You’ve screamed at the TV over dropped passes. Yelled from the stands following missed shots. Vented on Internet chat sites after losses. And the words “I can play better than those guys” always came out.
Can an average Joe outplay overpaid divas? Rodney Williams and Jay McKeown found out as part of Spike TV’s “Joes vs. Pros.” Williams appears Thursday while McKeown returns for the series final after winning his Jan. 25 show.
Williams is your everyday federal government contractor and young father from Lorton whose basketball career ended with a knee injury as a college freshman. The 27-year-old was a guard at Edison High and cornerback at Hayfield High and still thinks he can play some ball. Basketball, baseball and boxing were his sports.
Boxer Roy Jones then came out from behind the curtain. Commercials show Williams’ head spinning from a Jones’ right hook. Unfortunately, that was easier than rebounding against former 20-year NBA vet Kevin Willis, tackling NFL great Eric Dickerson and shagging flies from former St. Louis Cardinals Vince Coleman.
“I was like ‘Wow,’ but I had confidence in myself,” Williams said. “Football or basketball-wise, I could compete. I didn’t know I was going to fight Roy Jones. Are you kidding? He was hitting me so much all I saw was white.
“I thought it would be controlled where they wouldn’tkill us, but Eric Dickerson would run you over. Kevin Willis was throwing elbows. You earn respect from the pros if you don’t lay down and quit.”
McKeown has never quit. Not after the former four-sport prep standout’s college career ended when a drunk driver plowed into him. That left McKeown with a broken leg and killed his fellow passenger. Doctors said McKeown wouldn’t play again despite the titanium rod in his leg, but he decided if walking was possible, so was running.
More than two years later the body was ready, but the mind wasn’t. Too much had occurred. It was time to move on.
McKeown joined the Army and spent one year as a close combat instructor in Iraq while providing support for those dangerous convoys we hear so much about in the daily casualty reports.
“They tell you to be aware, but it’s a roll of the dice. I just prayed to get back and [my comrades] to get back,” he said. “I just thank God for being in one piece.”
McKeown, 28, is now a freshman at the College of Southern Maryland studying criminology to prepare for a counter terrorism job. Think Jack Bauer in “24.” So the die-hard Redskins fan wasn’t worried about facing former Dallas receiver Michael Irvin.
Instead, facing Randy Couture was the hardest part. The professional wrestler overwhelmed the 6-foot-3, 250-pound McKeown in their first meeting.
“Athletically, it was by far was craziest thing I’ve ever done,” McKeown said. “I’m physically fit, a close combat instructor and he beat me up like a little kid. All we could do was defend ourselves as much as possible.”
McKeown won his episode by pushing Couture from the ring in the final event, though.
Turns out an average Joe can best a pro.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
