After 21 years, Doug Williams is finally back with the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers.
It is a wholly different organization in 2004, to be sure, most significantly
to Williams in the area of team ownership, but it is still the team with which
he began his very successful NFL career. More than two decades after he finished
his five years as the Bucs’ first star quarterback, Williams has returned
to serve as a personnel executive for the team.
"This is certainly a great day," said Williams. "I look at
a little differently than some people might. They may say this is a great day
for the Buccaneers, but I look it as a great day for Doug Williams to be able
to come back to where he started."
The Buccaneers will introduce their newest employee and elaborate on his responsibilities
at a press conference scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
Tellingly, Williams referred to his once and present employers as 'the Buccaneer
family.' Though his departure from the Buccaneers – one he never wanted
or expected to make – was one of the least popular moves by the franchise
in its history, the episode never lessened his desire to return, a fact some
people might find surprising.
"A lot of people try to think for you," he said. "They really
don't know how Doug Williams feels. I started my career professionally in Tampa,
a place that I've never forgotten. Even the bad times you remember, but there
were so many good times. Coming back now just put icing on the cake for me,
as far as all the good times. I just want to take my hat off to the Glazer
family, Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen for having the insight to give me an opportunity
to be a part of something that I think is great.
"To come back says it all, I think. I don't look at it as a 'healing
wounds' situation; I look at it as an opportunity for me to be involved with
something great."
In addition to its historical relevance for this franchise, it’s reasonable
to call the addition of Williams a major coup for the Buccaneers. After all,
Williams left his post as the head football coach at Grambling University to
come back to Tampa. During his six years at the helm of his alma mater, Williams
led the Tigers to three consecutive conference championships (2000-02), and
his team was named National Black College Champions each of those seasons.
Williams also took home SWAC Coach of the Year honors those three years and
was the Street and Smith's Black College Coach of the Year in 2000.
"I certainly thought about the two (jobs)," said Williams, who helped
restore the Gambling program to prominence. "I realized that in six years
at Grambling State University we've had a pretty good run. I look at it as
an opportunity to be able to go back to where you started and to work with
people that you have a lot of respect for – that's number one. I've always
had a lot of respect for (Head Coach) Jon Gruden, and (General Manager) Bruce
Allen obviously knows what he's doing. It's a challenge, a chance to be in
a position to learn as much as I can about what goes on with a football team."
Williams, who won a Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins in 1988, played
five seasons as a Buccaneer and remains one of the greatest players in franchise
history. He still ranks among the team's all-time leaders in touchdown passes
with 73 (second), passing yards with 12,648 (third), pass attempts with 1,890
(third) and completions with 895 (fourth). He led the Bucs to playoff appearances
in three of his five seasons in Tampa; after his departure, the team followed
with 14 consecutive non-winning seasons.
In an era in which African-American quarterbacks were still rare in the National
Football League, the Buccaneers selected Williams out of Grambling with their
first-round draft pick in 1978. A year later, with Williams at the helm, the
Bucs made the playoffs for the first time, winning the NFC Central and advancing
to the NFC Championship Game in only their fourth year of existence.
In 1986, Tampa Bay traded the NFL rights to Williams to the Washington Redskins
for a 1987 fifth-round pick, which was used on S Tony Mayes, who never saw
action in a Buccaneer uniform. The trade followed two seasons for Williams
with the Oklahoma Outlaws of the USFL. Williams led the Redskins to a 42-10
victory over Denver in Super Bowl XXII following the 1987 season, and was anointed
the game’s MVP after he set or tied several Super Bowl passing records,
including most TD passes (4), most yards passing (340), longest pass completion
(80 yards) and longest TD pass (80 yards). He was the first black quarterback
to ever start a Super Bowl. Williams ended his playing career following the
1989 season with the Redskins.
"Obviously, I was hurt when I left because I thought I would always be
a Buccaneer," he said. "But things happen, and if you look at the
whole picture of the situation, I was able to leave here and do something that
every athlete in professional football would like to do – which Tampa
did a year ago – and that's win the Super Bowl."
Williams has gained invaluable experience at many levels, including the start
of his college head coaching career at Morehouse College in 1997. He also has
previous NFL experience as a scout for Jacksonville in 1995 and as offensive
coordinator for the Scottish Claymores of the World League in 1995, and tutored
running backs for Navy in 1994. Williams also excelled on the high school level
as head coach and athletic director at Point Coupee High School in New Roads,
Louisiana in 1991, and in 1993, he was head coach at Northeast High School
in his hometown of Zachary, La., where he guided the team to a 13-1 record
and the state semifinals.
As Grambling’s quarterback from 1974-77, Williams had a spectacular
college career as he passed for more than 8,000 yards and 93 TDs, leading the
Tigers to three National Black College National Championships and two SWAC
titles. He posted a 36-7 record as a starter and finished fourth in voting
for the 1977 Heisman Trophy.
Williams has four children: Ashley, Adrian, Doug, Jr. and Jasmine
"This is certainly a great day," said Williams. "I look at
a little differently than some people might. They may say this is a great day
for the Buccaneers, but I look it as a great day for Doug Williams to be able
to come back to where he started."