Rex Grossman, QB from Florida."

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