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Benjamin Watson (born December 18, 1980 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American football tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He was the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2004 NFL draft from the University of Georgia. He is best known for excellent speed and athletic ability for a tight end.
[edit] High school years
Watson attended Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina and was a letterman in football. In football, as a senior, he caught 31 passes for 515 yards (16.61 yards per rec. avg), was an All-Area pick, All-Region selection, an All-State honoree, selected to play in the Shrine Bowl, and voted Student of the Year. As a junior, he was an All-Area pick, an All-region selection, led his team to the state championship, and voted Student of the Year. He was also a member of his high school chapter of The Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
[edit] College career
Played football at Duke University prior to transferring to the University of Georgia where he majored in finance.
[edit] NFL career
Watson entered the league rumored to have scored a 41 on his Wonderlic Test, an achievement that projects to an IQ of 142[1]. He was on the injured list for almost his entire rookie season for the Patriots, playing in only one game.
His two biggest plays of the 2005 season came in the playoffs. In one, during the Patriots' first game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, on a third-down play that nearly forced the Patriots to punt, Watson broke free of one tackle to earn the first down; in all, Watson broke three tackles and outran five defenders, taking the ball 63 yards to score the touchdown.
Even more notable, though, was his pursuit and tackle of Champ Bailey during the Patriots' 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff game against Denver. Bailey intercepted a Tom Brady pass in Denver's endzone, and proceeded to run it down the full length of the (near) side-line, towards New England's endzone. At the time of the interception, Watson was on the opposite side of the field from Bailey (on the far side-line), and so he had to take a diagonal pursuit the full (diagonal) length of the field in order to have a chance of catching him. Watson caught up with Bailey at New England's 2-yard line and tackled him hard, causing Bailey to fumble the ball. The ruling was the ball was fumbled out of bounds at the 1-yard line, and so the Broncos retained possession, and subsequently scored on the next play. (However, it appeared the ball had gone through the endzone, which would then have resulted in a New England touchback instead, in a potentially game-changing play.)
[edit] Career statistics (regular season only)
| Year |
Receiving |
| Cat |
Yds |
Avg |
TD |
|
| 2004 |
2 |
16 |
8.0 |
0 |
| 2005 |
29 |
441 |
15.2 |
4 |
| 2006 |
49 |
643 |
13.1 |
3 |
| 2007 |
36 |
389 |
10.8 |
6 |
| Total |
116 |
1489 |
12.8 |
13 |
[edit] References
