His retirement from a 27-year NFL coaching career 27 days old, a sports writer asked Richard Williamson on Sunday night how many Valentine’s Days he’d shared with wife, Norma.
“I don’t know, but I’ll ask,” he said from Charlotte, where he was a Carolina Panthers assistant from the franchise’s first season in 1995 until last month. “Honey, how many Valentines have we spent together?”
Answered Norma with the warmth and good humor developed through a loving 46-year union, “How many Thanksgivings, Christmases and New Years have we spent together?”
Replied a chuckling Williamson, “Hey, somebody has to entertain the public on those holidays.”
He may never be inducted into the College or Pro Football Hall of Fame, given that the vast majority of his 44 total years on the sidelines were spent as an assistant.