From the Streets to the Studio: The Ted Williams Story

We all believe in second chances. But sometimes, we only get them when we’re ready.

Three days ago, Ted Williams was a homeless man, begging for change on the side of an Ohio highway. This morning, he delivered the opening announcement on NBC’s TODAY show, one of dozens of voiceover and radio gigs he’s been presented with in the past 48 hours, including a job with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have offered Ted a house.

At first, it may seem that Ted’s transformation happened overnight. A Columbus Dispatch reporter saw him panhandling, and shot a video of Ted demonstrating his “God-given voice” for the paper’s website:

The video was reposted on YouTube and in just a few hours, millions worldwide had viewed the video and passed it along to friends, amazed at the powerful voice coming from a man who otherwise seemed so broken. Ted became a web sensation.

But Ted’s transformation didn’t happen overnight. According to him, it began years earlier...with God.

Like many of those living on the streets, Ted had arrived there by following the spiraling path of alcohol and drug addiction. According to the Dispatch, his early success in radio came amid constant drinking and partying with the wrong crowd. His marriage of 17 years disintegrated due to his drug and alcohol abuse and the behavior that came with it. He lost his job soon after.

For a while, his six children had taken turns letting him stay with them, but they stopped after he used drugs in their homes. He stopped calling them. The only time his family saw him was when they passed him on the highway at his frequent begging spot, his arms outstretched for a handout.

A little over two and half years ago, however, Ted came to Alcoholics Anonymous. There, he reconnected with a faith that his mother had instilled in him at a young age, but which he had ignored for years. He told Matt Lauer of TODAY, “I always used to say, God, you never seen fit to take my voice, in spite of all the flames and everything that went down my throat, the voice still maintains some type of resonance.” Ted prayed that his mother would live long enough to see him recover the dignity he had lost.

Recently, he’d been reconnecting with family on the phone, telling them about his newfound faith. “I’ve been acknowledging God on a daily basis this past year,” he told TODAY.

Ted was still on the street, but he kept his faith and saw himself making progress. "I was ready to mark 2010 as another year wasted," he told TODAY, "until I realized that in 2010, I found a new sense of spirituality.”

It was this Ted that the Columbus Dispatch reporter discovered by the roadside three days ago, in a spot where Ted had been all but invisible for years. But this Ted was not the broken man who had destroyed himself, but the man who was finally trying to put the pieces back together. This new Ted deserved a second chance.

Perhaps that’s why he could finally be heard.

With any overnight success, or any person who is suddenly thrust into the spotlight, the question that comes to many a mind is: How will he or she handle it? Have they truly learned from their mistakes? Or will the pressures of fame doom them again?

Ted believes one thing will keep him grounded.

“The difference between my successes of years gone by, I didn't acknowledge the Lord or thank him for anything before. I never once said, ‘Oh, Lord, thank you for this or thank you for another day or forgive me for this.’ This time around, I'm acknowledging him in all my ways.”

Ted’s planning to see his mother, for the first time in over twenty years, this week.

Here’s Ted announcing the TODAY show:

As we know at Guideposts, personal change isn't easy, and it's an ongoing process. We wish Ted the best in the future, and we have hope he will make the best of his second chance. At this time of year, there are a lot of people looking to change their lives, and Ted's story can serve as an example.

UPDATE: Not surprisingly, the man behind the camera has a story of faith to share as well.

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