{"id":269967,"date":"2026-06-17T20:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269967\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T20:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:13:07","slug":"bronx-native-willie-colon-on-knicks-parade-i-never-thought-i-would-see-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269967\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx native Willie Colon on Knicks parade: I never thought I would see one"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even Super Bowl champions are overcome with emotion preparing for the Knicks\u2019 first championship parade<\/a> in 53 years.<\/p>\n

Bronx native Willie Colon, who won a Super Bowl on the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 2008 offensive line, is heading to Manhattan on Thursday with a lot on his mind and his heart after seeing Jalen Brunson and Co. fulfill his childhood dreams for his hometown team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Knicks parade is full circle because I was a kid watching the games with my dad, and now I\u2019m a dad being able to watch a Knicks parade with my son,\u201d Colon, 43, said Wednesday on the Talkin\u2019 Ball with Pat Leonard podcast<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s an emotional ride. I never thought I would see one. I just never thought I would see one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colon posted his own backyard champagne celebration on Instagram when the Knicks clinched in Game 5 and noted \u201cI\u2019m not the only one that shares these emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve been combing through social media, you\u2019ve seen a lot of middle-aged men have emotional breakdowns over the big win,\u201d he said laughing.<\/p>\n

His emotions stem from how deeply his passion for the Knicks is entwined with his relationship with his father, the late Willie Colon, who worked as a manager in the kitchen at St. Luke\u2019s Hospital in New York City and passed away in Feb. 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember growing up in the South Bronx, living in my two-bedroom apartment with my whole family, and my dad was a big sports guy,\u201d Colon said Wednesday. \u201cHe loved the Knicks and Giants and Yankees, but the Knicks was his thing. He loved the Knicks. So our time together was sitting at the edge of his bed watching the Knicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would talk about his life, my family, father-son stuff. He was just pouring life into me,\u201d Colon recalled. \u201cWhile doing all that, we were still focused on the Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family means everything to Colon. He is hosting his 12th Annual Willie Colon Golf Outing<\/a> on Monday at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., to continue raising money for the Lupus Research Alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His mother, Jean Davis, who died in July 2020 at age 70, suffered from lupus and battled it throughout Colon\u2019s life. Ever since he entered the NFL, he has tried to give back. The majority of those affected by lupus are minority women.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was able to get drafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers, I wanted to use my platform to raise awareness about the disease and bring to light all the lupus community is trying to do,\u201d he said, \u201cwhich is to find a cure and find money to fund the necessary research. I just try to do my part and be a flag bearer.\u201d<\/p>\n

In preparation for Thursday\u2019s parade, Colon remembered what it was like climbing to the mountain top as an NFL player with the Steelers one year after his father passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe winning my Super Bowl was surreal in so many ways,\u201d he said of the \u201cdaunting\u201d journey that included having to beat the Baltimore Ravens three times just to reach the Super Bowl. \u201cWhen I got to the Super Bowl I was tanked, mentally, physically, spiritually. I came from Hofstra where we only played 10 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe journey, winning it the way we won it, I was on zero,\u201d he continued. \u201cTurning down the [street] and seeing the confetti was the perfect ending. And I think I partied all the way up until the next season. I had to remind myself this is a whole new season, and I think the rest of the team had to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Knicks championship from Colon\u2019s perspective as a diehard fan is different. It is the culmination of so many memories and disappointments and hopes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you grow up watching those \u201990s Knicks with [Patrick] Ewing, [Charles] Oakley, [Anthony] Mason, [John] Starks and [Derek] Harper \u2014 and the list goes on \u2014 we had some really strong teams, but we always lost,\u201d Colon said. \u201cThat was a time when [Michael] Jordan was king. Jordan sent me to bed crying a lot \u2014 Jordan and Reggie Miller.\u201d<\/p>\n

And even when Jordan wasn\u2019t in the way, the Knicks got close but couldn\u2019t get past the Houston Rockets in 1994 or the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been years and years of disappointment,\u201d Colon said. \u201cIn \u201999 we had a shot to beat the Spurs and lost that one, and from then on I\u2019ve seen a lot of bad Knicks teams. It was years and years of not having the team I grew up loving being relevant in any regard.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now that the Knicks are champions,\u201d he said with a grin, \u201cthey\u2019ve healed a lot of my childhood trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Go to the Talkin\u2019 Ball with Pat Leonard YouTube channel<\/a> for Colon\u2019s full interview that includes NFL analysis of the Giants, Jets and Rams, and visit lupusresearch.org<\/a> to learn about the disease and support the cause to fund research and find a cure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even Super Bowl champions are overcome with emotion preparing for the Knicks\u2019 first championship parade in 53 years.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,10663,37011,9,24,103051,63,129,131,130,23159],"class_list":["post-269967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-knicks","tag-nba-finals","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-knicks-parade","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-willie-colon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}