Speaker 1: From that white thing that's behind your microphone? What is it?
Speaker 1: From your strap on? Your your strap on? Right there?
Speaker 1: Where did that white thing right in front of you?
Speaker 1: Your right strap on? Right behind the mic the wind
Speaker 1: the windscreen. That's not behind you. It's on the door.
Speaker 1: Oh oh yeah, sorry, it's it's my daughter's. Uh now,
Speaker 1: I don't know what that. That's the chair. Oh that
Speaker 1: the microphone sits on home. Let me get this. Sorry
Speaker 1: behind you. I was like, it was like right there,
Speaker 1: I don't see it. Oh h there goes the vein
Speaker 1: in the forehead. There it goes. What's going on? Everybody?
Speaker 1: I'm one of the hosts with the most peanuts on,
Speaker 1: and I got my guy who's always with me, my
Speaker 1: trusty sidekick, Roman Deacon Hopper. Going on wrong? What's up? Peanut?
Speaker 1: And you are the host with the most out of me?
Speaker 1: And you, um, you do have more. You're older than me,
Speaker 1: you have more kids, I have a longer career. Your
Speaker 1: house is bigger. My house is only bigger because I
Speaker 1: have a basement. You live in Carolina, So y'all in Charlie,
Speaker 1: you don't Yeah, we don't do basis here. But thank
Speaker 1: you man for the introduction. Is always man and uh,
Speaker 1: you want to let the people know who we got
Speaker 1: on our guests? Who's our guest to Yeah, well, unfortunately
Speaker 1: I wasn't able to do this interview, but we have
Speaker 1: the chance and honor and privilege to uh have Doug
Speaker 1: Williams on the show. And he was, Um, he was phenomenal.
Speaker 1: I know, he did an awesome job. You know, Um,
Speaker 1: this is what you do. You know, you're the Martha Stewart,
Speaker 1: You're the Barbara Walters of these interviews. Man and uh,
Speaker 1: just hey, how what do you think? Warrian Pressus of
Speaker 1: uh Doug Mr Williams first and foremost, it was a
Speaker 1: pleasure to have Doug on. Um. You gotta understand growing
Speaker 1: up in a family that both parents attended HBCUs. He
Speaker 1: is part of the Mount Rushmore. I know we like
Speaker 1: to always ask our guests who's on their Mount Rushmore.
Speaker 1: He was one of those. Uh he Eddie Robinson, Jerry Rice,
Speaker 1: Walter Payton. The list can go on and on. But
Speaker 1: Doug Williams being the first African American quarterback to lead
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl team, Uh, he kind of talked to
Speaker 1: some of his experience with that. The things that he
Speaker 1: still holds onto this day and actually him working on
Speaker 1: a day to day basis with the President of the
Speaker 1: Washington Commanders, Jason Wright, who formerly of a football player
Speaker 1: NFL player himself now as the president. It's just amazing
Speaker 1: to see those things and share some of those stories,
Speaker 1: his aspirations, how he ended up at Grambling one of
Speaker 1: the best stories I've ever heard. Um So, peanut, man,
Speaker 1: it was. It was an honor and it really meant
Speaker 1: a lot to have him on. Yeah, all right, Well,
Speaker 1: without further ado, man, I'm I'm ready to listen to us.
Speaker 1: So let's uh, what's gonna listen to this thing? All right?
Speaker 1: We got Mr Doug Williams here, and I just let's
Speaker 1: just jump right into it. Doug, I'm seeing you with
Speaker 1: your Washington Commander shirt on, seeing you in your office
Speaker 1: right now, filling the blank. My life right now is
Speaker 1: my life right now. I'm gonna say it's good, you know,
Speaker 1: you know with I got two girls now that in
Speaker 1: high school playing basketball and come to work every day
Speaker 1: for the Washington Commanders. Man, you can't be in a
Speaker 1: better situation than that I am in the day. So
Speaker 1: I feel pretty good. Okay, we're good, man. Well I'm
Speaker 1: glad you're feeling good. I gotta be honest with you.
Speaker 1: I was a little nervous doing this. So, Doug, you
Speaker 1: were growing up My parents both went to and graduated
Speaker 1: from Alabama State University, so I grew up going to
Speaker 1: all the games, attending everything. And it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: the goat level of of where you're at. And according
Speaker 1: to HBCU, like Lord is real, you're up there with
Speaker 1: you know, it's you, Steve McNair and like Jerry Rice,
Speaker 1: like you are d Man. So so thank you for
Speaker 1: joining us today. Man, it really means the world to me.
Speaker 1: And uh, I know you've had a lot of second acts.
Speaker 1: You know, you're high school coach, you coach at your
Speaker 1: old alma mater, your college alma Marty Grandmar State, and
Speaker 1: now with the NFL executive, with the Bucks and Commanders.
Speaker 1: Why is it been important for you to stay connected
Speaker 1: to the game for all these years? Well, you know
Speaker 1: football has been good to me Roman and um, it's
Speaker 1: hard not to want to still be a part of
Speaker 1: it and get back if you've got an opportunity to
Speaker 1: do that, and that's what I've been able to do.
Speaker 1: And thankful to football from a college level. Of high
Speaker 1: school and the professional rank, you know, just to still
Speaker 1: be in it in itself. To me, it's a it's
Speaker 1: it's something that a lot of people, uh didn't have
Speaker 1: a chance to do. And I'm just glad and thankful
Speaker 1: that I got a chance to do that. But not
Speaker 1: only just be here, but to be able to get back,
Speaker 1: you know, being and working for the National Football League
Speaker 1: and working for the Washington Commanders still give me an
Speaker 1: opportunity to give back to HBCU. You from a time
Speaker 1: standpoint and what I do and what we've been doing,
Speaker 1: Me and James Harris, Jack Harris that he is, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a blessing. It's like your main stay,
Speaker 1: your main focuser sometimes and you know when you're always
Speaker 1: trying to develop these programs in your thought processes, is
Speaker 1: it always trying to help to give back to the
Speaker 1: h b c U. It's like a trickle down fact.
Speaker 1: Or think I was fortunate um number one going to
Speaker 1: Gramlin and and being coached by a guy by name
Speaker 1: of Eddie Robinson, you know, blessed. So I think I
Speaker 1: was fortunate enough to be able to be around a
Speaker 1: man for five years with a red shirt year and
Speaker 1: saw what he did for for h b c U
Speaker 1: and Grahamling and giving back and what he always talked
Speaker 1: about what it meant to him, Um, you know, watching
Speaker 1: young guys grow up and and being able to go
Speaker 1: out in America and support themselves, support the family and
Speaker 1: things like that. So I always felt it was always
Speaker 1: my my duty to give back, no matter where I
Speaker 1: am to to UH institute and the other institution that
Speaker 1: allowed me an opportunity to do what I did, And
Speaker 1: it's it's such a great feeling when we can do
Speaker 1: that and then get back and you can see these
Speaker 1: young guys getting the opportunity. Um, you know, some of
Speaker 1: them might like a legacy boat, some of them might
Speaker 1: play the last football game, but the fact of the matters,
Speaker 1: we gave him that opportunity. That's a good feeling that dance,
Speaker 1: and that's why I do what I do. And Shock
Speaker 1: and Harrison now we talked every day about the things
Speaker 1: that we've been able to do from the h b
Speaker 1: c U standpoint, Like do they actually come up and
Speaker 1: thank you personally for that because or they don't even
Speaker 1: realize that and you probably don't even want the kudos.
Speaker 1: You know that it's not something we look for, but
Speaker 1: it's always good to hear. But we was fortuning last
Speaker 1: last year. Um a bunch of guys after it was
Speaker 1: old with man they were so thankful for being able
Speaker 1: to play in the Legacy Boat, which they wouldn't have
Speaker 1: never got a chance to do. We all know it's
Speaker 1: gonna be two or three guys, maybe four guys from
Speaker 1: hbc U. They get a chance playing other All Star
Speaker 1: Games and maybe go to comeback. But for the masses
Speaker 1: of you know, we had a hundred guys with both teams.
Speaker 1: For the masses, they would never get that opportunity. So
Speaker 1: a lot of them are so thankful to do that.
Speaker 1: And you know, we got we got some help from
Speaker 1: some guys like Jamie Western, you know, and and and
Speaker 1: Um Umstead Um Patrick Mahome. He came down to the game,
Speaker 1: you know, and itself says a lot about who he
Speaker 1: is as a person and what what he I wanted
Speaker 1: to do is help people, and you know, it was
Speaker 1: it was a great thing. Nice. So so let's talk
Speaker 1: about kind of what are your second acts like right now?
Speaker 1: What you're doing. So you're working with Jason right as
Speaker 1: a senior advisor, and so I want to know, give
Speaker 1: me a little bit of info. Was just insight on
Speaker 1: how's that relationship and what do you provide for Jason
Speaker 1: in that role. I think for Jason, you know, being
Speaker 1: the first you know now that they're there three, but
Speaker 1: being the first African American as a president of National
Speaker 1: Football League, I think says a lot. And Uh, what
Speaker 1: Jason did was come in and diversified this whole auganization
Speaker 1: from from that side of the ball. And I thought
Speaker 1: that in itself was great. You know, men, women, black, Latino,
Speaker 1: lb G, t Q, you name it. There wasn't no
Speaker 1: holdback on who he had. He was looking for the
Speaker 1: best people to do the job. And he came in
Speaker 1: and did that. And and every every week or so,
Speaker 1: you know, myself and and three other people we sat
Speaker 1: down and meeting with Jason, and we talked about things
Speaker 1: that is happening in the city, around the city and
Speaker 1: and things that we do like for Sweet Owners and
Speaker 1: and all other people. You know, we show up and
Speaker 1: kind of like I'm kind of like a sounding board
Speaker 1: for Jason. You know, you always asking me something and
Speaker 1: I tell him, you know, the field and the things
Speaker 1: that are going on and what the people are saying
Speaker 1: and the things that you might have to defend and
Speaker 1: things like that. So that's that's basically what I do.
Speaker 1: And it's not a bad situation because I never knew,
Speaker 1: you know, being a player and being on the personnel side,
Speaker 1: these kind of things I didn't even know existed. You know,
Speaker 1: I knew you had people doing certain jobs, but there's
Speaker 1: so much, man, so many fans and the people involved.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's it's amazing some of the things
Speaker 1: you hear. And you know what else is amazing is
Speaker 1: that for as long as you playball, you never knew
Speaker 1: how many other people it takes to make something really work.
Speaker 1: That's that's that's the thing that give me. We got
Speaker 1: so many people work on his side, and you know,
Speaker 1: being in in in the building on the personnel side,
Speaker 1: you didn't get a chance to see that. On this side. Man,
Speaker 1: it is truly a lot of people who work in
Speaker 1: football that you had no idea working football, which which
Speaker 1: I think is great because you give other people who
Speaker 1: are not players, who are not coaches, trainers, whatever, and
Speaker 1: the opportunity to work for the NFL team. You know,
Speaker 1: that is what I try, and I aside so many
Speaker 1: of our young people in today's uh society with that,
Speaker 1: you know, they have these goals and aspirations, but their
Speaker 1: only goals too. You gotta play in the NFL, you
Speaker 1: gotta play in the NBA, you gotta play in the
Speaker 1: w n b A. Instead of saying like you know,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of job, it's way more jobs working
Speaker 1: with those or those companies and with those shields than
Speaker 1: it is actually on the field in front of the camera.
Speaker 1: So it's you can still be parts and achieve your
Speaker 1: goal and be a part of something great like the NFL,
Speaker 1: and that's just as much fun and get the same
Speaker 1: ring without the same bad kneeds, you know, and what
Speaker 1: and and that is true. You know, I'm fortunate of
Speaker 1: my you know, my son actually as assistant coach with
Speaker 1: the Saints, and I got a daughter who works for
Speaker 1: I hate to say, it's the people in Dallas. You know,
Speaker 1: she works for the Cowboy And you know what, they
Speaker 1: love it. You know, he loved coaching, she loved working
Speaker 1: on the other side and in the in the community
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. Man, it's a blessing for me
Speaker 1: to see them work because I know what the NFL
Speaker 1: has done for me and what to do for a
Speaker 1: whole lot of people is give them an opportunity to
Speaker 1: to to work and something that they love being around. Now, Doug,
Speaker 1: given the fact that you are a trailblazer yourself for
Speaker 1: playing quarterback, when of the first African American quarterback, I
Speaker 1: think you're the first one to win the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: if I believe right. And then from there, like I
Speaker 1: know it has to be you're a little bit proud
Speaker 1: and you gotta take some kind of pride in working
Speaker 1: with Jason is he was the first African American president
Speaker 1: And like, like you said, you I'm a sound board,
Speaker 1: but inside personally, how does that really make you feel?
Speaker 1: Working with him? Like, man, every time we do something right,
Speaker 1: this is another step in the right direction for for people.
Speaker 1: You know, what's the most important thing? In fact? Number one,
Speaker 1: Jason played football. Yeah, that's that's the other point. I
Speaker 1: don't even know that didn't even some years in in
Speaker 1: the in the NFL was to me. You know, he
Speaker 1: kind of understand the language that you don't have to
Speaker 1: speak as a player on that fraternity that comes together
Speaker 1: as a player. So it's a lot easier for me
Speaker 1: because you know, Jason give me respect just like I
Speaker 1: give him respect. I think at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: it's about two guys who played in the league that
Speaker 1: can communicate and they understand what what what what is
Speaker 1: being said and what you're talking about. And the respect
Speaker 1: is that because we were both was players. That's really
Speaker 1: cool though, and you know what, it is an unspeaking
Speaker 1: language and respect has always earned, never given. So uh,
Speaker 1: it really means a lot to hear that he was
Speaker 1: also a former player, you know, and continues to divvy
Speaker 1: out power. How is that? Does he just all right,
Speaker 1: you're good at this, you go do it. You're good
Speaker 1: at this, you go do that, and then we all
Speaker 1: come back and report to each other. No, no, you
Speaker 1: know what sitting back number one And like I said,
Speaker 1: I didn't I didn't understand this side of the corn
Speaker 1: of the ball who president standpoint, Jason has done an
Speaker 1: excellent job of finding out what it takes to to
Speaker 1: run organization on this side, you know, Ron Handle's football,
Speaker 1: Jason handing all the business side. And for a guy
Speaker 1: to transition out of being a player to what Jason doing,
Speaker 1: you know, to me, you know, it opens my eyesight
Speaker 1: as it takes all this and Jason has done that,
Speaker 1: and you know all the fashion and you know around
Speaker 1: here in Washington that there's a lot of fires that
Speaker 1: has to be put out. And Jason for some reason,
Speaker 1: team like the fire department a lot of time because
Speaker 1: he's putting out a lot of fires. But he also
Speaker 1: bringing in a lot of things that make this organization
Speaker 1: a good organization with a lot of people don't see
Speaker 1: at this time, but I think if they look at
Speaker 1: what is transpired in the last two or three years, Uh,
Speaker 1: you got to attribute that to to what Jason Wright
Speaker 1: has done. I would agree with you on that. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna even ask you about all those fires he's
Speaker 1: putting out personally, I'm not gonna ask that, but we'll
Speaker 1: keep it moving. Just know they could google that for
Speaker 1: all the listeners. You can google that. Okay. Earlier earlier
Speaker 1: this year, the team created, Uh, Doug Williams Diversity Coaching Fellowship.
Speaker 1: What is that program? And uh, what do you want
Speaker 1: to see come out of it? Well, you know, the
Speaker 1: NFL UM had a director that every team in the
Speaker 1: National Football League has to bring in a young minority
Speaker 1: intern to to work with the quarterbacks and on that
Speaker 1: side of the ball. Because you know, one of the
Speaker 1: things that we found out from from coaches and offensive
Speaker 1: coordinators and quarterback coaches there's not a many of them
Speaker 1: in the National Football League and they're not gonna get
Speaker 1: there if you know, if you just depend on the
Speaker 1: coaches who get jobs hiding people, that's the worst thing
Speaker 1: that has happened. And what the NFL is doing now,
Speaker 1: they're making it possible for that to happen. You bring
Speaker 1: in a minority um guy to work in the quarterback
Speaker 1: and what Ron did here was created Doug Williams minority internship.
Speaker 1: And what what I did personally compared to what other
Speaker 1: people did, they brought in a minority. I brought in
Speaker 1: a minority from h b c U. The guy that
Speaker 1: comes with with my internship gonna always be from my
Speaker 1: h b c U. And making sure that they get
Speaker 1: somebody from HBC to come in and and work with
Speaker 1: with the coaches, the quarterback, the offensive coordinator, the head
Speaker 1: coach on a professional level, so they may want to
Speaker 1: be able to learn as much as they could then
Speaker 1: get an opportunity to coach in the nash Football League,
Speaker 1: to be the quarterback coach, uh to be an offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: and eventually hopefully to be a head coach. Okay, So,
Speaker 1: like I said earlier, any chance you get, you're gonna
Speaker 1: take it all the way back down to to where
Speaker 1: it really started at for you. And now I love
Speaker 1: that personal touch that you put on everything that you do. Doug, Um,
Speaker 1: just a little bit about Robert Vera. He was my
Speaker 1: coach at the Carolina Panthers. I love that man. He's
Speaker 1: a great person, a great heart. Um. I saw that
Speaker 1: he lost his mom more recently, so shout out to him.
Speaker 1: Prayers up for him and his family everything he's going through.
Speaker 1: But Ron is another guy who literally tries to go
Speaker 1: out of the way to make sure diversity is included
Speaker 1: in everything that he does. Him growing up the way
Speaker 1: that he did, being a Mexican American football player that
Speaker 1: he is, he wears that on his chest and he
Speaker 1: doesn't shy away from it because you may be talking
Speaker 1: about that and maybe his experiences and what he's shared
Speaker 1: with you, and and and he and he doesn't shy
Speaker 1: away from it. And he's the one who came to me,
Speaker 1: and you know he's send his his administrative system. He said, coach,
Speaker 1: want to see you. So I went down and you know,
Speaker 1: I had no idea I knew they had to do it,
Speaker 1: but they haven't no idea what he had in mind.
Speaker 1: And I think it's also you're talking about a coach
Speaker 1: who's played the game, you know, played against Ron and
Speaker 1: all that, and there was a respect that he had
Speaker 1: for me. And he said, Hey, this is what we're
Speaker 1: gonna do. We're gonna we're gonna have any time. We're
Speaker 1: gonna name the Doug Williams Interimpship Fellowship. You know, I said, okay.
Speaker 1: He said, it's gonna be a quarterback whatever, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna give you a chance to get all of the
Speaker 1: amazing and and you read them. You you go over
Speaker 1: and then we picked three guys, we bring them in,
Speaker 1: we interview them, and we go from there and lo
Speaker 1: and behold, man, that was That was a great experience
Speaker 1: being in that position. And now you've got a fellowship
Speaker 1: name after Doug william which I think, to me, I
Speaker 1: say a lot about Ron and his organization to respect
Speaker 1: that Doug william It's not that I'm in Zachary, Louisiana
Speaker 1: anywhere I await from it. I'm here for them to
Speaker 1: do that while I'm here. I think it's one of
Speaker 1: those situations when they say, give you your roses? Why
Speaker 1: they Yeah, I think that's what's happening. Man. That's beautiful though.
Speaker 1: And and so Doug, you never had a I mean
Speaker 1: probably outside of Eddie Robinson back in your days at
Speaker 1: Grandma State, you never had a black quarterbacks coach. How
Speaker 1: important or what do you think that feels like when
Speaker 1: you maybe as a young African American coach or or
Speaker 1: or minority player, for you to have a coach or
Speaker 1: somebody that maybe looks like you know, maybe has done
Speaker 1: some things that have some life experiences or do you
Speaker 1: not think that it's important at all? But let me
Speaker 1: say that I think I think, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I think the National Football League, Uh, it's really missing it.
Speaker 1: You know what what a man of color does for
Speaker 1: a lot of the players that are in the locker room.
Speaker 1: I was just reading the article. I forgot I hadn't
Speaker 1: finished reading it. How many teams in this league has
Speaker 1: never had a minority coach? And some situations, you know,
Speaker 1: you see them rehash and bring guys back to this
Speaker 1: team and that team or what happened. But in some
Speaker 1: organization it's meant for African American coach to be the coach,
Speaker 1: then they don't the owners don't don't feel it, and
Speaker 1: most of the owners, a lot of owners don't hid
Speaker 1: to coach. They got head hunters or whatever who picked
Speaker 1: the coach. And you know, I'm not gonna get into
Speaker 1: how that that happens or whatever, but there's so many
Speaker 1: teams out there. I feel that I'm missing the boat.
Speaker 1: And then when you got a young African American quarter back,
Speaker 1: YE say, it isn't and I don't care who hears it.
Speaker 1: If you got a young African Mariican quarterback and then
Speaker 1: you got a black quarterback coach somewhere, it's more than
Speaker 1: exces and over from it's it's it's it's not just
Speaker 1: exce and old. It's being able to communicate and comfortable
Speaker 1: communicating with that individual because that's gonna be some things
Speaker 1: that come up during the season. Uh that's personally in
Speaker 1: the nature that might be affecting his play, is that
Speaker 1: he can talk to somebody else who looked like him,
Speaker 1: who understand him a little more than the guy who's
Speaker 1: really coaching him. I think they're missing it, missing that opportunity.
Speaker 1: And well said, I don't even wanna try and diminish
Speaker 1: your words. By that because you've been in that seat,
Speaker 1: you've played that position, you know exactly what it's like.
Speaker 1: And I'm just glad that you yourself along with Ron,
Speaker 1: are trying to push that, push that narrative to a
Speaker 1: different place now that you know, we want to see
Speaker 1: more African American quarterback coaches, not just offensive because people
Speaker 1: don't understand that. They think, oh, man, you just get
Speaker 1: a coach? Is this But I'm like, no, Actually, the
Speaker 1: hiring process, the way they do it, it starts right
Speaker 1: there in that quarterback room all the time, all the time.
Speaker 1: So those are the little back channels that we don't know,
Speaker 1: and more fans should hear about and really get to
Speaker 1: know and experience a little bit more when you really
Speaker 1: do it a deep dive into the NFL locker room
Speaker 1: and upstairs activities. All right. Another one of your second
Speaker 1: acts is your support for HPU h P c U S,
Speaker 1: which we've talked about three or four different times today already.
Speaker 1: When you think of your legacy, how much do you
Speaker 1: want that to be a part of it or is
Speaker 1: it all of it? Well? I think you know, whatever,
Speaker 1: you know, they always say that, um, between the time
Speaker 1: you're born the time you died as a dash that
Speaker 1: should speak for you, what what what you've done? And
Speaker 1: I can't sit here and say what what that dash says.
Speaker 1: I think it's the people that you dealt with in life,
Speaker 1: and the people who know what you've done is the
Speaker 1: person the people who's feeling that dash. And I can't
Speaker 1: say here what I want my legacy to be. I'm
Speaker 1: fortunate up. You know, I got eight kids and they
Speaker 1: all know what I do, and they all proud of
Speaker 1: me what I've done and keep doing so I think
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, they would be the
Speaker 1: one to feel in that dash, along with a lot
Speaker 1: of other people. You know what, Doug, I'm gonna saying, yes,
Speaker 1: it would all right. I knew about this man from
Speaker 1: from his playing days, and not only that, but he
Speaker 1: was the first to go out there and do it
Speaker 1: and to win at the highest level where a lot
Speaker 1: of African Americans could not play quarterback at the time.
Speaker 1: They would move you to dB or play tre at
Speaker 1: wide receivers somewhere else. So I would go out there
Speaker 1: and said it was you, It was Eddie Robinson and
Speaker 1: for me, Stephen Nearro, Jay Rice. Those are my top
Speaker 1: guys that came from HBCU is watching it, growing up
Speaker 1: in it. And so Mr Doug, I will tell you that.
Speaker 1: I know you don't want to call you Mr. But Doug,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you it's gonna be on there. All right,
Speaker 1: there we go, alright, there we go, no doubt. So
Speaker 1: when you created the Black House Football Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: back in two thousand on which first of all, I
Speaker 1: want you to tell me that process. How did that
Speaker 1: come about? Did you envision like it would be such
Speaker 1: a monumental success, like like, how could you imagine it
Speaker 1: from going to nothing toil all of a sudden boom
Speaker 1: where we are well, you know, couldn't. I couldn't see
Speaker 1: back in two thousand nine where we are today. Let
Speaker 1: me see. Let me tell exactly how it all started.
Speaker 1: James Harrison. No, we we had a foundation, Williams and
Speaker 1: Harris Foundation. And when Hurricane could trine a king, a
Speaker 1: lot of kids were moved from New Orleans and all
Speaker 1: different kinds of places and Shreeport, Louisiana. They moved a
Speaker 1: bunch of kids. And what me and and James did
Speaker 1: we we gave a hundred kids. Were a hundred kids
Speaker 1: that have been moved on New or up at street Port,
Speaker 1: and we gave him all a during the Christmas time
Speaker 1: a hundred dollars gifts certificate that could only be spent
Speaker 1: on either kids clothes or tours, which that eliminate the
Speaker 1: older people using that to get his thing they want,
Speaker 1: so when they went to the casher and that's the
Speaker 1: only only thing you can get with kids closed. And
Speaker 1: we we kept the foundation going. We we did UH tournaments.
Speaker 1: We raised money for for single women who was like
Speaker 1: in their senior year college they was gonna graduate. We
Speaker 1: made sure their last semester tuitione was paid. We gave
Speaker 1: them all UH laptops and things like that. We did
Speaker 1: that a lot. But it was this report and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, as as I traveled and James
Speaker 1: traveled to certain tournaments and UM chair of Events and
Speaker 1: raising money to do other things. So we decided to
Speaker 1: do that and I went to Hawaii to June Jones,
Speaker 1: who who was doing the benefit over there to play
Speaker 1: this golf tom and I came back and I said,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stop in l A because James Harris was
Speaker 1: in l A for a few days. And the guy
Speaker 1: that ran June Jones Found Nation was over there, and
Speaker 1: I asked him when he stopped in l A with
Speaker 1: me and we sat down with James Harris, so he
Speaker 1: came over. We went to breakfast that morning, and we
Speaker 1: pitched the Black College Football Hall of Fame to him.
Speaker 1: Now you're talking about the white guy that lives in
Speaker 1: in the in Las Vegas. You don't know nothing about
Speaker 1: hbc You have no idea. But we tried to tell
Speaker 1: him how many guys that have gone on to to
Speaker 1: HBCU that was great players and that had never gotten recognized.
Speaker 1: How many Black College Football Hall of Famers in the
Speaker 1: NFL that was already there that still had not gotten
Speaker 1: all the flowers. And he he said, well, look, let's
Speaker 1: let's talk about this again in the morning. And that
Speaker 1: morning he woke up, he came me, so I got it.
Speaker 1: So we sat down and from that they owned. The
Speaker 1: Black College Football Hall of Fame was was born and
Speaker 1: Arthur Blank, Arthur Blank and and and John P. R
Speaker 1: a payment system in Atlanta. You know, I got always
Speaker 1: get those guy's credit because what the Blank was was
Speaker 1: one of our biggest monster along with John pr. And.
Speaker 1: It says a lot about the author Blak because he
Speaker 1: saw vision and the first three times we had the
Speaker 1: event in the in Atlanta. We had a different hotels
Speaker 1: at that time because we was were trying to extand
Speaker 1: it ourselves. A blank came to all three and he
Speaker 1: sat there after one of them the first one was over.
Speaker 1: You know, he sat there and I went to thank
Speaker 1: him for for his support, and he told me, he said,
Speaker 1: I could say here all night and look at the video.
Speaker 1: He said, I had no idea these guys went to
Speaker 1: h b c U and and and that is true
Speaker 1: because a lot of people don't know a lot of
Speaker 1: guys that are playing the National Football League that the
Speaker 1: NFL Hall of Famers and things like that had gone
Speaker 1: to h b c U. And now we gotten to
Speaker 1: the point nine where we still have the dealer, but
Speaker 1: we have it at the College Football Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, but we're gonna be housed in can't Ohire,
Speaker 1: which to me, that was the thing that that the
Speaker 1: straw that broke the camera back was to be able
Speaker 1: to be in can know how you as the Football League,
Speaker 1: UH Dave Baker, who was who was the exacting director
Speaker 1: of the Hall of Fame at one time, UH called
Speaker 1: me and shack On. We was on the three way
Speaker 1: and he didn't want to. Asked us, had we thought
Speaker 1: about moving in the housing part of the Black College
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame to Canton and that was no way.
Speaker 1: That was a no brainer. I said, oh yeah, before
Speaker 1: he even got it out of his mouth, gonna be
Speaker 1: in Canadon. As you know, they're doing a whole lot
Speaker 1: of um working. Canon re refromised the whole thing, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna be housed there. And the reason he decided
Speaker 1: to do that because the history, the history of HBCU.
Speaker 1: He said, it's so important to the National Football League
Speaker 1: and football as a whole that he felt like it
Speaker 1: was only great to be housed in. Can't know how
Speaker 1: you I didn't know that it got housed in Canada, Ohio,
Speaker 1: and that just has to be. It's really cool to say,
Speaker 1: like I had this one vision to take us through
Speaker 1: that whole story, and now this is what we got
Speaker 1: and to be able to recognize all these great players.
Speaker 1: I was just on earlier one of our producers, Thomas Warren,
Speaker 1: talking about how many of the NFL greats all went
Speaker 1: to hbc USED in the sixties and early seventies, like
Speaker 1: that was the only place you could get recognized. Walter
Speaker 1: Payton came out I think in in in the seventy
Speaker 1: five draft. I think m hm. In that draft, Jackson
Speaker 1: State had nine players that were drafted had eight. So
Speaker 1: kind of tell you where where all of the black
Speaker 1: guys went to school was? Was that in the squat comforts?
Speaker 1: You know, when you think about Jackson State Roberts, Walter Payton,
Speaker 1: and Jackie Slayter, that's not talking about all other players.
Speaker 1: All those guys was on that same team in nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy four. Well, I got an opportunity to play against
Speaker 1: as as a freshman at Grammar. You know, so just
Speaker 1: think about what they did for the National Football League
Speaker 1: playing days coming from h b c U. So that
Speaker 1: was a lot of history that has never still hadn't
Speaker 1: been recognized, you know, for for what they've done h
Speaker 1: in the National Football League and what they did as
Speaker 1: a college player at the h b c U. So
Speaker 1: how much pride do you take now that it's in
Speaker 1: Kent Man. You know, it's kind of take your breath
Speaker 1: away because what it does, what I'm here or not,
Speaker 1: I may be going on, it's gonna always be the
Speaker 1: h b c U Black College Football Hall of fame,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be able to recognize the guys that
Speaker 1: a lot of us didn't know, but they family and
Speaker 1: all other people around knew that they went to those
Speaker 1: colleges and they getting recognized. Now, that's what you call
Speaker 1: giving guys flowers. Some mother still here, some of them
Speaker 1: are going on, but they get flowers before they leave.
Speaker 1: That's that's so critical though, you know, and for them,
Speaker 1: not only for them, but then also their their families.
Speaker 1: That's the most important thing. Their family man get a
Speaker 1: chance to recognize as that whoever my uncle, my dad
Speaker 1: and my cousin or whatever what he did at that institution. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I love that. Thanks stuff for sharing all that with us,
Speaker 1: all right, So how do we maintain this wave of
Speaker 1: recognition and support for that HBCUs, especially how much they've
Speaker 1: gotten over the last three or four years, So it's
Speaker 1: not just a flash in the pan, but something that
Speaker 1: really sticks and stays for a long time. That's that's
Speaker 1: an interesting um dynamic, you know. And and let me
Speaker 1: say it is and go back to the d ndon
Speaker 1: going to Jackson State brough so much buildibility to HBCUs.
Speaker 1: And the most important thing here that I've I've said
Speaker 1: this that what if Dion get a job at a
Speaker 1: Power five scouse. Hopefully he does because he deserved. Do
Speaker 1: we still keep that buildability it doesn't leave and go
Speaker 1: with Dion. That's that's a that's a great course. And
Speaker 1: hopefully the people who support HBCU doing the last a
Speaker 1: couple of years with Dion would continue to do that.
Speaker 1: And we have to graduate of HBCU. We got to
Speaker 1: do the same thing. Yeah, And I think that's the
Speaker 1: most important part of his whole situation is the one
Speaker 1: that's the alumni. The alumni has to continue to keep
Speaker 1: up with it. And my mom and dad talked about
Speaker 1: that all the time, trying to continue to support Alabama
Speaker 1: State the way that they do, whether it's behind the suite,
Speaker 1: always showing up for different alumni events. You gotta show
Speaker 1: up and you gotta show up in your wallet too, man.
Speaker 1: That's so important. Yeah. And the visibility part, I want
Speaker 1: to see how do we keep that going because it's
Speaker 1: not just Dion. Dion is his own thing. Dion has
Speaker 1: a brand. He has a brand. I mean he's prime time.
Speaker 1: That he is prime time and he's been that way
Speaker 1: as a coach. He's coach prime and you know, he's
Speaker 1: on commercials with Nick Saban, so he's there. And how
Speaker 1: do we continue to carry this thing? We don't lose it.
Speaker 1: We don't want to go backwards. I know we've got
Speaker 1: Eddie George and and um what was the former coordinator
Speaker 1: for the Bengals and we got you got edit At
Speaker 1: Robinson in Alabama State right now, Eddie Robinson in Alabama State.
Speaker 1: He was really good too, you know, and that was great.
Speaker 1: I know he kind here in deon cats a little words,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. He ain't swack, but um,
Speaker 1: trust me, my family was highly involved in all this day.
Speaker 1: They have their own emotions about it. I think any
Speaker 1: sometimes any drama is good for TV, so it's good.
Speaker 1: But um, how do we continue to not lose this
Speaker 1: and go backwards? Well, number one, I think we got
Speaker 1: to be real with ourselves and I am um. And
Speaker 1: like you said about d Dion, from the day Dion
Speaker 1: stepped in the NFL, he's been prime time and that's
Speaker 1: not gonna change. And I mind for who he is
Speaker 1: and what he's done. But we all know the disibility
Speaker 1: in Jackson, Mississippi. It's because of DNA. You know, Jackson
Speaker 1: has benefitting from it. Don't get me wrong, jack Stated
Speaker 1: been benefiting from it. But and that's why I actually
Speaker 1: if he leaves there, where would it go? So we
Speaker 1: got to be true to ourselves and understand that we
Speaker 1: as guys of the latest, whoever who graduated from hbc
Speaker 1: you got to be the one that help HBCU carry
Speaker 1: on without a prime time because as long as prime there,
Speaker 1: they're gonna get the busibility. You know, think about it,
Speaker 1: how many how many ex athletes that he brought into
Speaker 1: Jackson State that don't happen an eery every other school.
Speaker 1: You know, Michael Strahan, you got Troy Aikman, you You've
Speaker 1: got everybody who stopped in the Jackson but nobody stopped
Speaker 1: in the Houston, Texas Southern, nobody stopped in Huntsville, Alabama,
Speaker 1: nobody up in Mississippi Valley. You know. But but how
Speaker 1: we get that to spread around to HBCU. It's the
Speaker 1: most important thing. Yeah, And I don't have that answer,
Speaker 1: but it's so true. I mean, he got Mike Zimber
Speaker 1: working for him as like, and I'm like, zim is
Speaker 1: a what it's almost unfair you said it, but it's true. Um,
Speaker 1: It's it's such a weird thing, but it's so not
Speaker 1: weird because of who we're talking about, and that's Dion
Speaker 1: Sanders and and coach prom has done an amazing job.
Speaker 1: I hope this continues, this wave of love and visibility
Speaker 1: continues to spread amongst the HBCUs and so um, I
Speaker 1: gotta tell you this. So for a kid from Zachary, Louisiana,
Speaker 1: which I don't even know what that is exactly, is
Speaker 1: it closer to street for it you played in New Orleans?
Speaker 1: Let me tell you where it's. That is, right, I
Speaker 1: do know what bad ruge ruge. That's not far at
Speaker 1: all you talking about Zachary Baker Baton Rouge. We right there.
Speaker 1: I didn't even know that. That's how some it must be.
Speaker 1: That small. It's one of those pounds that at one
Speaker 1: point it's grown a lot since the Hurricane Katrina. That's
Speaker 1: got his own school system. Now zach got it. It
Speaker 1: broke away from East Batman's parents, but it was so
Speaker 1: small they had welcome to zachar and and come again
Speaker 1: on the same side. That's how small. When I was young,
Speaker 1: we had one caution like that's sounds like my dad's
Speaker 1: hoped own. Oh man, that's hilarious. Okay from zach Louisiana.
Speaker 1: You come a long way when you say just give
Speaker 1: me an overall synopsis is like that's you know, when
Speaker 1: we won the Super Bowl here in eighty seventh season,
Speaker 1: I went to the White House and I was standing
Speaker 1: up there with President Reagan, and the one word I
Speaker 1: said to myself, I said, it's a long ways from
Speaker 1: Zachary Louisiana to be on stage with the President of
Speaker 1: the United States. Man. And the good part about it,
Speaker 1: it's um. We talked about it all the time, me
Speaker 1: and Shock. We always talked about the road that was
Speaker 1: less traveled, how how we both got a chance to
Speaker 1: get to a point where we were being successful in
Speaker 1: National Football League, and all the things that you had
Speaker 1: to endure and how you get there and no matter
Speaker 1: how many times you got knocked down. Coach Robber used
Speaker 1: to always tell us, it ain't nobody getting knocked down.
Speaker 1: It's about getting up every time. It's getting up off
Speaker 1: the turk. And and I think about that and and
Speaker 1: and all the things that we had to go through
Speaker 1: during the Civil rights time and all that that never
Speaker 1: bothered me. I didn't. I didn't realize until I got
Speaker 1: older what what that really was and you look back
Speaker 1: on it. But as an athlete, you know, you involved
Speaker 1: in athletics and playing baseball, football, all that in high
Speaker 1: school alway to college, a lot of things didn't even
Speaker 1: didn't even hit you, didn't even resonate. And then you
Speaker 1: realize what so many other people was dealing with and
Speaker 1: you there with and didn't know what was happening, you know,
Speaker 1: and and always come back to with. My dad used
Speaker 1: to always say, it's water up under the bridge, so
Speaker 1: I never looked at it and took into hard when
Speaker 1: somebody say something about me. And like when I was
Speaker 1: playing National Football League, that was so many commentators man
Speaker 1: made derogatory statements and things like that because they never
Speaker 1: seen a black quarterback and and they couldn't get used
Speaker 1: to it. I know what I was in Tample. Every
Speaker 1: article you know that was written was either Doug Williams,
Speaker 1: Tampa's black quarterback, Tampa Bay's black quarterback. You know, so
Speaker 1: because they never got used to it, which todaytime does
Speaker 1: a look different. Nobody to talk about the color of
Speaker 1: the quarterback. Now it's it's about the quarterback. And like
Speaker 1: I told him, in the next five, six or ten years,
Speaker 1: half of this league gonna be black quarterbacks, you know
Speaker 1: when you look at it realistically, So nobody worried about that.
Speaker 1: That adgect that right now don't even resonate. It's the
Speaker 1: person who's in those positions. And I'm glad to be
Speaker 1: able to come through all that to get to this
Speaker 1: point that that's what it's all about. Nine. It's not
Speaker 1: about the color of your skin. It's the character and
Speaker 1: what not. You can play the position. And so when
Speaker 1: you look back on all that, like, do you appreciate
Speaker 1: it now? Because when you're going through it, you don't
Speaker 1: never appreciate the good old days like you never do,
Speaker 1: you know what, I appreciate it more than ever at
Speaker 1: this stage, At this stage, I do because I remember
Speaker 1: playing little league baseball. I was looking at the picture
Speaker 1: of the day of me playing little league baseball and
Speaker 1: all the things I had to come through I played.
Speaker 1: I was me and the guy named Sherman Floyd was
Speaker 1: the first two guys to integrate. And this is the shame,
Speaker 1: the shame part about it. My oldest brother was our
Speaker 1: coach to integrate American Legion Baseball in in nineteen seventy
Speaker 1: three in Baton Rouge Louisiana. We were the first two
Speaker 1: blacks they would play American Legion baseball. And we played
Speaker 1: the game out in Dnn's frame. And and I know
Speaker 1: you played in New Orleans, but you might not understand
Speaker 1: what Dyn's frame was. That's where David Duke, the Grand
Speaker 1: Dragon lived. The frame about thirty miles thirty four miles
Speaker 1: from my hometown. And we had to play out that
Speaker 1: one night. And you know, we're only two blacks in
Speaker 1: the statement, and my dad was probably the only black
Speaker 1: in the stand and my brothers only black coature. And
Speaker 1: some of the words and some of the things that
Speaker 1: were saying back then, and and you know, my brother
Speaker 1: and the dug Alas always said, don't worry about it, Doug,
Speaker 1: just just show them what you are who you are,
Speaker 1: you know. And I went up and had a cup
Speaker 1: of triples and a doubling thing like that. And he
Speaker 1: always told me to say, they didn't call you whatever
Speaker 1: you want, but you don't look at it that way.
Speaker 1: You just play your game. And I learned to be
Speaker 1: able to overcome things like that at an early age man,
Speaker 1: and I think it helped me to where I am today. Well,
Speaker 1: Doug is clearly has been watered under the bridge for you,
Speaker 1: and it's clearly shown that all of that has done
Speaker 1: is allowed you to continue to grow and be above
Speaker 1: it all man. And it's a it's a pleasure to
Speaker 1: have been sent down and listen to all these answers.
Speaker 1: So we gotta pay some bills. That always says, we
Speaker 1: gotta pay these bills. And we will take a break
Speaker 1: real quick, and uh, we'll be back with more. Doug Williams,
Speaker 1: thank you. This last little segment here, we just got
Speaker 1: like a whole bunch of questions. We just first come like,
Speaker 1: whatever comes to your mind, throw it out there. That's
Speaker 1: what we like to do, put you on the hot
Speaker 1: seat for a second and see how it goes. Are
Speaker 1: you ready? Yeah, all right? What? All right? I can't
Speaker 1: wait for this answer. What are you too? Or Three
Speaker 1: favorite quarterbacks to watching today's game? Quarterback? Yeah, wow, Lamar Jackson,
Speaker 1: without a doubt, I agree that he is. Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: would would be one of my one of my favorite quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: Just what he does and the fact that people say
Speaker 1: he he shouldn't be a quarterback, he should be a
Speaker 1: wide receiver or whatever. And you know, last I check quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: I've charged with throwing TV passes and he and he
Speaker 1: does that. Yeah, you know, the kid was blessed with
Speaker 1: so much talent that people can't really see because it's
Speaker 1: talent over takes what they look at. That so Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson would be there and the key it up in
Speaker 1: Buffalo Joles Alan Man, he played the game whe I
Speaker 1: don't give a damn attitude. Yeah, I think that's the way.
Speaker 1: That's the way it should be played with with I
Speaker 1: don't give a damn attitude. I played a win, and
Speaker 1: I think that's that's the most important thing. And you know,
Speaker 1: I gotta say this. I know is he's always been
Speaker 1: around a long time. But Tom Brady, you know, to me,
Speaker 1: I know they hadn't played well all over the last
Speaker 1: few weeks, but just watching him from a fundamental standpoint,
Speaker 1: it's very sudden that he does anything wrong when he's
Speaker 1: throwing the ball, his partial and everything, it's always the
Speaker 1: same thing. Fundamentally. I like Tom Brady as as as
Speaker 1: the guy man. So those are three guys that for me,
Speaker 1: I love looking at. But there's a lot of guys
Speaker 1: around you know that I like looking at it. Patrick
Speaker 1: m On what he's saying, I mean the other night.
Speaker 1: I'm still trying to figure out. You know, you give him,
Speaker 1: you get a minute and thirty five second on the clock,
Speaker 1: and he gives you twenty five seconds back to me.
Speaker 1: And he does it all the time. It is not
Speaker 1: an accident, that's the thing about it. It ain't accidental.
Speaker 1: This is this is a routine. You know, if you're
Speaker 1: playing Patrick, you got a chance to score to win
Speaker 1: and he's down by six, you know you let the
Speaker 1: clock run out. Man, don't school yeah, because it ain't
Speaker 1: good for you. It's crazy that that's how it's become.
Speaker 1: But it really, he really is become that good, unbelievable.
Speaker 1: A quarterback that you mentioned that I would probably hate
Speaker 1: playing against is definitely Josh Allen because his ability to
Speaker 1: be able to throw the ball that way. He does.
Speaker 1: But he's like six two thirty and trying to run
Speaker 1: over people all the time. That's that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: He don't play You don't play the game with no
Speaker 1: constion as a quarterback. You don't have caution in his head. No,
Speaker 1: you don't understand. He's the quarterback they can't afford to
Speaker 1: lose you no care. No, he's trying to run you
Speaker 1: over and jump over you. They're running quarterback sweets. I'm
Speaker 1: like this next level of quarterback play. I agree. I
Speaker 1: think the NFL is in such a good place when
Speaker 1: it comes to young quarterbacks in this NFL right now.
Speaker 1: It's just it's a lot of star power, lots and
Speaker 1: lots of lot at that position. Thank you for that,
Speaker 1: al right. Next question, what's the biggest thrill getting into
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame yourself or creating a Black college
Speaker 1: football Hall of Fame. Well, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: creating this this black college football Hall of Fame. You know,
Speaker 1: getting into getting into the Hall of Fame is out
Speaker 1: of my hand, out of my control. I can't do
Speaker 1: anything about that point. But but but what we're doing
Speaker 1: is that is creating the Black college Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: I can put my hands in that. So for for me,
Speaker 1: that's what it's all about it this particular time, man.
Speaker 1: You know, making sure people that deserve an opportunity to
Speaker 1: be in here get their flower. That that's and and
Speaker 1: it's not about me. It's about making sure that they
Speaker 1: get what they deserve. Yeah, I love that, And I
Speaker 1: knew you would say that though as soon as you
Speaker 1: know as We've had this conversation because how much pride
Speaker 1: you take into that whole thing? And the story was awesome,
Speaker 1: so uh it was really worth it? All right? How
Speaker 1: much money with Doug Williams command in today's NFL? All right,
Speaker 1: we got top five quarterback contracts? Okay, all right? Number
Speaker 1: one Patrick Mahomes four d fifty million, Josh Allen is
Speaker 1: at two hundred fifty eight million, Russell Wilson two hundred
Speaker 1: forty five million, Kyler Murray to thirty and a half,
Speaker 1: and Deshaun Watson two hundred thirty million with about another
Speaker 1: forty six million a average. All right, Doug, throw yourself
Speaker 1: in that hat. Where are you at? Where? How much
Speaker 1: you think you would need? All let me say that
Speaker 1: I was born too soon. I tell my son that
Speaker 1: all the time. Man, it's amazing where where this is gone?
Speaker 1: And I do believe you know if I was in
Speaker 1: this time? Uh, in the offensive the guys played in
Speaker 1: Remember I played in Tampa five years and you wouldn't
Speaker 1: you You might not remember, but we had two backs
Speaker 1: and tight end and two wideouts and wild I got
Speaker 1: down with on the three point stand that and we
Speaker 1: was running the ball right left pitch right, So all
Speaker 1: these innovative offense today, if I had not had an
Speaker 1: opportunity to play in those type offense, I would probably
Speaker 1: be in those numbers. And there is no doubt in
Speaker 1: about it. You know, Josh, Josh Allen plays a little
Speaker 1: bit like me. I played a little I was playing
Speaker 1: a little bit like Josh, you know, because what I
Speaker 1: did was made sure we was in position to win.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't believe in taking sacks. I would
Speaker 1: throw the ball the way I did think that would
Speaker 1: help the team. And I think at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, I would have been somewhere in those numbers,
Speaker 1: you know, Doug, I tell myself that all the time.
Speaker 1: I like to I blame my parents if I was
Speaker 1: born like like literally eight years later, like I've been
Speaker 1: a totally different like level, totally different level. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: The contracts. And one of my former teammates when I
Speaker 1: first got in the league, he told me said, look,
Speaker 1: hopefully you're blessed and get play. You get to play
Speaker 1: long enough. When you get your first big deal, you're
Speaker 1: gonna love your numbers. And you played long enough. When
Speaker 1: you see somebody sign for that, like their signing bonus
Speaker 1: is gonna be bigger than your whole contract. That's what
Speaker 1: happens for me. I mean, the guy at the bottom
Speaker 1: of the total bold. Oh that's so good and so true.
Speaker 1: The money y'all were making back the crazy. Okay, all right,
Speaker 1: last question here, and this is something we asked every
Speaker 1: one of our guests on here, and you gotta understand
Speaker 1: it's only four. So who is on your personal amount Rushmore?
Speaker 1: I would I would have to say my my first
Speaker 1: three are gonna be my mom and dad and Robinson
Speaker 1: and my oldest brother. There is I love that personal touch,
Speaker 1: people that have really been with you since day one,
Speaker 1: and I ain't ain't no doubt about it. You know,
Speaker 1: It's nothing else I can say when you talk about
Speaker 1: rush my mom more Rushmore, what people mean to you
Speaker 1: that that's me, that's those four people at that mean
Speaker 1: in the world of me. Well, well, thanks for that,
Speaker 1: Doug Man. I appreciate that. Here's one more personal question.
Speaker 1: I want to know, um, what was it like to
Speaker 1: be recruited by Eddie Robinson. Let me tell you how
Speaker 1: that happened, though, Okay, like anybody, let me tell me.
Speaker 1: You know, and you know in nineteen seventy three black
Speaker 1: quarterbacks wouldn't running really playing in the SEC. The only
Speaker 1: be one and they only been one black quarterback in
Speaker 1: the SEC, and that was Kendrick Halloween, Tennessee and even
Speaker 1: the s w C with Texas and all that one
Speaker 1: no black quarterback. So I was I was only recruited
Speaker 1: went to a small school up in Zacharidge to be
Speaker 1: in high school. Recruited by Jackson State, Southern University, Graham
Speaker 1: and Mrs Valley Tennessee State. In Jackson there was there
Speaker 1: was my teams that recruited me. And being from being
Speaker 1: from Zachary, Southern Version on twenty minutes from my house.
Speaker 1: So I really wanted to go to Southern because I
Speaker 1: felt like it would give my parents an opportunity to
Speaker 1: come to the game, you know, and Coach Rob at
Speaker 1: that time you would know him think about this. But
Speaker 1: we had a party line on our telephone, tweet party
Speaker 1: on our line. So Coach I called the house late
Speaker 1: one night about twelve o'clock and so I'm sleep and
Speaker 1: he talked to my mom, and my mom came in
Speaker 1: and she woke me up. She said, hey, you going
Speaker 1: to Grammar. She said, you're going to ground And I said,
Speaker 1: why do you say that. She said, I just got
Speaker 1: off the phone with Coach Robinson and he said, you're
Speaker 1: gonna go to class, you're gonna go to church, and
Speaker 1: you're gonna graduate. And that's the best decision my mama.
Speaker 1: So so so Doug Wills his whole career, he had
Speaker 1: nothing to do with, like your mama can't won't you up?
Speaker 1: Said you go, you go on to Gramlin and then
Speaker 1: that's the that's then is going true. Then you respect
Speaker 1: your parents. She said, you're going what you're gonna do?
Speaker 1: You going, You're going. That's that's so good because as
Speaker 1: I was going through my recruit process, my mom told me, look,
Speaker 1: I need you to stay in the state of Alabama
Speaker 1: because your brother just went to Troy. So this you
Speaker 1: can just cut all the other stuff out, Like it's
Speaker 1: all these other schools here, you just pick one. You're good.
Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, do what your mama saying, right,
Speaker 1: that's save thing. I'm all right, hey, no argument. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's great that that's how you ended up at gramm
Speaker 1: the State University. I hope more people here this because
Speaker 1: that's why you gotta listen to your mama. Right there,
Speaker 1: Mama knows man Thanks, Doug. Well, I'm gonna let you
Speaker 1: get up out of here. Man, it's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1: It's been an honor having you on today on the
Speaker 1: NFL Players Second Acts Podcast. Thank you so much, Doug
Speaker 1: Williamson to appreciate you for stopping about. Thanks for having
Speaker 1: men appreciate you wrong. You did the thing on that one.
Speaker 1: Thanks Dog. That was that was awesome. That was That
Speaker 1: might have been one of your best ones right there.
Speaker 1: That was That was Oprah. You've graduated from Barbara to Oprah.
Speaker 1: That was at Oprah quality right there. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. That was. That was a good one, you know,
Speaker 1: opin that. I appreciate that, man, and really meant the
Speaker 1: world for for Doug to kind of stop by. We
Speaker 1: did miss you on that one. Just your your charisma,
Speaker 1: just being right on time as always, but just no, man,
Speaker 1: it meant the world for him to come out here.
Speaker 1: And also the timing of it, literally talking about Doug
Speaker 1: going into the aspects of being leading HBCUs into the
Speaker 1: next era, understanding that the urgency that HBCUs need to
Speaker 1: work with right now, understanding that Dion was not gonna
Speaker 1: be there forever and long behold He's hired to Colorado
Speaker 1: seven days later before we run off. It's crazy, it's
Speaker 1: awesome too. We should celebrate it. Not everybody should be angry.
Speaker 1: That's what Doug talked about taking upon ourselves to continue
Speaker 1: to grow this game. We can't depend on one sole
Speaker 1: person to do it. It was never gonna work that way,
Speaker 1: So hats off to him and hats off to everybody
Speaker 1: that will continue to push this thing forward. Now, thank
Speaker 1: you guys for all those listeners out there to tuning in.
Speaker 1: Ask you to spread the word and to give us
Speaker 1: a rating and review and to follow on Apple podcast,
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. We out of here.