Jim McCabe

There is, as there should be, a legacy. It’s just that Earl Woods is remembered not for what he accomplished, but for a byproduct of his successful mission in life.

It was never his stated attempt to raise a championship golfer. He saw the potential and nurtured the cause, but it was not what he was about.

“I wanted to raise a good person,” Earl Woods told Golf Digest in November of 2000, and therein lies the real glory to a man whose life deserves to be celebrated. There is no more noble a responsibility in life than that of a parent and in embracing such a challenge with the only child of his second marriage — after he admittedly made mistakes with his three children from a first marriage — Earl Woods never asked of himself anything more than what many of us ask of ourselves when we put our kids to bed at night.

Let them be safe. Let them be respectful. Let them be strong. Let them know right from wrong.

That is why Earl Woods had a life of fulfillment, for he had done such a remarkable job with Tiger Woods. The world’s greatest golfer can take credit for all the major championships he wants, but when it comes to the quality person that he is—the dignified star, the respectful youngster, the cooperative icon — Tiger Woods knows he must give thanks to his parents, Earl and Kultida.

They poured the foundation. They showed the way. That Tiger Woods followed in a manner that has helped make him one of the world’s most admired athlete is a tribute to the power of love.

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When Earl Woods died Wednesday at the age of 74, a small piece of Tiger Woods died, too. That goes without saying, because when true love is taken from us, it leads an unfillable void. But more importantly, a larger piece of Tiger Woods will live on and continue to do marvelous things because of the inner strength and the absolute faith he was introduced to by his father.

“He has the power to do a lot of things with his charisma,” Earl Woods said on the eve of the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship outside of Boston, a tournament that would benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation. “Some day, he will do a lot of great things. I don’t know what they are yet, but knowing Tiger Woods, they won’t be small.”

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Winning golf tournaments, even those considered to be majors, is not what Earl Woods had in mind, because the sport simply wasn’t what any of this was about. Life was about accepting responsibility, choosing direction, staying committed, keeping one’s focus, and being honest with those you love. That his son bought into all these concepts and developed into a role model with great character should not be brushed aside, for in a world filled with too many athletes who are shamelessly ignorant of their lot in life, Tiger Woods is not.

That always made Earl Woods proud, which he most certainly should have been, because his son more times than not was about doing the right thing. The father conceded he had made mistakes. His first marraige had produced three children — sons Earl Jr. and Kevin, and daughter Royce — but Earl Woods was a military man with two tours of duty in Vietnam and never was able to spend the time with his children that he later devoted to Eldrick, who was born in December of 1975, when Earl was 43 and retired. He named his son “Tiger” after Vuong Dang (Tiger) Phong, a South Vietnamese Army colonel who was a close friend when the served together during the Vietnam War.

Earl Woods hated being called a “stage father” on par with so many infamous parents. “People who know me know that I’m not remotely like that,” Earl Woods told Golf Digest. “It’s an insult to my intelligence.”

Special coverage Complete coverage of Woods’ life and career

But he knew right from wrong and insisted his son distinguish this as well. Oh, how Earl Woods succeeded. Just consider the stories about our famed athletes that are never-ending and painfully scandalous. The drugs. The alcohol. The arrests for assault. The contract holdouts. The fights with patrons in the stands. The trash-talking. The steroids. The refusal to talk to reporters. The refusal to play a position the coach tells you to. The lack of good physical conditioning. The corked bats. More drugs, more alcohol, more arrests, so many that your head spins.

You can make it stop spinning by considering Tiger Woods.

He once caused a stir by saying he felt fortunate to win a tournament because he didn’t have his best stuff. How shocking. Another time, he chose not to sign a golf ball by a couple of PGA Tour colleagues who were going to raffle it off for charity. Then there was the time he wouldn’t take the media’s bait and condemn Augusta National officials for maintaining its men’s-only membership, even while beloved American icons such as Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus accepted their memberships and were spared a criticism that would have been warranted.

That’s about it.

Not exactly a problem child, is he?

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