Cadillac Williams took the field today as an active player for the first time in over a year.  His comeback has been no less than remarkable.  His resolve to get to this point makes me pause for applause. 

    Now we get down to brass tax.  Is Carnell ready to go?  I am going to have to put myself on the spot here.  My observation is limited to what was told to me today by Cadillac himself after this morning's walk-through.  I also have taken into account what Quarterback Jeff Garcia told us today in his Wednesday press conference.

    Garcia said that Williams seems to making his cuts, his speed appears to be there, all the things that you look for physically in any player coming back from major injury.  However, what stops me short of saying that Carnell is ready for this Sunday is Caddy himself.  It's the mental aspect of coming off this major knee injury that still needs resolve.  Not an easy task.  Caddy told me today that he, in essence, needs to not worry about having everyone fly around his legs.  He said he felt "pretty good."  That's where my alarm went off, so I asked Caddy what would it take for you to go out on that field without trepidation.  His reply, at first was, "I don't know."  I followed up with "Would it be taking that one big hit."  His answer: "Maybe so."

     I'm not an NFL Coach, but if I was, I would say Caddy is not ready to take the field.  What I want to hear from Caddy is that he's TOTALLY ready to bring whatever it takes out on that field.  It's a violent world out there between the lines.  You cannot go out there and go half-way.  You've got to commit.  My guess is Caddy took a few medium shots in practice on Monday.  If you were a teammate of his, would you want to deliver a blow that, god forbid, reinjured that knee?  Heck no!  Caddy will only get that mental obstacle out of his mind on a given Sunday.  I'm quite confident that will happen, sometime down the road.  He has gone too far to stop at what is truly his career defining moment.  Once on the verge of ever playing again, to within a whisker of being a part of the game again.  He's got what it takes to finish the journey.  We'll know, in his timeline, when that is.

    Tom Korun