For the first time in five years, Ricky Williams is in training camp and hoping to play a 16-game season. And when he’s asked why he’s still playing, at age 31, after retirements and drug suspensions, he’s upfront about the top reason.

“No. 1, it’s a good salary,” Williams said. “There’s not many jobs where you make this kind of money.”

Williams also says, however, that he would like to restore his reputation, which was tarnished by perceptions that he quit on his team just before training camp in 2004, and that he was more interested in smoking pot than in playing football.

”The way I left made it difficult,” he said. “To come back and clear my name was important to me.”

Williams didn’t play in the NFL at all in 2006 and played only one game in 2007, but the early indications out of Dolphins camp are that he’s healthy and in good shape and should be a significant contributor in 2008, especially if No. 1 running back Ronnie Brown hasn’t completely healed from last season’s knee injury. It’s hard to believe that a 31-year-old could shake off two years of rust and be a solid player, but Williams has done a lot of things that are hard to believe.