Doug Williams Talks Racist Hate Mail, Dominik Disagreement, Josh Freeman Snub & More
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Before Tampa Bay celebrates iconic Doug Williams this afternoon at One Buc Palace, where it officially will be revealed that Williams is the 2015 Ring of Honor inductee, Joe wants your attention on important Williams history — and Bucs history.
Back in 2013, Joe interviewed Williams on live radio. The full audio is below.
Williams dives into the racist hate mail he routinely received as a member of the Bucs, including being mailed a watermelon. Williams also explained that his demise in the Bucs’ front office started when he clashed with Mark Dominik and Dennis Hickey in 2008, before Dominik was GM.
At the time, Williams was adamant the Bucs should sign free agent wide receiver Antonio Bryant, who was on his couch with alleged attitude problems. Dominik thought it would be a disaster.
History reveals the Bucs signed Bryant, who was dominant in 2008, and then Dominik slapped the franchise tag on him a year later when he became GM.
Also, Williams gives a fascinating take on why Josh Freeman wouldn’t participate in the NFL.com feature that honored him on the 25th anniversary of Williams winning the Super Bowl.
Joe highly recommends the NFL.com feature. Grab some lunch and dive in.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:03 pm
Bryant was a beast that season though. The one handed grabs he used to make were something else. Especially the double coverage catches.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Yes, I am sure Doug received hate mail because he was black. Other players receive hate mail for one stupid reason or another.
Why worry or dwell on such morons unless you want to become a professional victim.
I will see that ignorance and raise it 30 years later.
There is a newly hired black female professor just hired at Boston University who tweeted out how much she hates young white males and how much of a problem they are.
How would you like to take a course from that woman if you were a white male.
So far no plans to fire her.
Ignorant racist hate isn’t something the white race has a corner on the market of, Doug.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:22 pm
preach on drdneast !
May 13th, 2015 at 12:25 pm
It was an absolute disgrace the way Doug Williams was treated while he was here.
Same group of a-holes tried to destroy Jameis Winston.
Very glad the racists failed both times.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:30 pm
drdneast
very well said sir.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:37 pm
@ drdneast, you stating that a white male at a predominantly white institution taking a class from one black female professor in the year 2015 is comparable to the racism Doug Williams faced as the only black QB in the NFL, dominated by white male ownership. I hope I’m reading this wrong (u too joejoes fungi), but you are hilarious and delirious at the same time. C’mon man, seriously. I took the bait.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:39 pm
You can’t take the bait. We’ve learned that over and over
May 13th, 2015 at 12:45 pm
Racist hate mail? Seems like that was the stat quo then. drdneast I think you need to look up and understand the difference between racism and bigotry. Bigotry is obviously ever present in every part of every community. Racism REQUIRES the ability to discriminate and dominate a certain race with the institutions of the state. I’m quite sure Doug Williams knows the difference, its time for you to learn as well.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:47 pm
Its an endless cycle. Since there is racism against blacks, naturally that racism is going to be reciprocated to whites. I don’t know how, but it’s got to stop. It’s making this country sick. And I don’t think that guys was baiting.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:48 pm
Drdneast are you one of those people who claims white people are now suffering from reverse racism? Are u seriously comparing what Williams went through with privileged white boys at Boston university?
Smdh, just go away bro.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:50 pm
Andrew 1
Its an endless cycle. Since there is racism against blacks, naturally that racism is going to be reciprocated to whites. I don’t know how, but it’s got to stop. It’s making this country sick. And I don’t think that guys was baiting.
Nicely put Andrew 1. I was trying to come up with an explanation of my support for his comment and you nailed. It is a vicious cycle promoted mainly by the news media and politicians for BOTH sides. It’s big business for them.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:51 pm
No Rsrq I am saying racism exists amongst blacks just as much as whites, even 30 years later by an educated black woman.
You can either let the racists let you become a victim of it forever, or rise above it.
And what difference does it make if you are a white male at a predominately white college make if the professor you have has an agenda against your race and gender that could affect your future.
People with bad hearts who are angry at the world will always find a reason to hate. If it’s not your color, it’s your religion. If not your religion, your political party affiliation. The list goes on and on.
May 13th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
It was an absolute disgrace the way Doug Williams was treated while he was here.
Same group of a-holes tried to destroy Jameis Winston…..
Because we don’t like Winston we are Racists, we didn’t vote for Obama we are racists…. I did not want Winston because he is an immature idiot and I don’t think we should take that risk with the overall first pick on him… I hope he works out and I hope I’m wrong
May 13th, 2015 at 1:02 pm
There is no racism in America these days.
unless you listen to CNN which incites it daily. I truly think the people there have an agenda for some kind of civil war. and the president isn’t helping either.
There’s still opportunity for all, but a lot of the good paying manufacturing jobs are now gone which makes the income gap between the rich and poor even greater. you either work hard and go to school, play sports, learn a trade, be an entrepreneur or go on welfare.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:09 pm
You guys who don’t think reverse racism is real amaze me. My daughter endured endless abuse in high school by the black girls calling her cracker, whitey, and every other racial slur they could think of. Thats not racism? You guys think that is ok?
May 13th, 2015 at 1:13 pm
Media may sensationalize racism, separatism, religious and gender differences, but doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I may have been too young to remember the racist hate mail toward D. Williams, but I do remember the sombrero filled with fans both black and white, because the Bucs were wining, but I did realize that Doug Williams represented something different, blacks really not only wanted but needed him to succeed, if the playing field was ever to become level regardless of race when it came to quarterbacking. At the time he didn’t return to the Bucs, it was deflating to fans, but especially black fans. Call it what you want, but many believe it was a matter of race. But I applaud the franchise that has given African Americans more head coaching and quarterback opportunities than any other NFL franchise (I’m a fan, so im excited when Brad Johnson won us a SB)
May 13th, 2015 at 1:15 pm
Hard to argue with anything you just said captain Doom.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:17 pm
Everyone knows black folks were behind slavery and Jim Crow laws.
Where was the uproar over Mark Sanchez and Peyton Manning, both of whome had serious immaturity problems in college.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:23 pm
“There is no racism in America these days.”
You’re kidding, right? I don’t even watch the news, and yet I still come into contact with it, even at work after my boss says something like “I’m not racist but…” . And maybe racism isn’t the right word, Maybe bigotry like ChanEpic said is a better word for it, but whatever you want to call it, it’s there. Like I said I don’t have an answer for it, but I do know that acting like the problem doesn’t exist is not going to fix anything.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:24 pm
If memory serves, and I havent looked this up, but I remember that when all the players walked out on strike, Doug Williams was the one of the only ones who refused to go out. He remained loyal to the Bucs, then Culverhouse rewarded him by refusing to pay him.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:30 pm
I just happened to watch Selma the other night and it opened my eyes to some stuff about how the suppressed voting right effected the way black were beaten down without any recourse. i.e. white governor, white sheriff, white jury’s because the did not let balcks vote equals whites could do whatever in the hell they wanted and get off scott free.
what many one the other side of the fence don’t realize is most white people don’t realize a lot of these things. we don’t know about MLK to the extent it would make us compassionate. All we here is about the hell that breaks out when there’s a riot. The news certainly doesn’t help things these days. I think it will get better, but it has to start with education on both sides. Educating the whites on what the black went through, and educating, or moreso parenting and having a male role model on the other side. the whole 70% without father growing up is HUGE!!!!! not sure about the answer to that.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:35 pm
Dreambig,
Now imagine your daughter as an adult and that still happening to her and it being accepted by society. Thats racism. Whats happening to your daughter is bullying and of course its not ok. I would be pissed as hell too if that happened to my daughter but its not reverse racism whatever that means.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:36 pm
“You’re kidding, right? I don’t even watch the news, and yet I still come into contact with it, even at work after my boss says something like “I’m not racist but…” . And maybe racism isn’t the right word, Maybe bigotry like ChanEpic said is a better word for it, but whatever you want to call it, it’s there. Like I said I don’t have an answer for it, but I do know that acting like the problem doesn’t exist is not going to fix anything.”
yeah well, there’s a whole lot of sensitivity these days. now the word thug is off limits. c’mon man!
we can stereotype rednecks, jews, mexicans etc, but how dare we say a black guy likes fried chicken.
I don’t get offended when someone cracks nascar jokes, because most of it’s true. To some extent people have to stop using this stuff to complain. we’re all bigots to some extent. I mean black dudes certainly like the positive stereotypes that their bigger, faster, stronger, bigger than a chinaman downstairs etc…
May 13th, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Robert 9…us white folk get reminded of the past via Hollywood up to 10 times a year about how bad blacks were treated, and just how bad we were.
I’m so happy your eyes were opened. No go watch The Help, Ali, Roots, Remember the Titans, 12 years a Slave etc etc. or any of the other 5-6 movies that came out last year about the subject…
May 13th, 2015 at 1:44 pm
Interesting, this thread made me do some googling, and I never realized that there was such controversy over the definition of racism. Apparently the debate says the definition found in the oxford dictionary is not adequate:
Definition: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.
synonyms: racial discrimination, racialism, racial prejudice, xenophobia, chauvinism, bigotry, casteism
This is considered by many to not be complete because it must be power based and flows from power to lack of power.
This is interesting indeed particularly if you are debating if racsism exists today. On an individual level it certainly does, on a institutional level, I would have to think, not so much anymore. I think most major corporations now have taken great strides to promote fair labor practices and have policies in place to combat discrimination. Thats not to say discrimination doesn’t happen, but when it does happen it is inspite of corportate policy, not because of it.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:47 pm
87, i’ve already seen most of those….
but a lot of the movies are just coming about in the last decade.
May 13th, 2015 at 1:53 pm
DrdnEast right on man…how can someone be in an area of higher education be outwardly be preaching sexism and racism in any form, and because it is a black female preaching hate against whites and males its all cool???? COME ON MAN
Doug Williams is a very deserving buc to get in the ring of honor, above the alstotts, dunns, lynchs, etc
May 13th, 2015 at 2:01 pm
WOW !!!!!! Alstott too……Yahoooooooooooo
May 13th, 2015 at 2:02 pm
’bout time they started catching up with more than one inductee………
May 13th, 2015 at 2:04 pm
Preaching hate against any group is wrong. But here is some good news folks.
As an older dude I used to give up believing racism would ever end in my lifetime. And indeed since some people still love to play that card and inflame people’s passions for their votes it’s obviously far from gone.
But it WILL be gone one day just like the homophobia has been getting defeated more and more in recent times.
And there is an easy explanation as to why gay marriage has evolved and as to why eventually racism will disappear.
Racism or bigotry is always based on the “other”. Instead of accepting people as fellow humans we try and separate them into “others” by color of their skin, their sexual orientation and other moronic reasons.
But what has happened is that the “other” has become us. There are now record numbers of intermarriage between ethnicities, religions, and so there are now simply too many other families with “others” as part of their loved ones. It’s harder to hate “us” than it is to hate others.
As fate would have it, I’m a 67 year old white dude with a black niece obviously adopted by my sister. Coincidentally my 68 year old wife also has a black niece adopted by her brother.
Makes it a little more difficult to go along with a “professional” “well educated:” guy who claimed he has bought land in Panama to move back in 2012 in case Obama won again, He stated simply that he would live in a land with an “N” President. You can imagine the warm feelings we have for this jackasss with black members of our family.
This is just an exploding phenomenon. Once enough crackers have intermarried the racism will drop exponentially…on BOTH sides.
May 13th, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Racism and hate is infectious and America is still immature and claim to be “Christian” which suppose to be about love.
It’s hard for any race to understand what it’s like to be the other because you haven’t walked in and black or Hispanic or Asian or white shoes.
The problem is judgement and prejudice and ignorance. When you take lives and kill in the name of race you’re dead wrong – that’s the problem with cops.
Be racist but do it where you don’t harm anyone – or impact their lives because it’s no gain and no difference between a white racist or black. It’s immature and a elitist mentality. No one person created a race – we were created, therefore life and death doesn’t belong to us.
The moment we realize that the better off we are and understand that if you cross that line people have a constitutional right to protect themselves if it means taking up arms.
I would. You don’t have to like me just don’t bring that foolishness to my home and we are good.
Just hate people that claim that racism doesn’t exist and people don’t try to use it for gain or killing. That’s a fallacy.
May 13th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
ed Says:
May 13th, 2015 at 1:35 pm
Dreambig,
Now imagine your daughter as an adult and that still happening to her and it being accepted by society. Thats racism. Whats happening to your daughter is bullying and of course its not ok. I would be pissed as hell too if that happened to my daughter but its not reverse racism whatever that means.
———————————————————————————
Man, it is just not possible for me to comprehend your point, and I am not being rude or confrontational, it just dosn’t add up. If white person A called black person B a racial slur then person A is a racist, right?. If black person B calls white person A a racial slur that person, is a bigot, because they are black can not be a racist. Am I understanding that correctly?
May 13th, 2015 at 2:26 pm
Hey, Joe, I’m also seeing that Mike Alstott will be inducted as well. Any word on that?
May 13th, 2015 at 2:30 pm
Joe got scooped…..BN & PR both have stories up
May 13th, 2015 at 3:09 pm
Hope Alstott doesn’t fumble whatever award they hand him.
I always loved Doug and I was soo pissed when Culverhouse wouldn’t pay him. We had the worst owner, bar none, during that time. I wish I knew where Hugh was buried. I would plan a trip just to go take a giant steamer on his grave.
May 13th, 2015 at 3:17 pm
Yes I am Unbelieveable because I saw it first hand in the company I used to work for which is one of the reasons I am no longer there. It was both reverse racism and gender biased. The company was bound and determined to establish racial and gender quotas and the company suffered because of it.
I find it interesting and very ironic you use a racist term and racial stereotyping in your post.
“White boys,” when referring to college age males is definitely racist.
Assuming all white males attending Boston University are privileged is stereotyping.
May 13th, 2015 at 3:24 pm
Dreambig,
In the situation you provided kids calling other kids names, imo that isnt racism. If its adults teaching the kids to call them names or discrimate against them because of their color that in my mind is racism. Im not saying theres no discrimation against white people, which in my mind is racism but what happened to your daughter is bullying in my opinion (which still is wrong). For me racism is when someone thinks you are inferior based on race, not an individuals actions. Just my opinion on the matter.
May 13th, 2015 at 3:28 pm
It is not racism to point out that Doug Williams was not a very good QB while he was here. For example, in that 1979 winning season he ranked as the 28th best QB in a 28 team league.
Not to mention that in 4 playoff games with the Bucs, his QB rating was 18.6. No, that’s not a mis-type, but the result of a 31% completion rate with 2 TDs and 9 INTs. I’m glad he had a good season with Washington, but during his time here, Doug was a below average QB.
May 13th, 2015 at 3:34 pm
BTW, I love fried chicken, watermelon, collard greens and ham and am a Caucasian.
I have also been called a libertard out here on many occasions. I plead guilty.
What I don’t like and never will, are people, no matter what color or gender, becoming professional victims because of some injustice done 5 to 150 years ago.
Bad things happen in everyone’s life. Rise above it and keep moving forward. Don’t wallow in it and look for a support group to pour your angst out so everyone can feel sorry for you,
In short, “carry your own water.”
May 13th, 2015 at 3:38 pm
Lookahere..You’s either a real Bucs fan or you ain’t!! I was a kid when Doug Williams was our QB. I remember my pops saying, That man Williams is gonna win a superbowl with..the right team. He did!! He played well here despite not having real good players surrounding him. Culverhouse should have..paid the man. But I suspect his attitude was, WHo in the hell does he (Wiliams)
think he is? I am happy Doug is being recognized by the Glazers and Buc Org.
May 13th, 2015 at 3:38 pm
And one more thing, lol. James Wilder still belongs in the Ring of Honor before either Williams or Alstott.
For 6 to 8 years Wilder was the only weapon this team had and took a terrible beating because of it.
When Doug Plank, ex Chicago Bear safety was doing TV color he announced the Bears would do nothing but try to stop Wilder to stop the Bucs.
He said up and down the line you could hear guys yelling, “Key Wilder, Key Wilder.”
May 13th, 2015 at 3:51 pm
I don’t know what a libertard is lol, but I like fried chicken too and I’m also white. Look, no matter what anybody says or does racism will still be around, and like you said there’s no other choice but to keep moving forward. It has gotten better than say the fifties, and hopefully it just keeps getting better and better
May 13th, 2015 at 3:59 pm
When Doug was here the bucs made the playoffs three out of five years. And won a playoff game.
After he was let go by he most idiotic move in team history the bucs went 15 years without a winning season.
When they let Doug go they cut the heart and soul of this team right out, and no stats can measure that.
May 13th, 2015 at 4:01 pm
I like fried chicken, watermelon, ribs, collard greens….
I aint down with chittlins and hog jowls though
May 13th, 2015 at 4:08 pm
I now what they are so I have always deferred, Robert 9.
If anyone wants to start sending me free watermelon and KFC, I will be glad to give them my mailing address.
May 13th, 2015 at 4:16 pm
so, does this mean Cracker Barrel is just for white folk?
May 13th, 2015 at 5:56 pm
Wilder won’t fill the seats like Doug and the A-train, and i think that’s important given ticket sales in recent years. Fans hear Alstott and Williams, and they may contemplate going to those games. they selected 2 less anticipated divisional games for these ceremonies that aren’t hot tickets like the cowboys, giants, bears, packers, or the season opener vs TEN.
i can see them honoring a worthy but less recognizable player (to current buc fans) like wilder once people are packing the stadium just to watch our boys play and not because of a promotional gimmick. frankly i’m surprised they honored Jimmie Giles when they did
May 13th, 2015 at 6:32 pm
You can go read about Dr. Grundy online… The meantime can we please just get back to football.
May 13th, 2015 at 7:12 pm
Thanks Doug for always being a better man than all of your Buc “superiors”.
I’m sorry that Culverhouse was the bigoted and immoral person he was. I also wouldn’t like explaining myself to Dumbinik either.