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Sherman Williams says life as a college and professional player has allowed him to handle the pressures of being a prisoner. Williams is locked up in Arkansas for his conviction as the leader of a drug ring in the Mobile area.
'Business habits'
Ex-Tide star went from behind blockers to behind bars for at least 7 more years
MOBILE (AP) — Sherman Williams still has the swagger.
The former Alabama and NFL running back doesn't believe even prison can bring him down, though he's traded in jersey No. 20 for Inmate No. 07520-003 and his crimson and white uniform for jail-issued khaki.
"I can handle anything," Williams told the Press-Register of Mobile in a prison interview at the Forrest City Federal Correctional Institution in Arkansas.
He has spent nearly six years in the prison about 45 miles west of Memphis. That's where he'll likely reside for at least seven more years for his conviction on three counts of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and a separate plea for passing counterfeit currency.
Williams believes performing under the spotlight, in stadiums packed with fans, toughened him up and prepared him to weather the pressures of prison life.
"You know, I would think that things that would kill the average man wouldn't even make me flinch," he told the newspaper. "That's the kind of attitude, that's the kind of heart that I have."
Williams, who grew up in Prichard outside Mobile, had his share of glory. He led Blount High School to a state title and then ran for 2,486 yards at Alabama, fifth-best in school history. Then he spent four years with the Dallas Cowboys.
Charged as leader of drug ring
Williams was arrested April 21, 2000, and charged with being the leader of a drug ring, which authorities said had supplied as much as 1,000 pounds of marijuana to the Mobile area since 1998.
Williams describes drug dealing as part of a lifelong affinity for business.
"I was always into some type of business," he said.
"I would sell you the red off a brick. I practiced business habits, entrepreneurial things."
And the risk?
"Whenever you're a businessman, there's always a risk," Williams said. "The most successful businessmen in the world are going to be high risk takers. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Me, I just was a risk taker."
He complains that the prison sentence was too harsh and lashes out at the three longtime friends — Frank Freeman, Demetrius Thomas and Roderick Ward — who testified against
him.
But Williams doesn't sound fazed by his time in prison.
"I'm cool with that," he said. "It's no problem. Do I look like a guy that's doing hard time?"
Williams is scheduled for release in early 2014, and could get out as early as the previous July with good behavior.
He said he's only a semester or two away from earning a degree in Health and Human Performance and still keeps up with the Crimson Tide on television and by corresponding with former teammates like David Palmer.
"I watch Alabama play every game," he said. "With the Crimson Tide on, I've got to watch it. I'm a die-hard Crimson Tide. I bleed crimson. There's no way around that. That's forever. That's for life."
Williams has requested a transfer to a minimum-security prison in Alabama to be closer to his mother, Betty Williams. She has suffered a series of diabetic strokes, had a leg amputated and has lost the ability to speak.
He also has three children — teenagers Sherman Jr. and Kristen in Mobile and 7-year-old Shalan in the Birmingham area — who have little contact with their father.
Williams' sentence includes four years of supervised probation, and he also must work with the Mobile County Public School System to develop a program in which he can warn middle-school students about the dangers of drug use.
"Given my next opportunity, I feel like I've got to do something to reverse the negative and turn it into a positive," Williams said. "I feel like it's something I have to do."
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