Meet Derek Dyson, a six-foot-three, burly, fifty-something Black man living in the City of Mobile, Alabama. He's the proud owner of Dyson Motors, the third-largest car dealership in all of Alabama. Dyson made his fortune playing for various teams in the National Football League, between 1988 and 2001. Dyson was worth seventy three million at the time of his retirement, and unlike a lot of NFL legends, he was actually just getting started.
"A lot of brothers make their money in the NFL and the NBA and end up broke, I swore this wouldn't be me," Dyson said, speaking to Zahra Jabir, the pretty African American reporter for KTV-57 News Network. As he spoke, the brother kept stealing appreciative glances at the tall, curvy Black female reporter in the cream-colored pantsuit. That gal is certainly shapely, Dyson thought with a smile.
"I can see that, Mr. Dyson, between your auto commercials on television, the car dealership and those five restaurants you own, you're quite the success," Zahra Jabir said, smiling politely. What is it with lecherous older men always looking at me like a piece of meat? Zahra wondered. Not that Dyson was your run of the mill lecherous guy by any means. He had a lot of money, but money couldn't buy you everything...
"Ma'am, I thank the Lord for His blessings every day," Dyson replied, taking off his trademark Stetson hat for emphasis, and Zahra Jabir rolled her eyes. Like a lot of successful businessmen, politicians and others, Dyson claimed to be a devout Christian. Zahra Jabir, the daughter of a womanizing and thrice-divorced Somali Muslim preacher from Saint Louis, Missouri, wasn't the type to fall for that bullshit. She'd grown up right next to it, after all...
"That's nice, Mr. Dyson, and that's a wrap," Zahra Jabir said, and she looked at her cameraman, a skinny gay White dude named Floyd Stone, and he stopped filming. Ever the gracious host, Dyson invited Zahra and Floyd for a tour of the facilities, as in the parts he hadn't shown them while they were conducting the interview. Puzzled, the reporter and her cameraman dutifully followed their host into his inner sanctum.
"The secret of my success is relationships, I couldn't have built Dyson Motors without my investors and my friends, I had to show them that my success was good for them too," Dyson said, and he pointed to a picture on his office wall. Zahra looked at the picture and was surprised to see Dyson standing next to Mayor Anton Sterns, a tough-as-nails Republican who got into politics after serving twenty years as a police officer in the City of Mobile, Alabama. As a cop, Sterns made the infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio look like a school chum, he was that hard on minorities.
"You're friends with Mayor Sterns? That's a surprise," Floyd blurted, and Zahra shot him a look, then looked at Dyson, who smiled. The burly Black businessman leaned against his oak desk, and smiled. Dyson found the flabbergasted looks on Zahra and Floyd's faces completely amusing. Everyone always underestimates the intelligence of a brother, Dyson thought, grinning wryly.
"Yes I am, son, and let me tell you, the Mayor is retiring at the end of this year and has asked me to run for office, and I'm considering this very thing," Dyson said, smiling at Floyd. Upon hearing those words, Zahra Jabir's eyes went wide with shock. A long-time stronghold of southern politics, Mobile was one of those towns that was part of what made the South what it was, and had always been. To call it conservative didn't do it justice. The place was simply conservative central...
"Interesting, Mr. Dyson, I wish you'd told us sooner, we could have included this announcement part of the interview," Zahra Jabir said, and she looked Derek Dyson up and down, appraisingly. The man was full of surprises, to be sure. Prior to doing the interview, Zahra had done her homework on him. During her time as an undergrad at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Zahra Jabir learned to dig into the backgrounds of those who appeared too good to be true...
Derek Dyson was born on February 5, 1967, in the City of Mobile, Alabama, to Canton Dyson, a day laborer, and Antoinette Miles-Dyson, a schoolteacher. In 1985, he enrolled at the University of Alabama, where he studied business management, graduating a year early in 1988. In 1988, Dyson went on to play for the Washington Redskins, and he stuck with them until 1997.
In 1997, Derek Dyson went on to become a defensive fullback with the New England Patriots, and he stuck with them until 2001, when he retired. He returned to the University of Alabama, where he earned an MBA in 2004. In 2005, he used his personal fortune as well as funding from several backers to purchase the troubled Vickers Motors, renaming it Dyson Motors.
The fledgling auto company struggled until 2008, posting losses of five million. That's when Dyson got rid of most of his managerial staff and assumed direct control of the company. In 2011, through aggressive marketing, branding and expansion, Dyson turned the company around. Seven years later, Dyson Motors had three locations, in Mobile, Birmingham and in the City of Atlanta, Georgia, part of its eastern expansion.
"I'm full of surprises, Miss Jabir, stick around and you'll find out that only those with my mindset triumph in the end," Derek Dyson said, and with that, he concluded their meeting and personally escorted Floyd Stone and Zahra Jabir off his property. They got in their news van and drove away. As Floyd drove them back to the station, Zahra was lost in thought. The brother's got dough and he looks good, why isn't he married? Zahra wondered.