Ricky Williams, Derrick Mason and the Commitment to a Running Game

How many times have you driven past 1 Winning Drive right off Deer Park Road and wondered to yourself what the Baltimore Ravens coaches and players were up to right at that moment?

Football is adored in Baltimore, as demonstrated by the 24,000-plus fans who made the trip to M&T Bank Stadium Saturday, not to watch a Ravens football game, but to watch a Ravens football practice. For the record, just over 18,000 people were announced at Saturday night's Orioles game.

Then again, with the Birds in last place at 44-67 as of Monday afternoon, it could be argued the O's game was just as meaningless.

But to help quench the insatiable thirst Baltimoreans and Marylanders seem to have for the Ravens, each week Patch will recap the best, funniest or most interesting remarks about and by the Ravens, as posted through social media.

Then, we can keep the conversation going here through the comments thread, and through Facebook and Twitter.

I'll get us started each week. I hope you'll join in.

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"Thank you Dol-fans, it's been fun." -- Tweeted by @RickyWilliams

And that's how 34-year-old running back Ricky Williams, he of more than 12,000 yards and 70-plus touchdowns in a career that started in 1999 as the No. 1 overall pick of the New Orleans Saints, announced he was booking it up the East Coast from Miami to Baltimore.

Williams effectively replaces the loss of running back Willis McGahee, who was cut by the Ravens and is now competing for a starting gig with the Denver Broncos.

And, at least on the surface, it appears as if the Ravens have wound up with an older, but less expensive, version of McGahee, the team's short yardage back the last two seasons.

Williams didn't start a single game for the Dolphins in 2010, but still managed more than 800 total yards, a 4.2 yards-per-carry average and three touchdowns. At 5-feet-10-inches and 230 pounds, Williams is big enough for the Ravens to use in situations where McGahee would usually spell starter Ray Rice.

It didn't take long for Rice to welcome Williams into the fold.

"LET THE FUN BEGIN," Rice tweeted to Williams.

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"As strange as Ricky Williams is, and he is a weird dude. He - as a backup running back for Ray Rice is exactly what the team needs. #Ravens" -- Tweeted by @BrettHollander

It didn't take long for Baltimore and national sports media types to jump on the Williams bandwagon, and they're probably not too far off based on the team's needs.

A veteran with the success Williams has had -- he led the NFL in rushing in 2002 -- can help Ray Rice continue to develop as a fourth-year player in the NFL.

With Rice, Williams and Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach, who was signed last week to lead block for Baltimore's tailbacks, the Ravens also may now have the horses necessary to run the ball not only often, but effectively.

Then again, not everyone in the media world lauded the signing:

"Ricky Williams a good signing for Ravens? Not," Tweeted CBS Sports columnist Pete Prisco. "Why not use up a young body? They've overpaid an entire backfield now, counting Leach."

Oh, well. Can't please everyone.

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"Don't get #Ravens fans angry at Derrick Mason. Remember how he played with 1 arm for much of 08 season and playoff run? #respect" -- Tweeted by @BowieMike

Ricky Williams came running into town just in time to help Ravens fans get over the loss of wide receiver Derrick Mason, who spurned Baltimore for the New York Jets after he said he was "blindsided" when the Ravens cut him last week.

It is uncertain if Baltimore even made an attempt re-sign Mason, and the wide receiver said he'd probably pick the Ravens if they offered him a reduced-salary contract to return, but he decided on a one-year deal with the Jets over the weekend.

Feelings about Mason always appeared mixed in Baltimore. Even quarterback Joe Flacco, who used Mason as his security blanket for the past three seasons, called the receiver a "great locker room guy" and  "a little bit of a diva" in the same sentence -- but Mason's tough-guy play and four seasons of 1,000-plus yards in Baltimore ought to be remembered by fans.