Earl Woods, Jr., Tiger's half brother, recently sat down with Fox Phoenix News in an exclusive interview to discuss his little brother. The 55-year-old talked about watching his half brother grow up and his thoughts about Tiger's sex scandal.
Earl Jr., who is twenty years Tiger's senior, and his two siblings Royce and Kevin, were a product of Earl Woods' 18-year first marriage to Barbara Woods Gray. The elder Earl Jr. says that as a child, Tiger was not "obnoxious, he was a nerd, bookworm computer geek." Earl Jr., admits that Tiger was about 7 or 8 when the family knew he would be a star. "He would play with kids 15 or 16 years old and could hold his own."
When the scandal broke last year that Tiger had been sexually involved with numerous mistresses, Earl Jr. spoke critically of his brother's indiscretions.
"My dad's reaction would have been the same as mine--stupid, stupid. It's not like him. He got caught up in being human and he made mistakes and unfortunately, those mistakes were magnified by one hundred because of who he is. My dad would have been very disappointed in him. He would probably have wanted to know how he would fix it. You know you're old enough to get into this mess. How are you going to repair that?'"
The interviewer asked Earl Jr. if he thought Tiger had learned anything from his ordeal. Earl Jr. replied, "You would have to be a rock not to. America made him pay for what he has done and justifiably so. I think he learned and it cost him a family. He will never have the same relationship with his kids and their future is what it is."
As far as how the family was affected by Tiger's affairs and fallout. "It a little embarrassing that he got caught like that but I don't shy away from it. Unfortunately, Tiger made a lot of mistakes and they are on the public stage. We don't talk to Tiger that often anymore. We can only hope that he did learn from this and that it does not scar him. His game has suffered but if that's all he loses, that's a blessing," says Earl Jr. who has not been contact with his brother for over six years.
Now that the dust has settled somewhat, will the Woods siblings reconnect in the future? Earl Jr. hopes that he, Tiger and his siblings will come together again as a family in the future. Earl has written letters to Tiger but has received correspondence back only from "his people."
23-Sep-10 - Some really "interesting" pictures of Bishop Eddie Long, which were allegedly sent by Long to one of his "spiritual sons," were made public last week.
23-Sep-10 - Some really "interesting" pictures of Bishop Eddie Long, which were allegedly sent by Long to one of his "spiritual sons," were made public last week.
22-Sep-10 - According to federal authorities, Jesse Jackson Jr. not only tried to buy President Barack Obama's former Senate seat from Rod Blagojevich, but he also had a fundraiser pay for two airline trips for a blond mistress.
17-Sep-10 - James Jones was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing a school function for protecting his disabled young daughter from heartless bullies.
16-Sep-10 - Vancouver police confirmed that Bethany Storro lied about a black woman throwing acid on her face. Storro actually threw the acid on herself.
09-Sep-10 - Prominent gospel music artist Marvin Sapp recently lost his wife, MaLinda Sapp, to colon cancer. The couple had been married for 15 years and they had three children.
09-Sep-10 - San Jose State University student Courtney Howard said she and other pledges were warned that 'snitches get stitches' while they were punched, kicked and paddled during their initiation by four Sigma Gamma Rho sorority members.
09-Sep-10 - George Grier, who lives in Long Island, was arrested for using an AK-47 assault rifle to protect his family from gang members who were threatening to hurt them.
08-Sep-10 - Rodney King, whose senseless beating by the Los Angeles police became fodder for news outlets worldwide, became engaged to one of the jurors who awarded him a $3.8 million settlement in a civil suit against the LAPD.
03-Sep-10 - African-American males in Detroit between the ages of 15 and 24 are dying at a rate that is roughly seven times higher than the rest of the Detroit population.
