Ben Watson: Low volume, high impact
The perfect picture of Benjamin Watson was painted at Mile High on January 14, 2006.
It was the 2005 AFC Divisional Game, and Watson’s New England Patriots were visiting the Denver Broncos. It was third and goal with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady targeted his favorite wide receiver, Troy Brown. Broncos corner Champ Bailey swooped in, intercepted the pass, and returned it 103 yards to the Patriots 1-yard line.
“I definitely thought I was there,” Bailey said of the near-touchdown, according to the Denver Broncos official site. “I never even saw him coming.”
“Him” was Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson, who sprinted the length of the field at a diagonal angle to knock Bailey out and save a touchdown. The Patriots would lose that game, 27-13, thus ending the opportunity to defend their Super Bowl XXXIX title. Yet Watson’s play lives as a monument to perseverance . The play was even turned into a children’s word math problem, where estimates are made on Watson’s distance ran using the Pythagorean Theorem.
That’s what Ben Watson does: He surprises people, finding ways to impose himself in a room full of Tom Bradys and Champ Baileys.
Thing is, Watson may be best known for surprising people with his intellect and character off the field. You shouldn’t have to be enticed by NFL accomplishments or any qualifier to want to know more about a substantive, good human being, but such is life. This became especially and unfortunately relevant when Watson’s 13th NFL season was cut short in the Baltimore Ravens’ third preseason game on Saturday afternoon. On the first play, Watson tore his Achilles, likely ending his Ravens career before it started. Last season with the New Orleans Saints, Watson caught 74 balls for 825 yards and six touchdowns, his best statistical season to date.
This injury could very well be the end of the line for Watson. As NFL Network Rich Eisen put it on Twitter shortly after learning of Watson’s injury, “Perhaps on the football field. Sky is the limit for @BenjaminSWatson as far as I’m concerned.”
Eisen isn’t the first person to praise Watson’s intellect or character. Yahoo! writer Eric Edholm recalls a time in 2005 when he was talking with an NFL scout about Watson. The unnamed scout said, “He’s too smart for our sport!”
Watson was a finalist for the 2015-16 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which honors an NFL player for his excellence on and off the field. The accolade went to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin, but regardless, the reasons for the Saints wanting to nominate Watson are plenty and worth dissecting. After all, even though Watson didn’t win the honor, he was named one of CNN’s Most Extraordinary People of the Year in 2014, for all of these same reasons.
Watson also spearheads One More, a public charity and foundation he co-founded with wife Kirsten in January 2008. The Foundation is described as “an extension of Kirsten and Benjamin as they reach out to the community with faith in God as their foundation. It also allows them to support and partner with those who share their desire to make a positive difference in the world.”
If you search the shop section of Watson’s official website, you won’t find his NFL jersey or any self-serving merchandise. Instead, you’ll find t-shirts from his brand “GREATERthan.” Shirts boasting messages like “TRUTH > trend” and “GOD > government.”
During a time of extreme civil unrest, Watson did not sit silently behind the wealthy and successful life he’d built through football. Instead, he spoke out about the tragic events happening in Ferguson, Mo. He even wrote a book — titled Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race. Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us — which serves as an expansion of the thoughts he posted to Facebook on Nov. 24, 2015 about Ferguson that eventually went viral.
It seems it’s simply not in Watson’s DNA to use celebrity or fear of public backlash because of his NFL platform as an excuse not to speak out on what he believes in.
“I won’t say I’m not afraid, and I will say that I’ve received some flack for some of the things I’ve said,” Watson said in an interview with Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center in San Diego. “I decided that you know, if the spirit of God has prompted me to say something, I’m gonna trust in God and say it.”
Watson’s Twitter biography reads “Eldest of 6, Father of 5, Athlete of 4, Servant of 3, Son of 2, Husband of 1/ NFL Spokesman- @AllProDad Author -#UnderOurSkin.”
His priorities are straight. Are ours?
He cares about the man, husband, and father he is than far more than the professional tight end. But do we?
To become better fans, to become better people, we need to worry less about how these athletes look in uniform, and more on what they’re saying — and doing — when dressed like the rest of us.