On the gridiron he leveled 250-pound linebackers and made running backs quake in their cleats. One can just imagine what a bass must think when confronted by the NFL’s most celebrated home appliance.
William Perry
Years fishing: Since he was 15 years old
Favorite bass lures: Brokenback minnow
Favorite fishing hole: Clark’s Hill near Augusta, Ga.
Favorite fishing buddies: Crosby Broadwater, father-in-law, and brother-in-laws Robert Broadwater and Wayne Johnson
Largest bass ever caught: “I caught one that weighed 12 pounds in a pond, but that is not a big bass. Down here, they get huge.”
Largest fish that got away: A 35- to 40-pound striped bass. “I wrestled that thing for about an hour. Then he came up to the top of the water and just hauled tail.”
________________________________________________
At 23, William “the Refrigerator” Perry became an international sensation by clearing the way for Walter Payton and annihilating would-be defenders with his own thunderous runs for six. Today, however, the 37-year-old Fridge is content to pick up his rod and reel and head for the water with a different sort of tackle in mind.
Once considered the quintessential monster of the Midway, Perry is, in reality, more akin to a jolly giant. For most of his eight-year career with the Chicago Bears, though, he anchored Buddy Ryan’s infamous 46-defense. And more than once, he played the spoiler on offense by tucking the ball under his arm and plunging in for six or by catching a touchdown pass. He was “bigger than life” in every sense of the phrase.
Despite his stature on both sides of the ball, Perry’s real passion has always been fishing – a sport that he fell in love with shortly after he fell in love.
The father of Perry’s high school sweetheart – and future wife – took him fishing for the first time when he was in 10th grade. And Perry has been a fishing fanatic ever since.
“I had to use a pole because I couldn’t throw a rod and reel,” Perry recalls. “Everyone had a fish but me, and they were getting ready to leave. I was standing there with that pole thinking `I can’t let my girlfriend beat me.’ Then I finally got one. It was a 4-inch brim, but I was hooked.”
Even during his college years, when he wasn’t busy leading the Clemson Tigers in tackles – he had 100 his senior year – Perry would grab his rod and reel and meet his father in-law, Crosby Broadwater, for a day on the water.
“I would go every chance I got,” Perry laughs. “I just fell in love with it. I’m so hooked, it’s unbelievable!”
It was his ferocity as a defensive tackle not his zeal for fishing tackle, nonetheless, that prompted Chicago coach Mike Ditka to select Perry in the first round of the 1985 NFL draft. And it was Ditka’s desire to not only defeat but also obliterate opposing teams that secured Perry a spot in the backfield and a place in NFL history as one of the most celebrated rookies of all-time.
Perry and the Bears shuffled to a lopsided Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in 1986. But if you ask Perry which was more fun, running for one of his famous touchdowns or catching a big bass, you might be surprised by his answer.
“I tell you, it’s a whole lot more fun fighting a big bass than it is running for a touchdown,” he says. “Running for a touchdown lasts a couple of seconds, then it’s over. But bringing in a big bass lasts for awhile.”
All told, Perry played 10 solid seasons in the NFL before joining the London Monarchs in the World League of American Football. Even during his stint overseas, fishing was never far from his mind. Although, he admits that fishing wasn’t quite as much fun in Europe as it is on Lake Murray, S.C., or Clark’s Hill, Ga. – two of his favorite hotspots.
“The fishing season wasn’t really in when I was (in London),” Perry says. “And they are very strict over there.”
In 1996, Perry hung up his cleats for the last time and returned to the states. He has since joined his father-in-law and brother-in-law, Robert, as co-owner of a subcontracting company in his hometown of Aiken, S.C.
“My father-in-law brought me in and showed me the tricks of the trade,” says Perry, who worked with Broadwater as a brick mason while attending college at Clemson. “It was nothing new for me. I like to go do what I want to do, and I really get more time to go bass fishing now.”
It might seem odd that someone who at the height of his career landed 17 commercial endorsements would be content living a fairly nondescript life in a midsize southern town, but Perry and his family wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It was easy to walk away from football,” he says. “I had my day. I enjoyed playing, and I enjoyed being around the guys. But I was happy to walk away from it.”
Today, Perry has as much fun pursuing his favorite quarry, which includes bass, striped bass, brim and crappie, as he ever did chasing down running backs. “I just keep going and trying different things,” he says. “You never know what will happen.”
One of his more memorable outings was a homespun crappie fishing contest that pitted Perry and his father-in-law against his brother-in-law and his father. Perry had just purchased a 19-foot bass boat and the teams set out to see who could catch the first, biggest and most crappie. Perry, spying what looked like a good spot, got out of the boat and walked up the shore to a railroad bridge.
“I was pulling out the crappie, just pulling them out, one after the other,” he recalls.
His success under the bridge irked his relatives, who had stayed in the boat, and they soon joined him on the shoreline. But the real action didn’t start until the hole stopped producing fish and the men returned to the boat.
“I got in the boat. But when my brother-in-law went to get in, my father-in-law grabbed him,” Perry says. “Then my brother-in-law grabbed his father and they all fell into the water. It was the funniest thing.”
Perry, despite laughing hysterically, says that he managed to fish his relatives out of the water without further incident. The only casualties were slightly bruised egos and soaking wet clothes.
On another family outing, Perry lost a striped bass that he estimates weighed 35 to 40 pounds. “We caught seven or eight of them before him, but this one was by far the biggest,” Perry says. “I wrestled that thing for about an hour. Then he came up to the top of the water and just hauled tail.”
For Perry, who is the 10th of 12 children, time with family has always been important. Even during his years on the gridiron, Perry would return to Aiken as often as he could. Settling down there was always part of the plan, he says. “My wife and I always planned on coming home.”
Perry and his wife, Sherry, have three girls and a boy. Their oldest daughter, 18-year-old Latavia, is attending college at Auburn; Norie is 14; William is 8; and Sherria is 3.
“My son, William the 2nd, loves to fish,” Perry says. “We go every chance we get. I taught him to fish when he was 4.”
Perry says Norie, who is in the 9th grade, also enjoys fishing with him.
“If it was up to me, I’d fish every day,” Perry says.
Considering his angling prowess, the fish are probably glad he doesn’t.