Ted Williams, the homeless man from Ohio with the golden voice, promised today that he wouldn’t let his mother down as he grappled with his newfound fame.
“I won’t disappoint her anymore,” he said in a moving interview on NBC’s “Today” show a day after reuniting with his mother yesterday after a decade apart.
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Julia Williams, 90, said she’s “very concerned” her son will relapse into the life of drugs and alcohol that left him homeless and begging beside a highway, where he was discovered by a Columbus Dispatch reporter.
In the past, she said “all I got was promises” from Williams that he would get his life together. When she was reunited with him yesterday, one of the first things Julia Williams said to her son was, “Please don’t disappoint me.”
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Today, she said she was haunted by the image of him holding a sign asking for money that spread like wildfire in a Dispatch video.
“How could you get so low how” she asked. “How could you do our family like that.”
After being told of the sign, she went to bed in her Brooklyn home seeing the sign in her mind.
“It’s embarrassing,” she said.
Ted Williams said the difference this time is that he has found God.
“I think if I keep the focus, keep my sight on keeping an ongoing relationship with God, I think I’ll be all right,” he said.
After Williams promised that he wouldn’t disappoint her anymore, his mother said, “I’ve been through enough. I hope it’s over now.”
Julia Williams said seeing her son again yesterday “was just so beautiful,” adding that it “seemed like a dream.”
Ted Williams said he “just lost it” when he saw his mother
Williams also admitted that dealing with his fame and one job offer after another is daunting. On the CBS “Early Show” today, he said that yesterday he wanted a “nerve pill” yesterday but a therapist working with him advised him to learn to “meditate and not medicate.”
Yesterday, Williams recorded a commercial for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and agreed to do voiceover work for MSNBC. The commercial is to air Sunday during the Fight Hunger Bowl on ESPN.
The voiceover promos Thursday for MSNBC’s Lean Forward campaign will begin running immediately, network spokeswoman Tanya Hayre said. He was being paid for the spots, Hayre said, but she declined to say how much.
Williams also taped an appearance on the NBC late-night show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon, who told him his voice “is golden.” Williams recounted his tale of discovery while panhandling on the streets of Columbus, joked about his fondness for “Today” host Matt Lauer and became teary-eyed when he discussed recording his first commercial for Kraft.
But he said he was ready to handle the second chance and the job offers he was being given and predicted that in five years he’d be working as a radio program director and living in his own apartment. He said in 2010 he found a “new sense of spirituality” that would help him deal with whatever success comes.
Williams was contacted Wednesday by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have offered him a position that could include announcing work at Quicken Loans Arena, the team’s downtown facility. Williams said the team has offered him a two-year contract and would pay his living expenses.
“They said that they’re going to give me LeBron’s old house,” Williams joked on NBC on Thursday, referring to former Cavaliers star LeBron James, who left for the Miami Heat.
Williams, 53, was left homeless after his life was ruined by drugs and alcohol, and he was living in a tent near a highway in Columbus just days ago.
Williams also has been in his share of trouble. His past includes a lengthy list of arrests. He has served time in prison for theft and forgery and has been cited with numerous misdemeanors, including drug abuse.
He was most recently arrested on May 14. He pleaded guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor theft charge. In court records, his address is listed as “Streets of Columbus.”
Williams acknowledged his record during the “Today” show appearance and explained that he turned to crime so he could afford his drug habit.
Upon learning of Williams’ criminal history, the Cavaliers said their offer still stands.
“We believe in second chances and second opportunities,” said Tracy Marek, the team’s senior vice president of marketing. “The gentleman deserves an opportunity to explain certain situations. We’re not jumping to conclusions. It’s not fair.”
Williams said his life began spiraling downward in 1996, when he began drinking alcohol “pretty bad.” He used marijuana and cocaine and lost interest in his radio career. He wound up on the streets despite the best efforts of his children, seven daughters and two sons, who live in the Columbus area.
Williams said he celebrated two years of sobriety around Thanksgiving.
“I just hope,” he said, “everyone will pray for me.”
With AP