Williams

Piston Jerome Williams takes charge in his community

Daily: You do a lot of work in the community, volunteering your time to children and different organizations. Why is that so important to you?

Williams: Working in the community is part of what I studied in college. I was a sociology major, and while at Georgetown, I interned at the community relations commission where you do a lot of community work. So once I graduated and got in the NBA, I had a lot of time on my hands in the off season, so I put my degree to work, basically. I learned that the little things you can do go a long way with the community. I used to run my own basketball camp and have started some mentor programs in the inner city of Detroit where the youth of the city can see a professional athlete making good with his time and also send a message that there are other things than sports that you can do in life to be successful. We brought all kinds of business professionals out to talk to the children and show the kids that it's one thing to want to be a professional athlete, but it's good to have other jobs and you can accomplish anything and be successful. I really think we got that message through to the kids, and we had tutors come down that helped them with homework. All of these people were volunteers from Detroit, so the city of Detroit helped me help the youths. This year, along with my brother, Johnny, we plan on doing two mentor programs, and I hope to make them both even bigger than last year.

D: I know you come from a very big family, something like 55 grandchildren. How has that affected your life, and now in the NBA?

W: Yeah, now it's about up to 65, and still growing. Having that big of a family like that, makes it tough in the NBA, always traveling and away from everyone. I'm from the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., so I'm pretty far from home here. It gets kind of lonely at times. At first it was pretty hard being so far away, because even in college I was at Georgetown, and that's pretty close to home. Now I'm by myself, and it's rough. At school, I was on my own, but home was still just down the street. I always had the cushion there, knowing my family was close. I have a strong family background.

D: If you weren't playing basketball now for a living, what do you think you'd be doing now?

W: Probably working in the community trying to help out, but only part time. I doubt I could live off that. After graduation I had a job with an accounting firm, because I didn't know if I'd be drafted or not, and I planned on going back to school to get an accounting degree if I wasn't. That was my next option.

D: Today so many athletes misuse their position in the public eye, but you're given so much back to the community, why do you think so many young athletes find trouble so easily?

W: Basically it's just different strokes for different folks. It's easy to get caught up in things. One thing about the NBA, is that it brings a lot of attention to yourself, and sometimes I think some players don't really take that into consideration, that at all times you are being watched. The TV cameras are on, and the news is going to follow you. It doesn't matter that it's the summer and it's the off season, because really the off season is still in season as far as the media is concerned. If there is a problem, this is the best time for the media to find out about, because aren't any games to report on. You better watch out, because if there is a game tomorrow then what you did today can be forgotten about, but in the off season, this is the only thing to talk about.

D: During your rookie season last year, you wrote a weekly column about what was happening throughout the season for The Detroit News. What was your experience as a journalist?

W: It was pretty nice, because if there was ever a story about me or I was misquoted, I could always come back and tell the truth. I'm just kidding; it was actually a good experience, because you have a lot of power writing for a newspaper. I got to know a little bit about the job, and learn some things about what journalists go through. I would write a nice long article, hand it in to my editor and the next day in the paper it was all chopped up. I was like 'hey, that was the most important part of the article, and you cut it out!' Man, it was a lot of fun writing those articles, but it sure was frustrating seeing half of what I had written in the paper.

D: What has your experience been as an athlete dealing with the media? There is such a negative connotation now toward the media especially after the Princess Diana ordeal. How has the media treated you?

W: I haven't had any problems at all. I look at it like this, if there is news out there, then the media is going to report it because that is their job. I listen to people talk about Princess Diana, how pictures were so hard to get of her. I feel that if pictures of her were easy to obtain, then there wouldn't be such a demand for them. It was so hard to get a picture of her, so that's why people wanted them so bad. She wasn't one to really take the photographers and enjoy the attention and say 'OK, take my picture.' I'm not saying that that is good or bad, just that if photographs of her were more accessible, there wouldn't have been as great a demand for them. But if there is the demand, then photographers will crawl scratch and fight for them, and they did. If someone wants to take a picture of me then go ahead, it's only a picture.

D: After high school you grew almost 7 inches and you attended a smaller school for two years before transferring to Georgetown. When did you finally realize that playing in the NBA was a realistic dream?

W: Not until I was drafted. I had a job waiting on me, and I wasn't going to mess around if I wasn't drafted. I'm in the NBA and there is nothing wrong with that, but had I not been drafted, I wasn't about to sit around. I wasn't going to be one of those guys sitting in some gym talking about what could have or should have happened. I know some guys that hang on to the NBA dreams for 10 or 11 years before they give it up, but sitting and talking about it isn't going to put clothes on my back or food in my belly. I wasn't going to sit around and hope because a dream can only go so far.

D: You always wear both of your socks pulled up all of the way. Where did that come from and when did that start?

W: I played a lot of playground ball growing up and it started there. I pulled up my socks then because it was kind of a code that I had skills. You can't pull up your socks that high if you aren't good. If you aren't good and you're getting worked over on the court then people are going to let you know that 1) they are beating you and 2) you look stupid with your socks pulled up. But if you are good enough, no one can say anything to you. I started it then, and it just stuck. I guess the code works in the NBA too.

D: The University of Michigan has a lot of problems within the basketball program with boosters and other accusations. But this problem exists all over the country. What was your experience in college with outside people trying to contact you as a student athlete?

W: It's one of these things where as a student-athlete you aren't allowed to work. So you have no money income, and then you are put in a situation where this person wants to give you things. That is a tough decision. U-M is a much bigger campus and has many more alumni than Georgetown, so that just makes it worse. For me, I just went home with my parents and ate and they gave me money, because I wasn't about to get involved with that chaos.

D: You stayed at Georgetown and graduated, and you earned your degree. How do you feel about so many young athletes today either skipping college or leaving after just a year or two?

W: Well, people go to college for different reasons. Some go to get their degree like I did, and others go as a stepping stone to the NBA. It all depends on what kind of goals you have and what kind of goals you set. If you feel you have the opportunity to go to the NBA and make that leap and that is what you want, then go for it. Not everybody goes to college to get their degree, some people only want to play in the NBA, so when the opportunity presents itself, whenever that may be, they take it and that's what they want. That wasn't my goal, but for some it is.

D: You have a lot of former teammates from Georgetown now in the NBA with you. How are your relationships with them, especially with your Pistons teammate Don Reid?

W: Most people don't know this, but the main reason I went to Georgetown was because of Don Reid. We played a lot on the playground, and became friends. We used to go down to the gym and play basketball, so when I was drafted by the Pistons I was so happy. I stayed up all night. I called Don right away, and I remember the phone line was busy, but I got through, and I was so happy, jumping around and going crazy. He and I are good friends. It's nice to see the other guys, but I don't get to talk with them too often.

09-22-97