Basic HTML Version
16
January – March
www.deltalivingmagazine.com
JJ J
By Charleen Earley
W
illiam “Bubba” Paris - he’s a three-
time Super Bowl Champion of-
fensive left tackle with the National Football
League’s San Francisco 49ers. He played in the
NFL from 1982 to 1992, but when it comes to
his legacy, the 52-year-old Discovery Bay resi-
dent wants his legacy to be ‘the man who made
a di erence in the lives of others.”
“I want to live up to my mission statement
with every person I come in contact with. I
want to walk away knowing I made their life
better,” said Bubba, sitting at a picnic table next
to his wife Cynthia,moments after guest speak-
ing at The Rock Church on Lone Oak Rd. in
Brentwood.
His mission statement is powerful:“It’s my
mission to be a world leader in inspiring, in-
forming and motivating people. I will provide
the latest in information and techniques that
will allow me to best a ect individuals. It is my
goal that every person who participates in one
of my presentations will have a life-changing
encounter.”
Presentations are his specialties. For the
last 26 years, he’s honed his skills as a motiva-
tional speaker throughout the world, speaking
to groups from two to 5,000, inspiring IBM ex-
ecutives, California State Assemblymen, prison
inmates, even Little League teams.
His message is about seizing opportunities
in every situation, as well as nding the gifts
you were born with and using them to the best
of your abilities – it’s something the Louisville,
Kentucky native is very familiar with.
“You were born with a purpose and your
life journey is to discover that purpose,” said
Bubba, who said he can speak for 10 hours,
and it still not feel like it’s work.
Bubba knows exactly what winning
looks like. He played a vital role with two
great organizations: the San Francisco 49ers
and the MichiganWolverines.With these two
organizations, Bubba experienced the success
of winning two Big Ten titles, one Rose and
Blue Bonnet Bowl Championship, three Su-
per Bowl Championships, eight divisional play-
o s, and he played in six NFC Championship
games.
Out of his 21-year football career, Bubba
says his most coveted award is the one he re-
ceived this year - induction to the Kentucky
Pro Ball Hall of Fame. He shares this honor
with other prominent members of the Hall of
Fame: former University of Louisville coach
Howard Schnellenberger, New York Giants
quarterback and Morehead State University
graduate Phil Simms, and the late Lenny Lyles,
defensive back for the Baltimore Colts and San
Francisco 49ers.
Sibling to one sister, Bubba’s father passed
away before his fourteenth birthday. He ex-
plains why this induction means a lot to him.
“It’s because when I was growing up, I
was a person who was very uncomfortable
inside my body. I didn’t understand why God
would allow me to be picked on and teased,”
said Bubba.“I went to a private, all-boys school
where there was racial attitude. I grew up poor.
People said things to me that were untrue, but it
made me feel as though they were true.What I
Bubba Paris
Three-time Super Bowl Champion
motivates his audiences
Photo by Steve Nosanchuk