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TORONTO -- It only took one regular-season game for Ricky Williams to prove why he has become the story of the year so far in the Canadian Football League and, in some respects, all of football.

After two preseason games in which he barely showed any of the brilliance that made him the NFL's leading rusher in 2002, Williams quickly showed just how effective he can be.

He also showed why he might be the most perplexing personality to ever put on a pair of pads and cleats.

On June 28, exactly one month after he signed with the Toronto Argonauts while still under contract to the Miami Dolphins, Williams started at tailback against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the Rogers Centre. Williams rushed for 97 yards on 18 carries, including a stunning 35-yard gallop, as the Argos won 27-17. He also had two catches for 26 yards, one of them an 18-yarder on a simple delay play out of the backfield.

Argos head coach Michael (Pinball) Clemons, a talented running back who played 11½ years for Toronto, summed up Williams' effort.

"Wasn't bad. I think we saw what can happen when you continue to stay with him," said Clemons. "Two weeks ago we talked about (the importance of) his fourth-quarter touches. I said that I'd really like to see him touch the ball 10 or 15 times in the fourth quarter. If you're touching the ball that many times in the fourth quarter, good things are going to happen."

The fact the Argos left Williams in the game for the final play, hoping he could reach the 100-yard mark, did not sit well with opposing head coach Greg Marshall, who felt the Argos were adding insult to the humiliation of the loss.

"I don't know, it was good, we won. That's all that mattered," Williams said.

When asked about the suggestions made by Marshall that the Argos were trying to run up the score at the end by giving him two cracks to get into the end zone, Williams said: "I just think (the coaching staff) wanted to get me over 100 yards and get me a touchdown. They're just trying to make my debut just a little bit nicer.

"I'm growing as a person and I'm understanding that success comes from doing your job to the best of your ability. It doesn't come from anything external. It just comes from knowing what I have to do and focusing on it. The only thing I focused on the whole game was the inside leg of the tackle. That's all."

He was asked if he was disappointed he didn't reach the century mark.

"Come on, man, we won the game," he said. "Who cares about 100 yards?"

Williams made a statement with his first meaningful game after two preseason games in which he totaled only 45 yards on 13 carries in basically three-and-a-half quarters of work.

He has also had made a statement with his personality. Williams was asked the day before his regular-season debut if he was excited. The exchange that came afterward could only be interpreted as "Rickyspeak".

"If you get excited about the game, it takes away the energy level to play in the game," he said.

A few questions later he was asked if he was having fun playing for the Argos and being in the CFL. "Can you clarify the question?" Williams responded in total seriousness.

"I guess it depends on your definition of fun. When we use words we have definite definitions of what those words mean. That's what I've tried to clarify what you're saying by the word fun."

When asked if his version of fun differed from the person asking the question, Williams replied: "Fun is a word I really don't use in my vocabulary."

While Williams might come across at times as football's version of Bill (The Spaceman) Lee, the story of how he came to play in the CFL is as interesting as the player himself.

When he failed to overturn a one-year suspension imposed upon him by the NFL for his fourth substance abuse violation, Williams appeared to be out of a job. But the Toronto Argonauts, a team which has historically signed high-profile American players such as Anthony Davis, Terry Metcalf and Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, to name a few, placed Williams on their negotiation list.

Argo assistant general manager Greg Mohns began the process of trying to sign Williams by going through his agent, Leigh Steinberg. Independent of the NFL suspension, the Argos had to respect Williams' contract with Miami. While there had been players suspended by the NFL who had signed in the CFL, never before had there been a suspended player currently under contract to an NFL team.

Steinberg began a process of talking with Dolphins' head coach Nick Saban and executive vice-president Bryan Wiedmeier.

"My thing is we want Ricky back on our team," Saban said early in May during the Dolphins' minicamp. "Ricky doesn't need to go to Canada to prove anything to us. He doesn't need to do any of that stuff. I think if he really wanted to do it, it's something I'd certainly consider discussing with him and give him the opportunity to do it if it's something that he needed to do or really wanted to do."

Many people wondered why Williams would want to play in the CFL. Rumors persisted that he had little to show for the $14 million he had received in contracts since joining the NFL in 1999 and he needed money to pay for child-support payments. There also had been inferences, largely through Steinberg, that Williams needed to continue to play football to maintain a physical connection to the game.

But the story was playing out differently in Canada, where the question was why would the CFL want Williams. Because the Argos' organization had become a leader in the Toronto community in the fight against violence, they were accused of somehow being hypocrites by courting a player with a history of drug suspensions. Even though Williams had never been convicted, let alone charged, callers on radio stations were clearly split on whether or not signing Williams was a good idea.

One football fan, Peter Shell, e-mailed me with his concerns.

"Presently, Mr. Williams is serving a suspension imposed by the NFL after his failed fourth drug test, and I think (believe), the (Argo) management is sending out the wrong message by letting Mr. Williams play for Toronto (or any other teams)."

Another fan, Regan Flint, offered an opposite viewpoint. "I really think that this is much ado about nothing," he said. "Pot is not crack, heroin or crystal meth. It is pot."

Argo head coach Mike (Pinball) Clemons addressed that issue on a state of the franchise conference call. "We are not going into the community and telling young people, 'If you abused marijuana, if you have any kind of (offences), that you're useless," Clemons said. "This is very important to our image that we don't treat people as statistics. We treat people as individuals."

A few days before his signing, Williams came to Toronto to check out the city. Once the Argos became aware he was in town, a meeting was set up so the Argos could determine if they wanted to continue their pursuit of Williams. Argos owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon had said that they would need to meet Williams face-to-face and be assured that he was a responsible individual and willing to publicly proclaim positive messages to youths, including anti-drug messages.

After a five-hour meeting, the Argos owners, president and head coach came away impressed with Williams' character, charm and sincerity. In fact, co-owner Cynamon paid Williams the highest compliment by comparing him to Clemons, who is well respected throughout Toronto and is a popular Canadian sports figure for his work on and off the field.

"I'm super excited about what the community is going to get out of this," Cynamon said two days later. "The people don't realize the kind of value we may have brought to our community. If we have the ability to (sign him), we would be lucky."

When the Dolphins finally gave the Argos formal permission, a deal was quickly done, reportedly for one year and a salary of $240,000 (Canadian). Williams picked No. 27, sparking an immediate run among anxious buyers, some who wouldn't normally wear Argo or CFL paraphernalia.

But not everyone accociated with the CFL is a fan of the Argos signing Williams.

Retired Hamilton Tiger-Cats' legend Angelo Mosca said he was so angry that the league was going to allow the Williams signing that he planned to take out a full-page ad in a major newspaper to proclaim his thoughts. He also planned to boycott the Argo games in Hamilton. He later opted against taking out the ad and was persuaded by the Tiger-Cats to attend the preseason game against the Argos in Hamilton because he is such a fixture there.

Montreal Alouettes' head coach Don Matthews, the winningest head coach in CFL history, said he's never been more embarrassed by anything in his 39 years in the CFL than the signing of Williams, claiming the league ignored a rule that was in place preventing signing players under contract to NFL teams. But CFL commissioner Tom Wright said the key to the deal happening was the Dolphins' consent. There were also complaints the CFL was prepared to waive the standard option-year clause so Williams would not be bound to the Argos for another year. But because he was already under contract to the Dolphins, Williams could simply return to the NFL using a 45-day window of opportunity that allows CFL option-year players to sign in the NFL after the CFL season ends. Williams and Steinberg signed agreements that the player would return to the Dolphins in 2007 and the Argos signed a statement saying they would not bind him to the option-year clause.

ESPN broadcaster Joe Theismann, who began his professional football career with the Argos in 1971, criticized the move in two separate radio interviews, saying Williams did not respect the game and called him a drug addict who needs help. Theismann labelled the Argos a classless organization, principally by signing Williams, and said he was embarrassed to have worn the Argo logo.

Cynamon took great offense with the comments. "Without knowing us, knowing what we do, knowing what we believe is really an abuse of his profession," he said. "I'm appalled by it and I believe he owes us a public apology. I was shattered. We don't deserve treatment like that. For him to come out and say he was embarrassed to wear the (Argo logo), we were the ones that brought back the A. That is a real slap in the face."

Say what you will about Ricky Williams and how he came to play in the Canadian Football League in 2006, but it promises to be an interesting year.

Perry Lefko writes for the Toronto Sun.