Is the 'Hammer' coming back...

[BullFrog Dad]

...to 1310 the Ticket? I'm talking about Greg Williams who teams with Mike Riner for the afternoon Hardline show. He's been gone about four weeks now and the rest of the crew barely mentions him. His replacement sux IMO.

[crzyjournalist03]

If there's no mention of it, then most likely he was let go.

There's a sort of honorary code in radio that when a personality is let go, they're never spoken of again, because the station doesn't really want to bring up the fact that they were either fired or their contract was not renewed. If they talk about him fairly frequently, he most likely left on his own terms.

[rangerjoe33]

A story was written by a small Dallas publication that was read over the air last week. Outside of this the entire crew is respecting Williams and not talking about the situation, which is good, they are a brtherhood. The way I understand it Williams has been in rehab for something or another. I am pretty sure back in 2004 he was in a brief rehab for addiction to pain medicine stemming from an injury of some sort.

I have listened to The Ticket since 1995 and think the afternoon and morning show are the best sports radio has to offer.

I hope he gets healthy and comes back. If he doesn't come back I at least hope he resolves whatever personal issues/demons he is dealing with.

[kepdawg]

From the Dallas Observer:

From the Lost and Found Dept.: The Ticket's Greg "The Hammer" Williams
Wed Nov 14, 2007 at 11:03:41 AM

I’ll have much more on this saga in next week’s paper version of Unfair Park, but after finally talking with KTCK-AM (1310, The Ticket) afternoon co-host Greg Williams last night, I can answer the most pertinent questions:

He’s alive. If not totally well.

His on-going absence is indeed drug-related.

He’s on the road to recovery.

And, yes, he hopes to return to "The Hardline" before the end of the month.

“I’m OK,” Williams said from his Dallas condo. “I’m doing what I need to be doing. Getting the help I need.”

Williams wasn’t real talkative. Not at all forthcoming with specifics. He was, in fact, a hollow whisper of the boisterous, bad-ass “Hammer” persona that made him one of the area’s most popular radio personalities the last 10 years.

Which is not at all surprising, because nothing about the past month has been normal.

Williams disappeared in mid-show the afternoon of October 12. Whether he left voluntarily or was ordered out remains a mystery, but he hasn’t been heard from publicly until now. In Williams’ absence, station management has offered only short, shallow responses along the lines of, “He’s taking personal time off.” And on-air hosts have sprinkled "The Hardline" with only hints: A recent return from a commercial break included Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” punctuated with the infamous Greggo drop, “No! … No! … NO!”

There has been much speculation here (and here and here) that Williams suffered a relapse to the drug addiction that forced him into a Dallas detox center for six days in 2004. Williams will not address that speculation on the record, nor will he discuss on the record whether his problems this time around are due to the prescribed painkiller Lorcet or something harder. But there's no hiding this one fact: This sabbatical has forced him to miss 23 shows. And counting.

Williams has had limited contact with his colleagues at the station since his disappearance, but it sounds as though he wants to return to The Ticket. But after all this, will The Ticket still want its Hammer? --Richie Whitt

In other news, the Dan Patrick show begins airing on The Ticket 9PM -12AM tonight.