Earl raised a Tiger

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Earl raised a Tiger

By Leland Stein III

When a person looks in the dictionary to find the noun father, Earl Woods, father of Tiger, should have his picture affixed squarely next to that noun.

Tiger, as of two weeks ago, will have to negotiate life without the man he affectionately called “Pops.”

Earl saw his body endure a myriad of illnesses: heart problems, diabetes and poor circulation in his legs, and finally his prostate cancer returned in 2004. He fought the cancer, but at age 74, it was too much for him to overcome.

In announcing his father’s death, Tiger said on his Web site (tigerwoods.com): “My dad was my best friend and greatest role model. He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend.”

Indeed, Earl was all that and more. He is the single reason Tiger has become one of the greatest golfers ever, as well as one the most recognized athletes on the planet.

Earl predicted to all that would listen that Tiger had it in him to live up to the hype, but Earl’s frankness pushed a lot of writers to call him arrogant and foolish.

I was in Palm Springs, actually Indian Wells, for Tiger’s first Skins Tournament and Earl was riding a cart to each hole as I walked the course following Tiger. He had not yet won a major tournament and Earl’s pro-Tiger discourse fell on deaf ears.

For some reason, Earl and I entered into a conversation and we continued to talk between holes, and again after the tournament was completed. He talked about how some were taking his boasts about Tiger’s future greatness on the PGA Tour as idle words, but he assured me that he really believed what he was saying and he would not hide his true thoughts if he were asked questions about how he felt about his son.

We talked after the tournament and I told him I was writing a column in the L. A. Sentinel on Tiger and he unhesitatingly gave me his address and told me to mail the article to him. I did just that.

I only saw Earl a couple times after that when the Tour came to Southern California. But he always recognized me and made it a point to speak.

Earl reminds me of another dad, Richard Williams, who had a vision for his offspring, and more importantly, implemented their visions. Each believed in their children when no one else would and they were not afraid to discuss their vision with whomever would listen.

To reporters who were not used to Black dad’s claiming their children would be champions in predominantly White sports before they actually achieved it, was like blaspheme or a sacred unspoken rule never to be uttered. Each was called overbearing, crazy or buffoon.

But we now know that Tiger, Serena and Venus have that “it,” that only a mother or father can intrinsically sense.

Born Earl Dennison Woods on March 5, 1932, in Manhattan, Kan., he has an impressive resume on his own merit.

He earned a scholarship as a baseball catcher to Kansas State and during his tenure there he was the only Black athlete in the Big Seven (now the Big 12). He earned a degree in sociology in 1953, joined the Army in 1954 and stayed 20 years. He did two tours of duty in Vietnam and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Green Berets.

Earl did not play golf until the age of 42 after he retired from the Army. In retirement, he became a corporation executive until he retired in 1988.

The one thing Earl stood by, like Richard, is they said their kids truly loved the sports they exposed them to.

“It was never a question of me forcing Tiger to play golf,” he told reporters. “I introduced him to baseball and he was a natural switch-hitter. I tried to get him interested in football and cross country, but he would quit after a year because it interfered with his golf. Everything I did was negated.”

One memory that will always stand out for me is when Earl was recovering from heart bypass surgery in 1997 when he ignored doctor’s orders by attending the Masters, where his son became the first man of color to win a major championship, storming to a tournament-record 18-under-par 270 total at the tender age of 21.

Their emotional embrace behind the 18th green at Augusta National was a moment that all fathers could feel and rejoice in with them.

Leland Stein can be heard on 107.5 every Sunday from 11 p.m. to midnight. He can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

By Leland Stein III