What if Eagles had made the popular pick in 1999?

This article was originally published in the Inquirer on July 29, 2004.

It has been suggested, by those with the time and energy to think about stuff like this, that our universe is but one of an infinite number of universes.

This is the kind of thing that can make your brain hurt if you try to absorb it all. It's easier to focus on a particular occurrence, to imagine a parallel universe in which, say, JFK wasn't shot or Chico Ruiz never stole home. Or:

Imagine if, on April 17, 1999, Paul Tagliabue had stepped up to the microphone and uttered these words:

"With the second pick of the 1999 draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select Ricky Williams, running back from the University of Texas. "

Imagine. It's easy if you try.

The video clip you're sick to death of would show Angelo Cataldi's gang high-fiving and hugging each other and weeping with joy. Williams would have given a big thumb's-up to his raucous group of supporters. The Monday Daily News would have featured a photo of Williams holding a copy of the Saturday "Take Ricky!" front page.

(In yet another parallel universe, of course, the April 17 Daily News would have screamed "Take Donovan!" and the Dirty Thirty would have booed because the Eagles passed on the opportunity to draft Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb. )

It is very difficult to imagine any universe in which Andy Reid would have appeared on a magazine cover with Williams dressed as a bride and groom. Then again, until you saw Mike Ditka in the tux and Ricky radiant in white lace, well, that was pretty hard to imagine, too.

Still, let's just say Reid and Ricky would have appeared on the cover of ESPN The Magazine with a story inside that featured Reid saying, "Ricky did a nice job at Texas and we're hoping he'll come and compete for a job and do a nice job with the Eagles. "

And McNabb? Where would he have gone? In the most likely scenario, the Cincinnati Bengals would have taken him instead of Akili Smith with the third pick that day.

That's the easy stuff to figure out. The further you go down this alternate path, though, the murkier things get. The harder it is to project what might have been.

You just have to imagine. It isn't hard to do:

SEATTLE - Seahawks offensive coordinator Andy Reid said yesterday he wasn't surprised at news that running back Ricky Williams had decided to retire from the NFL at age 27.

"Ricky did a nice job for me," said Reid, who coached Williams during his abbreviated tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles. "I'm sure he'll do a nice job wandering around looking for the truth. "

Reid was fired by the Eagles three years after selecting the disappointing Williams with the second pick of the 1999 draft. He returned to coaching two years later on the staff of his friend and mentor, Mike Holmgren.

Hey, look at the bright side. You wouldn't have three straight losses in the NFC championship game to gripe about.

Williams would have joined an Eagles team that went 3-13 the year before, a team that would have had Doug Pederson, Koy Detmer and some late-round pick competing at quarterback. A team, in short, very much like the New Orleans Saints team that drafted Williams over here in this version of reality.

The Saints went 3-13 in that first year. Ditka was gone, replaced by Jim Haslett. In Williams' three seasons with the Saints, the team won exactly one playoff game. He failed to equal that number of playoff wins in Miami after being traded to the Dolphins in 2002.

Would it have been better in Philadelphia? With Pederson throwing to Charles Johnson and Torrance Small that first year? Not likely.

But then, nothing that happened on the field would have compared with the first time Williams conducted an interview while wearing his helmet. In Philadelphia? Let's face it. The people most vocal about drafting Williams would have been the very first to turn on him.

The fumbles. The odd behavior. The positive drug tests (two, both for marijuana). The small performances in big games. Williams would have been lucky to last as long here as he did in New Orleans.

Reid? He likely would have been fired after three years. Based on the coaches who were hired before the 2002 season, the Eagles would likely be reporting to training camp under Tony Dungy or John Fox right now.

McNabb? Maybe he would have led the Bengals to the playoffs. Maybe he would have wilted just as Smith did. Maybe he, not Tim Couch, would be in Green Bay waiting for Brett Favre to retire.

The Eagles? They'd be hoping to contend for a wild-card berth as they prepared for another exciting season of football at good old Veterans Stadium.