If Ted Williams — the recently homeless announcer — didn’t have a substance-abuse problem before, his wild ride this month was enough to give him one.

It was painful to watch.

Set aside the fact that NBC and CBS had a fight that delayed his reunion with his mother. Set aside that the very moment of reunion had to be captured on video (and audio).

Beyond that, what was painful was watching him do interview after interview at a time of extraordinary turmoil in his life.

Mr. Williams suddenly found himself with multiple job offers and scads of good wishes, notwithstanding his extensive, if petty, police record and long battles with drugs and alcohol.

And eventually — with a sort of intervention by television’s Dr. Phil — Mr. Williams headed off to rehab, a contradiction of his oft-repeated claim that he’d been sober for two years.

His full story isn’t told. When he gets himself together and has some time to think, he might have suggestions to offer society for handling future cases of sudden celebrity.

Meanwhile, the continuation of his difficulties shouldn’t be taken as an indication that people were foolish to believe in him. But the road back is hard and uncertain. It takes more than a break or two.

Most people who have dealt with Mr. Williams have meant well. But they have given him yet another problem: Inevitably, some people, upon examining his life, will come to disapprove not only of his actions, but of him.

And they will enjoy making their denunciations in public. They will express their disgust with what they see as the media’s fawning over him just because he has a beautiful voice. They’ll even paint him as a symbol of what’s wrong with this society.

Dayton Daily News