Flint nativeReggie Williams grew up dreaming of playing linebacker for the home-stateUniversity of Michigan. But when Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler rejected him,Williams went on to excel at Dartmouth, where he graduated in less than fouryears. He was drafted in the third round by the Cincinnati Bengals, for whom heplayed 14 years (and in two Super Bowls).
Williams alsomade his mark off the field, serving two terms as a Cincinnati city councilmanand later as vice president and general manager of the New York/New JerseyKnights of the World League of American Football before rejoining the NFL inthe front office. He helped conceive the idea of the Disney Wide World ofSports Complex. The venue, which hosts more than 180 sporting events annually,is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Williams spokerecently with SportsBusiness Journal New York bureau chief Jerry Kavanagh.
Favorite type of music: I love the Motownsound.
Favorite vacation spot:Hawaii
Favorite artist: Ernie Barnes. He is aformer NFL player who left the game early to save his hands because of thetreasures he could create with his talents.
Favorite book: The Bible
Favorite movie: “PulpFiction”
Most competitive athlete:Muhammad Ali
Toughest one-on-one matchup: WalterPayton
Most memorable NFL moment: I had grown upa Jim Brown fan, and stepping on the field he played on, Cleveland MemorialStadium, in my rookie year sent chills through my body.
Best advice you received or decision you made: Bo Schembechler, the then-head coach at Michigan, told me that I wasn’t goodenough to be a Wolverine. That led to my going to Dartmouth, which was withouta doubt one of the biggest contributors to the success I’ve enjoyed both in theclassroom and in the sports field.
Basic management philosophy: You’re onlyas good as your weakest link.
Regrets: I wish there had been 34 lessseconds left on the clock in Super Bowl XXIII. [The Bengals had a 16-13 leadwhen the 49ers scored with 34 seconds left to win the game.]
Youtook an unlikely path to the NFL and had an unusually long career. What was thekey to joining the league and to your success?
Williams: I think a lot of it is academically based. I wanted to get the best possible education I could, and success in sports still, in my opinion, has its foundation in truly understanding every nuance of the game. And that includes being well-grounded in the playbook and knowing what your assignments are.
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Williams found football a suitable
training ground for local politics. |
What was your biggest adjustment to life after football?
Williams: The fact that one of my primary goals — winning a Super Bowl ring, which had fueled my 14 years of trials, tribulations and ecstasy — was over.
How did the idea of the Disney sports complex first occur to you?
Williams: It was a combination of the things that inspired me as a kid and continued throughout my athletic career. In Flint, Mich., every high school coveted the opportunity to play in the one central stadium in town. And then in college, the physical layout of all the athletic facilities became one of the primary foundations for the look and feel of what we wanted Disney’s Wide World of Sports to be: a place where the passion and intimacy of sports would prevail.
What was the biggest challenge at the start?
Williams: The biggest challenge was meshing the two cultures: one of the ultimate fantasy come true that has as its unifying force pixie dust, versus the authenticity of sports that has as its unifying force sweat, blood and effort.
Last month you said: “In our business, growth is symbolized by more events or more facilities. So, when you have more events and more facilities, that’s really putting an exclamation point on growth.” What are the immediate and long-range plans for the complex for growth?
Williams: We’re very pleased that we’ve announced the 2008 opening of the Jostens Center [a multisport facility]. It’s a great collaboration with phenomenal brand synergies. It will double our ability to host events and tens of thousands more athletes.
Anything down the road?
Williams: We’re looking forward to increasing the number of sports fields: the number of softball, football, lacrosse, soccer fields that we currently have to provide even more opportunities for events and athletes’ growth.
What’s the next big thing in the convergence of sports and entertainment?
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Disney’s Wide World of Sports is celebrating its 10th
anniversary this year. |
Williams: The success of Wii, the new video game hardware that incorporates palpable physical performance with a video game, is going to continue to capture the imagination of young athletes and gamesters alike. Because the games in the software are becoming so realistic, and many colleges now use animation and software comparable to video games to teach the intricacies of technique in enhancing the performance of athletes and teams. I think that’s just going to continue to grow.
Who today best understands the integration of sports and entertainment?
Williams: I’m pretty impressed with what Nike is doing with combining athletic shoes and new technology, such as the iPod and performance fibers.
You have said, “It’s all about the athlete. They drive our business model. In many cases, unless they’re going on to play college sports, it becomes the pinnacle of their sports careers.”
Williams: We believe that now even stronger than before. Our facilities are worthless without athletes competing on them. Any athletic apparel or hardware company is useless without athletes using their products. And so, we want to continue to invest ourselves in every opportunity to have athletes look at competing in Disney’s Wide World of Sports as one of the pinnacles of their athletic careers.
Participation and interest in youth sports seem to be growing stronger than ever.
Williams: That is an observation that grounds us in seeking even more opportunities to draw international athletes and teams and organizations to the existing pool of events we host. That’s the new frontier: international athletic growth.
You have said, “We have to deal head-on with all that is wrong in sports today.” What is wrong in sports today?
Williams: Cheating. One of the hallmarks of the integrity of sports is that there are rules that everyone plays by. Those rules are enforced within the boundaries of the games. Winners and losers are aligned on the outcome because of the fairness of play. Cheating undermines that very crucial foundation.
How do you address that?
Williams: By education. The more you know, the better decisions you can make. For example, with steroids, that short-term potential immediate gratification is going to reap a lifetime of negativity. If you educate earlier, you’re going to have healthier athletes whenever their career ends.
You once held political office. Any further political aspirations?
Williams: I think I learned as much as I can hope to achieve by playing the brutal sport of politics. That being said, it is one of the best experiences I’ve had in terms of trying to be a part of the fabric of a collaborative community.
Was that a “No”?
Williams: (Laughing) Yes, that’s probably a “No.”
The “brutal sport of politics?” As brutal as football?
Williams: There are more blind-side hits in politics than the rules would ever allow on the field of play in football.
