You can kill a horse, but you can't kill a Cadillac

On September 30 2007, Carnell "Cadillac" Williams tore the Patellar tendon in his right knee against the Carolina Panthers. It looked like his career would be over. On December 28, 2009, Williams tore the Patellar tendon in his left knee against the Oakland Raiders. While we knew better than to count him out this time, it seemed reasonable to expect it would take another year-plus for Williams to come back again. So this past offseason the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed free-agent RB Derrick Ward to a four-year, $17 million contract to fill the void.

But miracles happen on the road to recovery.

This past week Cadillac Williams rose to number one on the Bucs' depth chart with a bullet. Then today, just 5 minutes 25 seconds into the game Williams ran right side for two yards. Only two yards, did he come back to soon? Williams answered this on next play when he juked and powered his way for a gain of 22 yards: A resounding "no." A little later, 8 minutes 53 seconds into the second quarter, Williams ran for a touchdown to give the Bucs a 7-6 lead over the Cowboys (after the extra point). This brought a tear to every good Buc-fan's eyes. It was too good to be true.

Cadillac Williams went on to average 7.5 yards per carry for a total of 97 yards and a touchdown. He carried the ball with less frequency as the game got out of hand. Unfortunately it got out-of-hand in favor of the Cowboys, who capitalized on numerous Bucs' mistakes and lightning-struck the now cover-two-less Bucs' defense with Romo-to-Austin, Romo-to-Williams, and Romo-to-Crayton touchdown passes of 42, 66, and 80 yards. It was the first time since 1962 that the Cowboys had more than one 60-plus yard touchdown pass in a single game as Tony Romo passed for a career-high 365 yards. The elated Cowboy literally spanked his favorite tight end so repeatedly that the cameras had to cut away from his shenanigans with 1:02 left in the game. The Bucs fell to the Cowboys 34-21.

We won't soon forget the miracle that was Cadillac Williams this hot, end-of-summer day in southwest central Florida. Still, there is much that we need to blot out of our minds. As Mr. Williams said in an interview after the game, the key to future Bucs' success is "short-term memory."

Must...forget Romo's exploits....Must...forget Romo's exploits. Think happy thoughts. Think how great it was to see Carnell "Cadillac" Williams return in full stride.