Ricky Watters
No. 32 | |||||||||||||
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Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. | April 7, 1969||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 211 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||
College: | Notre Dame (1987–1990) | ||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1991 / Round: 2 / Pick: 45 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com |
Richard James Watters (born April 7, 1969) is an American former professional
Ricky Watters also has appeared in the movie Any Given Sunday. He was the running back for the fictional team the Dallas Knights, featured in the final game of the movie. Watters is listed in the credits, and his name is clearly shown on the back of his Knights #32 jersey.
Currently Watters is a motivational speaker for kids who, like himself, are adopted. He is also a recording artist, music producer, president and CEO of Tigero Entertainment, and an author, having written the book, For Who For What, a Warrior’s Journey. He was the head football coach for Oak Ridge High School in Orlando, Florida until resigning on October 1, 2013. An architecture major in college, he returned to Notre Dame in 2014 to complete the three final credits necessary for a graphic design degree.[3]
High school years
Watters attended Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he played quarterback and wore #12; he was a four-year letterman in football. He played pewee, pony, and varsity grade school football for Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (OLBS) Golden Gales.
College career
Recruitment and 1987 season
Watters arrived at the
1988 national championship season
Following the departure of Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown, Holtz moved Watters to Brown's flanker position for the 1988 season to ignite the Irish passing attack. The move paid dividends as Watters led the team in receiving. Watters' contribution on special teams was equally impressive as he returned two punts for touchdowns.
Suspension against USC
Before the annual Notre Dame-USC game, Holtz suspended Watters and running back Tony Brooks for disciplinary reasons. Playing their biggest road game of the season against the #2 ranked Trojans without their leading receiver and rusher, Notre Dame pulled out a convincing 27–10 victory.
Fiesta Bowl
In a season filled with victories over ranked opponents, Notre Dame defeated the #3 ranked West Virginia 34–21 in the Fiesta Bowl to secure the school's 11th national championship. With six All-Americans, the team cemented its place as one of the greatest teams in the history of college football.
1989 season
1989 would again see Notre Dame contending for the national championship. With teammate Tony Brooks suspended for the season for academic reasons, Holtz switched Watters back to tailback. Watters did not disappoint as Notre Dame spent 13 weeks ranked #1 before losing to
Professional career
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle |
Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
212 lb (96 kg) |
31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) |
9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) |
4.71 s | 1.68 s | 2.76 s | 4.41 s | 34.5 in (0.88 m) |
9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) |
18 reps |
Watters played for ten seasons in the NFL with San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Seattle. He was selected by San Francisco in the second round of the 1991 NFL draft, but sat out the entire 1991 season with injuries.[4] He started at running back for the 49ers during the next three seasons, and San Francisco's offense led the NFL in scoring and yardage each year. The 49ers reached the NFC Championship Game in 1992 and 1993, falling both times to the Dallas Cowboys, before finally vanquishing Dallas in the 1994 NFC Championship on their way to a Super Bowl championship. In a 1994 NFC Divisional Round game, Watters set an NFL postseason record with five rushing touchdowns in the game, as the 49ers trounced the New York Giants 44–3. His thirty points scored in the game set a new record for most scored by one player in a postseason game that still stands.[5] In Super Bowl XXIX the following season, Watters scored three touchdowns in San Francisco's 49–26 victory over the San Diego Chargers, tying a Super Bowl mark shared by fellow 49ers Roger Craig and Jerry Rice, and later matched by Terrell Davis of the Denver Broncos, James White of the New England Patriots, and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Watters joined the Philadelphia Eagles in 1995 as a free agent. He gained notoriety in Philadelphia for his infamous line "For who? For what?" after his first game as an Eagle on September 3, 1995 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The line was an answer to a question on why he didn't stretch himself to catch a Randall Cunningham pass that would've likely resulted in a big hit from a defender and instead "short armed" a pass to avoid contact in a 21–6 loss.[6] But he quickly established himself as a very productive player for the Eagles, leading the league in yards from scrimmage in 1996 and helping Philadelphia get to the playoffs twice. In 3 seasons with the Eagles, he played and started every game and recorded 3,794 rushing yards and 31 rushing TDs on 975 carries. In 1998, Watters joined the Seahawks and played with them until his retirement in 2001. He finished his professional career with 10,643 yards rushing and 4,248 yards receiving and 91 total touchdowns in regular season play. As of the end of the 2011 NFL season, Watters is one of only two NFL running backs to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season for three teams, along with Willis McGahee. Watters was on the ballot along with Terrell Davis, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, and others for the February 3, 2007 Pro Football Hall of Fame selections.
On a 2008 episode of
NFL career statistics
Legend | |
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Won the Super Bowl | |
Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | |||||||||
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Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | |||
1992 | SF | 14 | 206 | 1,013 | 4.9 | 43 | 9 | 43 | 405 | 9.4 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
1993 | SF | 13 | 208 | 950 | 4.6 | 39 | 10 | 31 | 326 | 10.5 | 48 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
1994 | SF | 16 | 239 | 877 | 3.7 | 23 | 6 | 66 | 719 | 10.9 | 65 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
1995 | PHI | 16 | 337 | 1,273 | 3.8 | 57 | 11 | 62 | 434 | 7.0 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
1996 | PHI | 16 | 353 | 1,411 | 4.0 | 56 | 13 | 51 | 444 | 8.7 | 36 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
1997 | PHI | 16 | 285 | 1,110 | 3.9 | 28 | 7 | 48 | 440 | 9.2 | 37 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
1998 | SEA | 16 | 319 | 1,239 | 3.9 | 39 | 9 | 52 | 373 | 7.2 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
1999 | SEA | 16 | 325 | 1,210 | 3.7 | 45 | 5 | 40 | 387 | 9.7 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
2000 | SEA | 16 | 278 | 1,242 | 4.5 | 55 | 7 | 63 | 613 | 9.7 | 59 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
2001 | SEA | 5 | 72 | 318 | 4.4 | 40 | 1 | 11 | 107 | 9.7 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Career | 144 | 2,622 | 10,643 | 4.1 | 57 | 78 | 467 | 4,248 | 9.1 | 65 | 13 | 40 | 21 |
References
- ^ Most rushing td by a player in a playoff game, StatMuse
- ^ Most points scored by a single player in a playoff game, StatMuse
- ^ Fortuna, Matt (July 10, 2014). "Ricky Watters finishing what he started". ESPN.
- ^ "1991 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ "NFL Points Scored Single Game Playoffs Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ Eskin, Spike (October 11, 2012). "Ricky Watters Wishes He Never Said, 'For Who, For What'". CBS Philly. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
- ^ "NFL Network Videos". NFL.com. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
- ^ "26 Modern-Era Players Named as Semifinalists for HOF Class of 2022 | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site".
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · ESPN · Yahoo! Sports · SI.com · Pro Football Reference
- Official website