Homeless man (with the golden voice) gets job offers from Cleveland Cavs, NFL Films

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Ted Williams, a former radio announcer, was living in a tent near a highway, his life ruined by drugs and alcohol, until the Columbus Dispatch posted a video of him begging for money, thus showcasing the man with the golden voice.

The video, which highlighted his majestically silky voice, went viral on the Internet. Williams, 53, has since been flooded with job offers, including one from NFL Films and another from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who offered him a two-year contract and volunteered to pay for his living expenses.

‘I don’t know which one to choose, which one is the right one,’ he said on ‘Today,’ regarding the job prospects.

Williams flew Wednesday to New York to see his 90-year-old mother, Julia, whom he said supported him through his struggles with addiction.

‘She has always been my best friend,’ he told the Associated Press on Wednesday, crying. ‘When I was a kid, she would take me down to Radio City Music Hall and on the subway. I’m just glad that she is still around. I prayed that she would live long enough that I could make her proud and see could her son do something other than stand along the side of the road with a sign asking for money.’

Williams, who has nine children, said he had been sober for two years.

‘This will be my day to see my son get up and do something to help himself,’ Julia said. ‘He has so much talent. I hope this will be the thing for him. He came from a nice family. And then he went poor, poor. So, maybe this will build him up and let him see that there’s more in life than hanging around with the wrong people and taking drugs.’

[Updated at 2:32 p.m.: An earlier version of this post had an incorrect age for Williams.]

-- Melissa Rohlin