Williams unfairly criticized for choosing baby over Patriots

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by Stuart Krohn

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Last Saturday, starting offensive lineman David Williams stayed with his wife following the birth of their first son, missing Sunday's game against the Patriots.

His coaches, most members of the print and broadcast media and several fans were outraged at Williams' choice of family over football. The baby was born around seven in the evening, and the game was not until noon the following day, leaving enough time for Williams to race over to the field to play.

I would like to diffuse all this controversy by pointing out how far the priorities of these complainers have strayed.

Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle wrote on Tuesday, "If I'm not mistaken, Mrs. Williams had been pregnant for roughly nine months and it seems contingency arrangements could have been made in advance to ensure hubby's participation in both blessed events."

Albeit tongue-in-cheek, calling the football game blessed reveals the problem of priorities swirling through the team, the media and the fans, which has created the oppressive pressure on this football season for this infamous team.

This should not even be a public incident, but the sorry state of affairs of the Oilers these days has created a problem out of what should have been dealt with and forgotten.

The offensive line coach, Bob Young, has missed the births of his children for football before, so he expects Williams to make the same sacrifice. He stated the case for William's loyalty by arguing, "This is like World War II when guys were going to war and something would come up, but they had to go."

The Oilers are not an army, and we are not at war, Bob.

Football may be important to many people, including myself, but it is not a matter of life and death. Childbirth is.

The Williams have gone through the trauma of losing a child to a miscarriage, thus this second child was even more important to David and his wife, Debi.

The numbers say that Williams had 17 hours to bask in his family's happiness, make the five to six-hour plane ride to Massachusetts and suit up for the game.

Would the team have wanted him in the game if he took the red-eye and hustled into the stadium exhausted, just before kick-off? Probably not. What they really wanted was a fully rested, childbirth-experience-less Williams.

Once Williams decided to be in Houston on Saturday evening, he was bound to be there through the weekend.

There are times when we miss obligations or skip work because we are with people who are more important to us than anything else. I don't understand why football players should be grilled for being human.

Williams missed work for his family. Who among you has not missed work for more petty reasons than family? If his boss wants to reprimand him, fine; but don't give me this "controversy swirls anew with the Oilers" bullshit.

If the team, coaches, media and fans had some perspective, they would not be making a national scene of the Williams family, and the team would not be in such dire straits.

Football is a game. No matter how much money it generates, it is played to have fun and kick some ass. No matter how many of us writers declare the 1993 season to be over, 10 games remain to be played.

On a team that is playing well, a player like Williams would be allowed to stay with his wife with the team's compliments. But since the Oilers are losing, no one is cutting the players any slack until all their wishes are fulfilled.

This team has not been allowed to relax since the loss to Buffalo that ended last season.

Owner Bud Adams gathered the team before the season and told them that the new salary cap next year will force him to completely dismantle this team of high-priced players. So win now or else!

Before they had played their first game, the players were being told they had to win the 19th.

This team keeps losing because they're worried about 1994 and not about the next play. The pressure has sprung up in whining contests between coaches and players.

The media, frustrated by having so many losses to write about (believe me, it's a pain), have fed on all the team controversy and exploited it to soothe their own pain as fans of the team.

You can almost hear the glee in their word processors as they enumerate all of the controversies surrounding this team this season.

This negative attitude in the media has reinforced the self-destructive attitude of the players.

When Warren Moon was benched in favor of Cody Carlson as the starter against New England, he pitifully said, "I think a lot of people finally got what they wanted. Both the media and the fans got exactly what they wanted ... I hope everybody is happy."

No wonder this team is 2-4! I'll tell you what the fans and the media want, Warren. I hate to disappoint you, but it has nothing to do with you.

WE WANT WINS! Simple enough. We want a 6-0 team dominating every opponent, making all of us forget the loss in Buffalo. We want an hour of ass-kicking, head-smashing football where our boys pound the life out of the other team and make us feel good about being Oiler fans.

I don't care who the starting quarterback is, as long as he gets the job done. This is why fans have called for Bucky Richardson to play quarterback-- because they can see that he cares when he plays.

Moon isn't the only player in need of an attitude adjustment. Receiver Haywood Jeffires has gotten upset at offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride for chastising him about running the wrong pass routes. Gilbride quickly told Jeffires to take a seat and put Reggie Brown into the game.

The difference between the Jeffires scenario and the Williams incident is key to revealing the problems facing this team.

Williams made an off-the-field decision based on his priorities in life. Jeffires is free to do so at home, but as soon as he steps inside the lines he has made a commitment to play his heart out and do what the coaches want.

The media and fans can't understand why the performance between the lines has been so lax, so they are looking outside the lines for solutions to the team's problems.

If a player messes up on the field, his coaches, the media and the fans have every right to criticize his performance. But this right never extends into that player's personal life.

Williams' choice was up to him, not to anyone else. Bob Young can tell Williams how to block, but he can't tell him how to raise his family.

Right now, the same writers who are all over Williams' disloyalty are extolling the virtues of the quirky, individualistic Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are fun because they don't take their game too seriously.

Their reaction to losing the opening game of the World Series was, "We got beat. End of story." Once the game is over, you play the next one. Currently, the fans and media are unwilling to take this attitude with the Oilers.

One fan tore up his remaining season tickets over Williams' choice, saying, "I've just had enough after this situation with David Williams. I think everybody should boycott the games."

All I can say to that is this: Hey buddy, dip into that savings account and buy a clue.

The controvery over Williams' decision should remind us of what is really important in life. It should ease the pain we feel over losing games by reminding us that there is real pain and joy in the world.

The media and the fans can't step back from their selfish demands of this team so they turn a life-affirming moment into part of the problem.

Look, folks. On game day, you can surge all your emotional baggage into the Oilers' game for three-and-a-half hours. But then it's time to forget the game and go home to what is really important. Like your families.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 22, 1993 issue.

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