He was born to talk

By Helen Barrett

There may be only one thing Willie Spears does better - and faster - than catching a football and running it into the end zone for the winning touchdown. That's talking. Since helping the 1999 Rangers win the NAIA championship, talking holds a predominent place in his life. It's not just idle chit chat or even the rap style music which the popular ‘Da Nickel' performed in college. Spears speaks with purpose.  Whether in the classroom, behind a pulpit or in a locker room, Spears emphasizes to his audience, "The decisions you make today will determine your life tomorrow." Spears returned Northwestern Oklahoma State University this week to sign copies of his most recent book, "The Ultimate Dilemma," second in a series of three books centering around the characters, Keisha and Derek. The third book which will be released Feb. 9, 2009, looks at life from Derek's point of view. "The message of the book is there are no excuses," Spears said. "You can make it." In the book, Derek's older brother is put in prison, his mother has no education, and he has a different father than all of his siblings. He sees no way out. "I know a lot of people in that situation," Spears said. "In the end, Derek triumphs and realizes he can look himself in the mirror." Spears wrote his first book, "Keisha's Dilemma" for his students at Rutherford High School in Panama City, FL who didn't like reading.

Devotional Genre

His devotional book, "Real Talk: A Devotional from Daddy," one of eight bearing his byline, will be published by Tate Publishing Company in Oklahoma City. The book, written in the language of teenagers, tries to answer life's  "whys." Spears said kids may know their parents don't do certain things, but don't know why. "I call this the ‘why' generation," Spears said. "My dad's generation didn't ask why. My generation kind of whispered why. This generation is screaming WHY!" "Agape" is another book Spears wrote to focus on ability of love to enhance learning. He used the word which in the Bible describes God's love, as an acronym for Achievement Gap for African-American People in Education. Data gleaned by researching parents and schools in every state proved African-American students do poorly on tests. "Part of this book asks why," Spears said. "The answer is love." He expounds on that topic by saying if a teacher loves the student that is having problems and is willing to take time to understand him, the youth can be successful."If Derek doesn't get an education, he's going to be the one that robs you," Spears said.  "It's easy to teach kids that are ready," he said. "The one who sits in the back of the room and talks back, that's the hardest one." Unfortunately, from his experience as a teacher, Spears said many teachers don't bother to find out why students are like they are. "They don't know that the rebellious girl is a grownup having to go home and take care of five children and a grandmother," he said. "I tell these kids that's not an excuse. That's the cards you were dealt," Spears said.

Dating Guide

"The Dating Paradigm" is Sears' personal favorite. He describes it as kind of deep, a book that needs to be read and absorbed. "It basically says you shouldn't start dating until you're 22," he says. When talking about dating, Spears begins confessing to cheating on his wife. After his audience stops gasping and whispering, he lists a bunch of excuses and asks if those make it ok. "None of that makes it right," he says. "Then I go on to say, ‘what if I told you I cheated before we met.'" He said dating for guys is like playing video games - at Christmas you're all excited, but by June it's old and you want something else. "If you have all these mock marriages before you get married, you're not going to like what you've got," he said. He said if you wait to start dating until you're 22, you know yourself and won't try to mold yourself to fit what you think the opposite sex wants. "We set ourselves up for failure," he said. "If Coke, IBM or any other big company had a 50 percent failure rate, what would you do?" This book contains stories from more than 40 different people relating to dating and marriage experiences, including that one of his cousin who became a mother at age 13. "It won't be my opinion," he said. "They can read it and draw their own conclusion." Spears said the conclusions would be obvious. "If I come in the door and tell you there's someone shooting outside, hopefully you'll be smart enough not to go out."

Future Book

Spears has one more book he really wants to write. That one will include the inside stories of the Rangers' championship drive. "There are about 20 stories that no one knows," he said. He recites statistics like eight guys from the championship team went on to play in the NFL. "The one that's doing the best didn't even play," he said. Preston Hartfield broke his knee, so he didn't play and Al Hunt became starting quarterback. "A legend was sitting on the bench here," Spears said. "Al is thrust into the spotlight, Preston never sees the field again, goes to Texas Tech starts at wide receiver and running back then goes to the Baltimore Ravens and starts." Spears reminisces about the trip to the championship. "Some of the guys did some things they shouldn't have done. They were nervous and they drank," he said. "One of the key players is crying in the back of the bus to the game ... crying, screaming, ‘I'm sorry!'" Spears said that Coach Albin took the microphone and the bus became quiet - "Guys, I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you. There's a little boy that will be born in a few months, Chase Albin. I hope he grows up to be like each one of you." That, Spears said, set off the water works again. That night's team prayer session lasted longer than usual. When it ended, everyone was hugging and crying. At halftime of the championship game the Rangers were losing 20-0. "Coach Albin stayed calm. He said ‘guys, we're going to have seven more possessions. We'll be fine,'" Spears recalled. Running back onto the field after the half, full of confidence, Al Hunt's first pass was intercepted. The coach calmed his players by telling them they still had six possessions to get the job done. What most of the team didn't know, Spears said, was that their coach had accepted Christ two weeks before. His calm demeanor carried the team past its mistakes to winning the national championship. In the knick of time Spears caught the pass that sealed the win. "There was nothing like scoring that touchdown," Spears said. Saying he'd never been the best player on any team, he ranked himself at maybe fifth place on the Ranger offense. "But the fact that I got to do it was great!" he said. "To be part of the first Ranger team to win a championship is the most exciting part." Spears said the only thing more exciting than winning that championship was the girl he married, Tankia, and his two babies at home, Tayelor and Kenneth. Writing books can't compare as far as excitement goes. "The books aren't exciting to me," Spears said. "I like talking." Spears talked all the way from Georgia to Oklahoma as he brought along two Ranger recruits whose families could not afford to bring them. He wore his gigantic championship ring which he made sure they saw. "I told them the ring is great, but that's not going to get you a job," Spears said. "I showed them my diploma and said that's what you're going there to get. If you can get a ring, that's icing on the cake." Spears said, "Winning the ring was better than anything I'll ever do." Unless, you count his love - and effectiveness - of talking.