Homeless Man with Golden Radio Voice

[JEFF_H]

I dont get why everybody is astounded a homeless guy sounds just like a radio dj.

HE USED TO BE A RADIO DJ

(says so on his friggin sign)

[Monster Dave]

Talk about a whirl wind change for this guy. I just saw that he was on the Today Show with his mom, the Late Show last night, and has signed with Kraft foods and is considering the Cleveland Cavs as a second job.

That's awesome!   

[JEFF_H]

Good job, Kraft...way to get in the news.

Guy that has a deep voice blows up all over the news, and has money thrown at him from every corner.

Guy that should be getting all this attention and support- Narayanan Krishnan
Narayanan Krishnan

[Monster Dave]

I don't think that's a fair comparison. Those are very different ends of the spectrum.

Here's a guy (Ted Williams) who was just a guy - flawed and human, down on his luck, made mistakes, and prayed for change. As it happens, he happened to be in the right place at the right time and his talent got the right person's attention - his wish came true.

What he does with it from this point is his own prerogative. But he seems sincere in wanting a better life. I only hope that we've witnessed something special and that six months from now is still just as good of a story as it is today, rather than learning that he fell back into his old habits and wasted the entire opportunity.

No matter how you look at life, there's always someone that's going to have it better than you, and there's always going to be someone who's going to have it worse than you do - that's all a matter of perspective. All that really matters is how you look at your own life. If he's been living in the depths of poverty, realized the mistakes he's made, maybe now he can steer clear from repeating his past.

Here's to hoping! 

[il d00d]

Good job, Kraft...way to get in the news.

You mean aside from the billions spent on advertising, product placement, etc?  How, oh, how else would they penetrate the consciousness of the American public    

Guy that should be getting all this attention and support- Narayanan Krishnan

I would sooner give support to Narayan Krishnan than Williams, but luckily, charity is not an either:or thing

Without knowing more about his nine children, his relationship with them, or what he has been doing with himself for the last say 50 years, it is kind of hard to make a summary judgement of his character.  But he is sober, seems to be trying to stay that way, appears to be genuinely grateful for the support, and has some talent.  He deserves a shot.  
The fact that he is getting a lot of screen time does not make him an irredeemable asshole, it makes him the luckiest former homeless person ever.  I hope he is able to parlay all this (disproportionate amount of) attention and support he's getting for being the rags to riches story of 2011 into a decent life.

[Monster Dave]

What would really be great is if he uses his (assumed success) to give back/help the homeless in someway.

[mitt]

I heard Will Smith is going to play him for his next movie  




mitt

[JEFF_H]

and for the record....i dont think ill of williams.
hope he does well

More of a comment the way the internet and news media are feeding off each other.
strange how internet memes and youtube videos become lead news stories.


oh, and my mac-n-cheese kicks kraft's mac-cheese ass.

[ducatiz]

I heard Will Smith is going to play him for his next movie   

why is that a surprise?  He said he wants to do every "hobo makes big" role until he retires..

[il d00d]

and for the record....i... think ill of williams.
hope he does ...

... feed off ....
...


... my ... ass.

WHY DO YOU HATE THE HOMELESS?  WHY???

No, I'm pickin up what you're layin down   Why this guy and not someone with greater needs?  Because his story does very well in a 24-hour news cycle.

[Monster Dave]

No, I'm pickin up what you're layin down   Why this guy and not someone with greater needs?  Because his story does very well in a 24-hour news cycle.

There's always going to be someone else with 'greater needs' - and because you can't say "no, sorry I'm not going to help you because there's someone else with more need than you"


All that you can do is save the ones that you can save.

[hbliam]

The reason this is such a big deal is because regardless of his criminal history, nine children, old job, or whatever other reason are trying to use to put him down...he possess's a god given talent that sets him apart from you, me, other needy people, etc. No reason to judge, hate, or try to figure out the meaning of life with this story. Bottom line? A homeless guy has a very marketable talent and is now able to use it to support himself and probably his family. Good for him.

[kopfjäger]

Bottom line? A homeless guy has a very marketable talent and is now able to use it to support himself and probably his family.

He didn't have that talent before?

[Buckethead]

We, as a society, pay huge sums of money to people with physical talents similar to, but greater than, our own.

We don't care if they've done cocaine (Darryl Strawberry) or cocaine (Whitney Houston) or cocaine (Rick James) or cocaine (Tim Allen) or cocaine (Robert Downey Jr.) or cocaine (Stevie Ray Vaughn). The fact is, these people can (could) do something that any of us could do, they just did it in a way that made them unique. (SNNNNNNNNXXXXXX)

We pay celebrities and news personalities for the same reason we pay athletes: they use their natural, and often times honed, talents to do what we can do, but they can do it "better."

This guy is no different. He got his voice heard/face seen by millions of people because of a viral video. Right place, right time. Congrats to the guy with the cell phone cam. We all know who Ted Williams is. Don't give two shits about who recorded it. Someone caught Ted in the act using a honed skill to impress. Props to him for knowing his strengths.

I, personally, get the feeling from watching these short clips that he's a decent guy who "had it all," make the beast with two backsed up, wound up down on his luck, REALIZED he'd make the beast with two backsed up, and is now a media darling. I hope he takes this chance and turns it into something long term. On behalf of everyone I know who has struggled to fight off back-monkeys, I want to believe that this guy can take advantage of the opportunity being given to him and run with it.

That said, I'm a cynic. I give him a 1 in Bradley Nowell chance of staying clean. 

[hbliam]

He didn't have that talent before?

Yes, it was already discussed. He took the wrong path in life and now got a second chance.