The Rush: Yankee legend Bernie Williams on hearing boos, shredding guitar, and playing sports in the time of COVID
Yankees legend Bernie Williams joins Jared to discuss whether he might have opted out of a MLB season played during a pandemic, the recent challenges the NFL has faced battling COVID-19 during the season like the Steelers - Ravens game getting rescheduled quite a few times, why the Bronx Cheer brings out both the best and the worst in an athlete, and how earning a BA in music after retiring from baseball humbled him. PLUS: Be sure to watch Beyond Breathless, a documentary that draws awareness to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a devastating lung disease that took the life of Bernie Williams’ own father. The film premieres on A&E at December 5 at 12ET. For more information on IFP, visit www.lungsandyou.com.
Video Transcript
- Well, obviously, you played with the Yankees. This is a question that's off script a little bit. But have you ever seen them boo anybody, or have you been booed personally?
BERNIE WILLIAMS: What? This is New York we're talking about. I was booed every day. If I bad week, I was run out of town, you know?
- What's up, everybody? I'm here with Yankees legend and four time world champion Bernie Williams. Bernie, man, how are you doing today?
BERNIE WILLIAMS: I'm doing great. Thank you for having me on the show.
- The pandemic has caused a lot of chaos around the NFL. The Steelers Ravens game was delayed twice before finally getting played on Wednesday afternoon.
- [INAUDIBLE]. Throws an interception! That was an easy to take back for the touchdown, Joe Haden!
- I know baseball players love routine. But what would it have been like for you to play through so much uncertainty?
BERNIE WILLIAMS: Oh my goodness. Oh would have been just going crazy, going crazy. And not only just the preparation for the game, and just the schedule, and things like that. I think that one thing that, in my case, I would miss the most, would be the energy of the venues that you play in. You know, you're going from 50,000 people watching you every move, you know, to like zero, or maybe 500 people. And most of them are like coaches, and support personnel that know you, you know?
- Well obviously, you played with the Yankees. This is a question that's off script a little bit. But have you ever seen them boo anybody? Or have you been booed personally?
BERNIE WILLIAMS: What? This is New York we're talking about. I was booed every day. If I had a bad week, I was getting run out of town. Yeah, but that's the one thing that makes you New York New York what it is. I mean, it keeps you honest. You have-- they know when you're playing hard. And when you're kind of a half-- going about it.
So as a professional athlete, it keeps you on your toes, keeps you honest, keeps you giving your fans the best of your ability at all time.
- And how about this crowd? That's-- that's a little harsh, booing him, with the five strikeouts in a game.
BERNIE WILLIAMS: A lot of pressure. But I mean, that's what you sign up for. It was-- some of the best times in my life, I know I spent playing, definitely Major League Baseball.
- MLB made lemonade and had a great season with we were uncertain. But a lot of players opted out. I mean, obviously, you're retired. But this kind of pandemic happened when you were playing, would you considered opting out?
BERNIE WILLIAMS: I would considered it. You have to have a lot of accountability, especially when you live with small children, when you have your spouse, or your partner, or people that are-- if you've got your uncle, your aunt, your grandfather. You may not be severely affected by the disease. But obviously, you had an opportunity to infect other people that may not be as lucky. And that was the one thing that probably would deter me from playing.
- My brother actually tested positive. He plays football for the Ravens. And he got positive. And he was hurt, because he wasn't really feeling it. But his wife ended up catching it, too. So it does add a little responsibility. But he loves the game. So it was kind of a catch-22 for him, where it's hard.
BERNIE WILLIAMS: But I don't think I couldn't live with the possibility of me possibly infecting somebody that may not have the same luck that I would have. I don't think I could live with that, man.
- In addition to being a world class baseball player, you're also a world class musician.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- After retiring, you got a degree from a music school in Manhattan. What's it like to be going back to college at 47? Is it different?
BERNIE WILLIAMS: Yeah, man, that was the most intense and rewarding experience that I've had after playing with the New York Yankees for 16 years, man. I came into a school with a different attitude. I wasn't a 17, 18-year-old kid, kind of like having fun. I was already committed. I knew that I was going to make music the focus of my after baseball life.
So I was like a sponge, man. I was getting everything, taking notes. I was the old guy in the back of the class. To me, it was such a learning experience, trying to not rely on what I did before, and really starting from scratch, trying to gain the respect of people that were half my age, that were virtuosos in music. That was humbling, but such a rewarding experience of the time.
- You've got a documentary, Beyond Breathless. It premieres this weekend on A&E. Can you tell us a little bit about the movie, and why it's so important to you? BERNIE WILLIAMS: It talks about ILD, Interstitial Lung Disease. And my father died from one type of that disease, which is Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. So that's why I've been teaming up with Boehringer Ingelheim, which is a pharmaceutical company out of Germany, and we've been in this great process of letting people know about this disease. I do a little bit of a voiceover and you tell about my experience about what my family had to go through with my dad.
And it's going to air out on A&E on December 5 at 12:00 PM. So I encourage everybody to go and take a look at it.
- Playing this season at the rock of your family was gone, how was that?
BERNIE WILLIAMS: It was very hard. I relied on my dad to a lot of things in my life-- advice, even wanted or unwanted. He was always ready to give it. He's been, you know, teaching me. In his effort to teach me baseball, he taught me a lot about life-- being disciplined. Nothing you know valuable or worth it comes easy. You need to put in your work, but you should expect results.
- Well look, Bernie. Thank you for rushing me today. If you guys are watching this, please join in this weekend and watch Beyond Breathless on A&E. Have a good day, man. I appreciate you rushing with me.
BERNIE WILLIAMS: Thank you so much. Been a pleasure. Stay safe.
