this POS was on the Dallas team, but he was FAR from being a "star."

"business man," ...*****.


"Fred Goodwin, CMA" <fgoodwin@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1153774592.312259.115170@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

Former Tide, Cowboys star coping with life in prison

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=111181
http://tinyurl.com/mj8r9

July 24, 2006

Associated Press

MOBILE, Ala. -- Sherman Williams still has the swagger.

The former Alabama and NFL running back doesn't believe even prison can
bring him down, though he's traded in jersey No. 20 for Inmate No.
07520-003 and his crimson and white uniform for jail-issued khaki.

"I can handle anything," Williams told the Press-Register of Mobile in
a prison interview at the Forrest City Federal Correctional Institution
in Arkansas.

He has spent nearly six years in the prison about 45 miles west of
Memphis, Tenn. That's where he'll likely reside for at least seven more
years for his conviction on three counts of conspiracy to distribute
marijuana and a separate plea for passing counterfeit currency.

Williams believes performing under the spotlight, in stadiums packed
with fans, toughened him up and prepared him to weather the pressures
of prison life.

"You know, I would think that things that would kill the average man
wouldn't even make me flinch," he told the newspaper in a story Sunday.
"That's the kind of attitude, that's the kind of heart that I have."

Williams, who grew up in Prichard outside Mobile, had his share of
glory. He led Blount High School to a state title and then ran for
2,486 yards at Alabama, fifth-best in school history. Then he spent
four years with the Dallas Cowboys.

Williams was arrested on April 21, 2000 and charged with being the
leader of a drug ring, which authorities said had supplied as much as
1,000 pounds of marijuana to the Mobile area since 1998.

Williams describes drug dealing as part of a lifelong affinity for
business.

"I was always into some type of business," he said. "I would sell you
the red off a brick. I practiced business habits, entrepreneurial
things."

And the risk?

"Whenever you're a businessman, there's always a risk," Williams said.
"The most successful businessmen in the world are going to be high risk
takers. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Me, I just was a
risk taker."

He complains that the prison sentence was too harsh and lashes out at
the three longtime friends -- Frank Freeman, Demetrius Thomas and
Roderick Ward -- who testified against him.

But Williams doesn't sound fazed by his time in prison.

"I'm cool with that," he said. "It's no problem. Do I look like a guy
that's doing hard time?"

Williams is scheduled for release in early 2014, and could get out as
early as the previous July with good behavior.

He said he's only a semester or two away from earning a degree in
Health and Human Performance and still keeps up with the Crimson Tide
on television and by corresponding with former teammates like David
Palmer.

"I watch Alabama play every game," he said. "With the Crimson Tide on,
I've got to watch it. I'm a die-hard Crimson Tide. I bleed crimson.
There's no way around that. That's forever. That's for life."

Williams has requested a transfer to a minimum-security prison in
Alabama to be closer to his mother, Betty Williams. She has suffered a
series of diabetic strokes, had a leg amputated and has lost the
ability to speak.

He also has three children -- teenagers Sherman Jr. and Kristen in
Mobile and 7-year-old Shalan in the Birmingham area -- who have little
contact with their father.

Williams' sentence includes four years of supervised probation, and he
also must work with the Mobile County Public School System to develop a
program in which he can warn middle-school students about the dangers
of drug use.

"Given my next opportunity, I feel like I've got to do something to
reverse the negative and turn it into a positive," Williams said. "I
feel like it's something I have to do."

---
Information from: Press-Register, http://www.al.com/mobileregister