mr. furley
Footballguy
if only because you do some nice things it meant you were always a perfect person.. or vice versa... life would be so much easier to interpret.cstu said:Can we stop praising this loser now?
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Wow....listen to this homeless guy.... (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter eoMMan
- Start date
Has he refused to use his new-found income to get caught up?
Bob Magaw
Footballguy
thank you.pithy/incisive, as usual.
cstu
Footballguy
No idea, I haven't seen any mention of her asking for anything yet.I'm happy for him that he's off the streets and turning his life around, but I'm even happier that Patricia Kirtley may get what she deserves after all she went through. Most of all though I hope he can reconnect with his kids somehow and develop a relationship with his grandkids.
Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll
Footballguy
Yeah, that is hilarious. 
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
He was scheduled to be on Leno tonight, and I had set the DVR. But looking at the show description now, his name is gone.
I wonder if his child-support issues caused the Tonight Show to cancel his appearance.
I wonder if his child-support issues caused the Tonight Show to cancel his appearance.
TommyGilmore
Footballguy
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
Whoa. Good for him seeking help. Gonna be a huge uphill battle for as long as he's struggled with addiction. I'd love to see him on the next season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. They already have Z-list celebs on there anyway.
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
This guy is a friggin Lifetime movie.
Cliff Clavin
Footballguy
Good for her. Guy deserves it.
:golddigger:
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
In rehab already. Fame must be a #####
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
Because the media cracked that bottle of ripple open for him.
Das Boot
Footballguy
Not everybody is as happy that he's actually still an alcoholic and hasn't really been clean for 2 years and has now checked into rehab as you are.
Cliff Clavin
Footballguy
Redemtion
Jefferson the Caregiver
Rebel Without A Pause
In rehab already? Sounds like it's about 20 years too late. This has been a long time coming, whether it works or not is another story but he should make a serious effort here or he will definately be living under a bridge again soon.
Cliff Clavin
Footballguy
Pathetic.
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
Considering he said he'd been sober for 2 years leading up to this, yes, already.
Das Boot
Footballguy
I don't think he was being precisely 100% forthright about that 2 year thing.
Das Boot
Footballguy
From the alternative paper in Columbus:
http://theotherpaper.com/articles/2011/01/...cc142078757.txt
Ted Williams: Who'll be there for him when the other shoe drops?
By Steph Greegor
Published: Thursday, January 13, 2011 12:00 PM EST
The trademark camouflage jacket that once defined “Golden Voice” Ted Williams’s life of chronic homelessness on the streets of Columbus was gone Tuesday afternoon, replaced by soft, black leather and a clean shirt as he talked dirty little secrets with Dr. Phil on the streets of California.
The conversation could be seen in a promo for Dr. Phil’s special on Williams, which was expected to air today. The good doctor is sure to receive a ratings boost from his ride on Williams’s 15-minute fame wave, but the show already has had an effect on Williams himself. It prompted him to cancel all appearances on Wednesday and to check himself into a private rehabilitation center.
“I have some serious questions,” asked the TV doctor, pointing out that it was Williams’s brush with fame and money in his early days on radio that ushered in the drugs and alcohol that dragged him down in the first place.
“That 15 minutes (of fame) is going to come to an end,” said Dr. Phil. “Is he ready for a new life?”
It’s the million-dollar question.
In this modern-day story of redemption, first brought to the world as a video shot by Doral Chenoweth III, a web producer for The Columbus Dispatch, everyone is watching to see if the Golden Voice will sink or swim.
“Everyone deserves a second chance,” said Chenoweth.
And Williams has it in spades. From the Cleveland Cavaliers to Ryan Seacrest and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, everyone has offered a helping hand to the homeless man who, had it not been for YouTube’s ability to create an overnight Internet sensation, would have remained on the street unable to get a job thanks to a sordid past of substance and alcohol abuse and no permanent address.
Williams’s last place of employment before drugs took over his life was in 1996 at the now-defunct radio station WJZA, he told 97.9’s morning crew Dave and Jimmy last week. Williams said he was “taking (his) job for granted” and heavily using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine.
“I didn’t want to work,” he told the radio crew, saying his voice eventually became a “novelty” item he used on the streets to get money for drugs and alcohol. He fell on hard times in ways many people can understand, said Chenoweth.
“It’s a story a lot of people who’ve had alcohol addictions can relate to,” said Chenoweth. “We all see these men at the end of the (freeway) ramps and always wonder, ‘What are they really doing there?’ And here we’ve had a chance to learn about one of them. So far, it’s been a feel-good story.”
The “so far” part of that statement signals the precariousness of Williams’s situation. If only his life of substance abuse could change as quickly as his haircut and clothing.
But alas, as those who’ve struggled with addictions know, a crash to the bottom can be just one emotional trigger away.
The question is: How far will Williams fall when the trigger is pulled?
The cracks are starting to appear, as Williams requested a nerve pill from psychologist Dale Atkins while visiting the Today Show studios last week.
On Monday, Williams was detained by the LAPD after a dispute with his daughter, Janey, turned violent. The Golden Voice walked away from the altercation with scratch marks across his face after the two got into a heated blowout over Janey’s accusation that Williams was again drinking heavily—which Williams denied.
On Wednesday, Williams canceled all public appearances to “decompress, rest and get the professional help that he needs,” according to a statement from his publicist, Battle Plan Promotions, as reported by the Dispatch.
He then entered rehab.
As the castle begins to crumble at the seams, will the folks who rushed to capitalize on Williams’s Internet fame be there for him? Or will they discard him as quickly as they welcomed him in?
The Cavs: We’re here for you, baby
Lots of offers remain on the table at this point as the world waits to see what happens next. But one thing is a sure thing for now—the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“At the end of the day, we’re dealing with a human being,” said Cavs spokesman Tad Carper.
Carper confirmed that the offer to do voiceover work for the Cavs and their sister companies Quicken Loans and Fathead—an offer that was made on-air while Williams appeared on 97.9 Jan. 5—is still on the table.
“We’ve had no additional contact with Ted since we called Wednesday,” said Carper. “(Williams) has had so much thrown at him, we didn’t want to push or stress or add to that. We’ve willingly and patiently accepted a seat in the back.”
And he meant it. Unlike Kraft, which responded to a question about Williams with a cautiously vague statement, Carper was willing to talk seriously about Williams’s sordid past.
“Ted was very upfront, even in the YouTube video, about his past and the fact he’d done some things he wasn’t proud of. We knew that,” said Carper. “He wasn’t trying to hide or be deceitful, and certainly that counts. The only thing we were thinking is: How would he fit into the equation here?”
The team’s job offer was for voiceover work on special web commercials and TV and radio commercials.
As for Williams’s past, Carper said it was just that—his past. And the team didn’t perceive it as an obstacle to hiring him.
A cynic might see Williams as a PR dream come true for a basketball team straddled with the nightmarish LeBron James legacy. Perhaps the best evidence of the purity of the team’s altruism is the fact that the Cavs were trying to help the Golden Voice before he reached the big stage.
“At the time we looked at the video and decided to make the call, (the YouTube video) was under a hundred thousand views,” said Carper. “When we saw it, it wasn’t a huge Internet sensation.”
But then, literally overnight, the video received more than 12 million hits, and Ryan Seacrest was knocking down Williams’s door.
“Obviously, it skyrocketed,” Carper laughed.
Carper will be the first to tell you that the team’s marketing department is pretty smart—it knows how to leverage local fame for positive coverage, but “we try to look at it through the eyes of the person who benefits,” he said. “With the (Golden Voice), the most important thing isn’t where we fell; the important thing is where will Ted Williams end up?”
Kraft was asked the same questions as the Cavs—would the company be there for Williams if his story went south? It responded with a statement that could best be described as non-committal.
“Like many others, KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese and our ad agency were moved by Ted Williams’ story,” the e-mailed statement from Lynee Galia read. “His amazing voice is perfectly suited to our campaign.”
There was no reference to Williams’s past or whether the company would continue to employ him if the other shoe dropped.
What about Doral and The Columbus Dispatch?
By now you know that The Columbus Dispatch and Doral Chenoweth III were responsible for finding the Golden Voice. You know because they told you and everybody else that they were responsible.
The Dispatch even went so far as to force YouTube to remove an unauthorized copy of its Williams video before creating a Dispatch YouTube account just so the paper could post its own copy.
“It’s important to note that at no time did his video ever leave the Internet. It was always available,” Dispatch editor Ben Marrison wrote in an e-mail to The Other Paper. “Moreover, we made the video available to everyone who asked for it, and gave them the code to our embedded video player as well. The only place we didn’t get cooperation was with YouTube, which did not post our link as we requested as part of removing the original video from the YouTube site.”
“This dispatch.com video became the sensation that it did because it was compelling, surprising and was authentic,” Marrison added.
Marrison was asked in a follow-up question if the Dispatch would be there for Williams in some capacity other than simply reporting the story should he fall, to which Marrison responded: “We are not planning to make Williams a full-time beat.”
For his part, Chenoweth deferred to a higher power.
“It’s in God’s hands now. It really is,” he said. “This man has been in the darkest dungeons of the homeless tents, and now he’s been in these earthly palaces, and it’s beyond me at this point. I care for him, I worry about him, I pray for him, and I hope it turns out all right.”
On the other hand, Chenoweth said Williams likely will remain part of his life, as have other people he’s met through his work.
“I keep in touch with people over the years,” he said. “I think Ted will be that way as well. He just may be living in a different city and a bigger house.”
The one thing that’s for certain in all the chaos, said Chenoweth, who has worked “a lot with the homeless in Columbus,” is that Williams’s story has the potential to cause a positive ripple effect.
“My inbox is full of messages from people saying their lives have been changed and they’re going to look at the homeless in a different way,” he said. “In addition to Ted’s life, I hope it’s changed the lives of people who’ve written to me.”
Catalyst for change
Whether Ted Williams changes for the better or worse after his meteoric rise to fame, his story has helped raise public awareness of the homeless. That’s something the Community Shelter Board—which saw 8,000 homeless individuals in Columbus and the rest of Franklin County last year, including 1,400 children—couldn’t be happier about.
“The great thing that this brings to light is that homeless people have talent; they are smart even though they have fallen on hard times. They are people who are valuable,” said Michelle Heritage Ward, the board’s executive director.
She added that chronic homelessness, like Williams experienced, affects only about 10 percent of the homeless population. The rest are average people without serious substance abuse or psychological issues who are just having a financial crisis.
“Now the greater community can see homeless people are more like us than not like us,” Ward said.
As for Williams, Ward said she could appreciate the difficulties he faces.
“Even people who have been raised in families that are celebrity families struggle with fame and fortune,” she said, citing drug-rehab guests like Lindsey Lohan. “I definitely have concerns for him because I think it’s hard for anybody.”
Ward said she hopes Williams is surrounded by people who are acting in his best interest and not just there to exploit him for their own purposes—after all, he saw enough of that on the streets.
“I think as a homeless person, the exploitation in that life is people trying to steal your things, steal your money, take those things, possibly be violent with you,” she said. “The exploitation on the other side is like what happens to a lottery winner: Everybody is suddenly your friend-slash-family.”
“I hope he has good management.”
http://theotherpaper.com/articles/2011/01/...cc142078757.txt
Ted Williams: Who'll be there for him when the other shoe drops?
By Steph Greegor
Published: Thursday, January 13, 2011 12:00 PM EST
The trademark camouflage jacket that once defined “Golden Voice” Ted Williams’s life of chronic homelessness on the streets of Columbus was gone Tuesday afternoon, replaced by soft, black leather and a clean shirt as he talked dirty little secrets with Dr. Phil on the streets of California.
The conversation could be seen in a promo for Dr. Phil’s special on Williams, which was expected to air today. The good doctor is sure to receive a ratings boost from his ride on Williams’s 15-minute fame wave, but the show already has had an effect on Williams himself. It prompted him to cancel all appearances on Wednesday and to check himself into a private rehabilitation center.
“I have some serious questions,” asked the TV doctor, pointing out that it was Williams’s brush with fame and money in his early days on radio that ushered in the drugs and alcohol that dragged him down in the first place.
“That 15 minutes (of fame) is going to come to an end,” said Dr. Phil. “Is he ready for a new life?”
It’s the million-dollar question.
In this modern-day story of redemption, first brought to the world as a video shot by Doral Chenoweth III, a web producer for The Columbus Dispatch, everyone is watching to see if the Golden Voice will sink or swim.
“Everyone deserves a second chance,” said Chenoweth.
And Williams has it in spades. From the Cleveland Cavaliers to Ryan Seacrest and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, everyone has offered a helping hand to the homeless man who, had it not been for YouTube’s ability to create an overnight Internet sensation, would have remained on the street unable to get a job thanks to a sordid past of substance and alcohol abuse and no permanent address.
Williams’s last place of employment before drugs took over his life was in 1996 at the now-defunct radio station WJZA, he told 97.9’s morning crew Dave and Jimmy last week. Williams said he was “taking (his) job for granted” and heavily using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine.
“I didn’t want to work,” he told the radio crew, saying his voice eventually became a “novelty” item he used on the streets to get money for drugs and alcohol. He fell on hard times in ways many people can understand, said Chenoweth.
“It’s a story a lot of people who’ve had alcohol addictions can relate to,” said Chenoweth. “We all see these men at the end of the (freeway) ramps and always wonder, ‘What are they really doing there?’ And here we’ve had a chance to learn about one of them. So far, it’s been a feel-good story.”
The “so far” part of that statement signals the precariousness of Williams’s situation. If only his life of substance abuse could change as quickly as his haircut and clothing.
But alas, as those who’ve struggled with addictions know, a crash to the bottom can be just one emotional trigger away.
The question is: How far will Williams fall when the trigger is pulled?
The cracks are starting to appear, as Williams requested a nerve pill from psychologist Dale Atkins while visiting the Today Show studios last week.
On Monday, Williams was detained by the LAPD after a dispute with his daughter, Janey, turned violent. The Golden Voice walked away from the altercation with scratch marks across his face after the two got into a heated blowout over Janey’s accusation that Williams was again drinking heavily—which Williams denied.
On Wednesday, Williams canceled all public appearances to “decompress, rest and get the professional help that he needs,” according to a statement from his publicist, Battle Plan Promotions, as reported by the Dispatch.
He then entered rehab.
As the castle begins to crumble at the seams, will the folks who rushed to capitalize on Williams’s Internet fame be there for him? Or will they discard him as quickly as they welcomed him in?
The Cavs: We’re here for you, baby
Lots of offers remain on the table at this point as the world waits to see what happens next. But one thing is a sure thing for now—the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“At the end of the day, we’re dealing with a human being,” said Cavs spokesman Tad Carper.
Carper confirmed that the offer to do voiceover work for the Cavs and their sister companies Quicken Loans and Fathead—an offer that was made on-air while Williams appeared on 97.9 Jan. 5—is still on the table.
“We’ve had no additional contact with Ted since we called Wednesday,” said Carper. “(Williams) has had so much thrown at him, we didn’t want to push or stress or add to that. We’ve willingly and patiently accepted a seat in the back.”
And he meant it. Unlike Kraft, which responded to a question about Williams with a cautiously vague statement, Carper was willing to talk seriously about Williams’s sordid past.
“Ted was very upfront, even in the YouTube video, about his past and the fact he’d done some things he wasn’t proud of. We knew that,” said Carper. “He wasn’t trying to hide or be deceitful, and certainly that counts. The only thing we were thinking is: How would he fit into the equation here?”
The team’s job offer was for voiceover work on special web commercials and TV and radio commercials.
As for Williams’s past, Carper said it was just that—his past. And the team didn’t perceive it as an obstacle to hiring him.
A cynic might see Williams as a PR dream come true for a basketball team straddled with the nightmarish LeBron James legacy. Perhaps the best evidence of the purity of the team’s altruism is the fact that the Cavs were trying to help the Golden Voice before he reached the big stage.
“At the time we looked at the video and decided to make the call, (the YouTube video) was under a hundred thousand views,” said Carper. “When we saw it, it wasn’t a huge Internet sensation.”
But then, literally overnight, the video received more than 12 million hits, and Ryan Seacrest was knocking down Williams’s door.
“Obviously, it skyrocketed,” Carper laughed.
Carper will be the first to tell you that the team’s marketing department is pretty smart—it knows how to leverage local fame for positive coverage, but “we try to look at it through the eyes of the person who benefits,” he said. “With the (Golden Voice), the most important thing isn’t where we fell; the important thing is where will Ted Williams end up?”
Kraft was asked the same questions as the Cavs—would the company be there for Williams if his story went south? It responded with a statement that could best be described as non-committal.
“Like many others, KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese and our ad agency were moved by Ted Williams’ story,” the e-mailed statement from Lynee Galia read. “His amazing voice is perfectly suited to our campaign.”
There was no reference to Williams’s past or whether the company would continue to employ him if the other shoe dropped.
What about Doral and The Columbus Dispatch?
By now you know that The Columbus Dispatch and Doral Chenoweth III were responsible for finding the Golden Voice. You know because they told you and everybody else that they were responsible.
The Dispatch even went so far as to force YouTube to remove an unauthorized copy of its Williams video before creating a Dispatch YouTube account just so the paper could post its own copy.
“It’s important to note that at no time did his video ever leave the Internet. It was always available,” Dispatch editor Ben Marrison wrote in an e-mail to The Other Paper. “Moreover, we made the video available to everyone who asked for it, and gave them the code to our embedded video player as well. The only place we didn’t get cooperation was with YouTube, which did not post our link as we requested as part of removing the original video from the YouTube site.”
“This dispatch.com video became the sensation that it did because it was compelling, surprising and was authentic,” Marrison added.
Marrison was asked in a follow-up question if the Dispatch would be there for Williams in some capacity other than simply reporting the story should he fall, to which Marrison responded: “We are not planning to make Williams a full-time beat.”
For his part, Chenoweth deferred to a higher power.
“It’s in God’s hands now. It really is,” he said. “This man has been in the darkest dungeons of the homeless tents, and now he’s been in these earthly palaces, and it’s beyond me at this point. I care for him, I worry about him, I pray for him, and I hope it turns out all right.”
On the other hand, Chenoweth said Williams likely will remain part of his life, as have other people he’s met through his work.
“I keep in touch with people over the years,” he said. “I think Ted will be that way as well. He just may be living in a different city and a bigger house.”
The one thing that’s for certain in all the chaos, said Chenoweth, who has worked “a lot with the homeless in Columbus,” is that Williams’s story has the potential to cause a positive ripple effect.
“My inbox is full of messages from people saying their lives have been changed and they’re going to look at the homeless in a different way,” he said. “In addition to Ted’s life, I hope it’s changed the lives of people who’ve written to me.”
Catalyst for change
Whether Ted Williams changes for the better or worse after his meteoric rise to fame, his story has helped raise public awareness of the homeless. That’s something the Community Shelter Board—which saw 8,000 homeless individuals in Columbus and the rest of Franklin County last year, including 1,400 children—couldn’t be happier about.
“The great thing that this brings to light is that homeless people have talent; they are smart even though they have fallen on hard times. They are people who are valuable,” said Michelle Heritage Ward, the board’s executive director.
She added that chronic homelessness, like Williams experienced, affects only about 10 percent of the homeless population. The rest are average people without serious substance abuse or psychological issues who are just having a financial crisis.
“Now the greater community can see homeless people are more like us than not like us,” Ward said.
As for Williams, Ward said she could appreciate the difficulties he faces.
“Even people who have been raised in families that are celebrity families struggle with fame and fortune,” she said, citing drug-rehab guests like Lindsey Lohan. “I definitely have concerns for him because I think it’s hard for anybody.”
Ward said she hopes Williams is surrounded by people who are acting in his best interest and not just there to exploit him for their own purposes—after all, he saw enough of that on the streets.
“I think as a homeless person, the exploitation in that life is people trying to steal your things, steal your money, take those things, possibly be violent with you,” she said. “The exploitation on the other side is like what happens to a lottery winner: Everybody is suddenly your friend-slash-family.”
“I hope he has good management.”
GroveDiesel
Footballguy
Well, looks like he ditched rehab already. Drug and alcohol addiction really suck.
http://m.tmz.com/article_head.ftl?id=http:...-alcohol-radio/
http://m.tmz.com/article_head.ftl?id=http:...-alcohol-radio/
TommyGilmore
Footballguy
Get him on Celebrity Rehab, stat!
cstu
Footballguy
Wow, so surprising given that he'd been clean for two years and all.
cstu
Footballguy
Too bad he didn't bother to stay around and raise them so they wouldn't end up like that.
Dr. Awesome
Footballguy
Being homeless never sounded so cool.
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
this morning.Out of rehab. New suit, new teeth, new attitude! 
Dr. Awesome
Footballguy
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
A lot more tranquil (and articulate) than the sober house for members of the stunt men community.
cstu
Footballguy
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
I gotta say, nothing beats a hearty laugh at the expense of people who cannot conquer their demons.'Golden Voice' Ted Williams -- Headed Back to Rehab
Topes
Footballguy
cstu
Footballguy
Das Boot
Footballguy
Thanks for those updates, I hadn't heard any news about Ted for a while and assumed it was probably not good.
That is truly awesome to see that he has managed to climb out of his downward spiral to find redemption.
Sounds like ET put a lot of effort into helping him save himself - kudos to them.
That is truly awesome to see that he has managed to climb out of his downward spiral to find redemption.
Sounds like ET put a lot of effort into helping him save himself - kudos to them.
Otis
Footballguy
Yeah I'm not getting why this is funny.I gotta say, nothing beats a hearty laugh at the expense of people who cannot conquer their demons.'Golden Voice' Ted Williams -- Headed Back to Rehab
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
Tony Jabroni
Footballguy
bonesman
Footballguy
Hell yea... really happy for this guy. I hope he can keep himself together.
