Former Bengal Reggie Williams - Column

[Live or Die Magic 383]

The Sentinel is doing a guest column series with former athletes. This one by former Bengal Reggie Williams is very interesting.

 

Standing up for beliefs can be a painful choice

Reggie Williams

 

Former NFL player Reggie Williams today offers the latest in our series of guest columns. Tomorrow, our series of guest columnists continues with Florida football Coach Urban Meyer.

 

It's been a year since my last surgery, but my knee still hurts. After 13 surgeries on my knees, pain has become my new neighbor, as familiar to me as the route I take to work everyday.

 

It is also a constant reminder of the last time my right knee was this messed up. As captain of the Cincinnati Bengals, I was unwittingly left with scars that no doctor can heal.

 

It was 20 years ago when the NFL was mired in its 1987 labor dispute. And this one was nasty -- fans and players against fans and players, with no sidelines to separate them. The only line was a picket line, and I crossed it. Alone.

 

Growing up in Flint, Mich., I witnessed street-fight strikes. My father is a lifetime United Auto Workers member. The debate with Dad took all night. He raised me, his hearing-impaired child who, through reading and sports, found dreams worth overcoming any adversity. He knew that my dream to win a Super Bowl was hitched to his unfulfilled dream of playing baseball.

 

My Cincinnati teammates took the law into their own hands by lying in front of buses on public streets. Replacement-team buses and player cars were pelted anytime, anywhere. There was no strike on trash-talking, either.

 

This is what Boomer Esiason, our player rep, said after I responded to reporters about the factors I was weighing in my decision: "I can understand if a guy has to cross the picket line for financial reasons, but the guys who say they're doing it for honor, community service, because they believe in their contract, that is a crock."

 

I don't know. I believe you have to live with these principles your whole life. There are no excuses for an athlete or a coach. I decided to visit Esiason at his house.

 

Pulling into his driveway, I could tell Esiason was not alone. Inside there were over 4,000 pounds of angry men. It didn't help that we had just lost to San Francisco. We led by four points with six seconds to go and we had the ball. I was mad, too.

 

At Boomer's house, I took a seat to rest my right knee, still recovering from "guinea pig" surgery. Doctors said it might give me one last chance to pursue a championship. Accepting the challenge meant a grueling rehab. Twenty years later, I'm still icing that knee. You don't want to know what happened that night just like I don't want to remember that season.

 

I played in three "replacement" games with bartenders, bouncers and prison guards. We even won at Seattle, where they had several veterans cross the picket line. The first game back post-strike was in Philadelphia. I sat by myself everywhere and roomed alone. We finished 4-11.

 

The acrimony quickly dissolved the next season.

 

We came within 34 seconds and Stanley Wilson of winning Super Bowl XXIII.

 

Boomer was soon doing underwear ads and even wore a "Reggie Williams for Council" T-shirt to practice. I supported all of his very worthwhile community service efforts. We learned that we could be more successful together, focusing on what we share rather than what makes us different.

 

Maybe I was wrong to make a single-minded decision for a single-minded dream, but everyday when I see thousands of kids passionate about their dreams, my knee doesn't hurt anymore.

 

Former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Reggie Williams is vice president of Disney Sports Attractions and oversees Disney's Wide World of Sports. He played 14 seasons in the NFL and will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year. He can be reached at reggie.williams@disney.com

 

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-williams25_10....story?coll=orl_mezz

[Live or Die Magic 383]

The Sentinel is doing a guest column series with former athletes. This one by former Bengal Reggie Williams is very interesting.

 

Standing up for beliefs can be a painful choice

Reggie Williams

 

Former NFL player Reggie Williams today offers the latest in our series of guest columns. Tomorrow, our series of guest columnists continues with Florida football Coach Urban Meyer.

 

It's been a year since my last surgery, but my knee still hurts. After 13 surgeries on my knees, pain has become my new neighbor, as familiar to me as the route I take to work everyday.

 

It is also a constant reminder of the last time my right knee was this messed up. As captain of the Cincinnati Bengals, I was unwittingly left with scars that no doctor can heal.

 

It was 20 years ago when the NFL was mired in its 1987 labor dispute. And this one was nasty -- fans and players against fans and players, with no sidelines to separate them. The only line was a picket line, and I crossed it. Alone.

 

Growing up in Flint, Mich., I witnessed street-fight strikes. My father is a lifetime United Auto Workers member. The debate with Dad took all night. He raised me, his hearing-impaired child who, through reading and sports, found dreams worth overcoming any adversity. He knew that my dream to win a Super Bowl was hitched to his unfulfilled dream of playing baseball.

 

My Cincinnati teammates took the law into their own hands by lying in front of buses on public streets. Replacement-team buses and player cars were pelted anytime, anywhere. There was no strike on trash-talking, either.

 

This is what Boomer Esiason, our player rep, said after I responded to reporters about the factors I was weighing in my decision: "I can understand if a guy has to cross the picket line for financial reasons, but the guys who say they're doing it for honor, community service, because they believe in their contract, that is a crock."

 

I don't know. I believe you have to live with these principles your whole life. There are no excuses for an athlete or a coach. I decided to visit Esiason at his house.

 

Pulling into his driveway, I could tell Esiason was not alone. Inside there were over 4,000 pounds of angry men. It didn't help that we had just lost to San Francisco. We led by four points with six seconds to go and we had the ball. I was mad, too.

 

At Boomer's house, I took a seat to rest my right knee, still recovering from "guinea pig" surgery. Doctors said it might give me one last chance to pursue a championship. Accepting the challenge meant a grueling rehab. Twenty years later, I'm still icing that knee. You don't want to know what happened that night just like I don't want to remember that season.

 

I played in three "replacement" games with bartenders, bouncers and prison guards. We even won at Seattle, where they had several veterans cross the picket line. The first game back post-strike was in Philadelphia. I sat by myself everywhere and roomed alone. We finished 4-11.

 

The acrimony quickly dissolved the next season.

 

We came within 34 seconds and Stanley Wilson of winning Super Bowl XXIII.

 

Boomer was soon doing underwear ads and even wore a "Reggie Williams for Council" T-shirt to practice. I supported all of his very worthwhile community service efforts. We learned that we could be more successful together, focusing on what we share rather than what makes us different.

 

Maybe I was wrong to make a single-minded decision for a single-minded dream, but everyday when I see thousands of kids passionate about their dreams, my knee doesn't hurt anymore.

 

Former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Reggie Williams is vice president of Disney Sports Attractions and oversees Disney's Wide World of Sports. He played 14 seasons in the NFL and will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year. He can be reached at reggie.williams@disney.com

 

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-williams25_10....story?coll=orl_mezz