Benjamin Watson

For other uses, see Ben Watson (disambiguation).

Benjamin Watson

Benjamin Watson during the 2009 NFL season.
No. 82     Cleveland Browns
Tight end
Personal information
Date of birth: December 18, 1980 (1980-12-18)
Place of birth: Norfolk, Virginia
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Weight: 255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
College: Georgia
NFL Draft: 2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 32
Debuted in 2004 for the New England Patriots
Career history
New England Patriots (2004–2009) Cleveland Browns (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl XXXIX champion
Career NFL statistics as of Week 14, 2011
Receptions	272
Receiving yards	3,275
Receiving touchdowns	25
Stats at NFL.com

Benjamin Watson (born December 18, 1980 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American football tight end for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New England Patriots 32nd overall in the 2004 NFL draft. He played college football at Georgia.

Early 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.

College career

Watson played football at Duke University prior to transferring to the University of Georgia where he majored in finance.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Watson entered the league rumored to have scored a 48 on his Wonderlic Test, an achievement that projects to an IQ of 156 . He was drafted by the New England Patriots 32nd overall in the 2004 NFL draft. 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 on January 14, 2006. 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. After an extensive review, the refs announced that the evidence was inconclusive as to whether or not Bailey fumbled the ball through the end-zone, or out of bounds. Thus, the call on the field stood (that he fumbled it out of bounds at the 1-yard line). This controversial call led to a crucial Denver touchdown, and was the key play in allowing the Broncos to upend the 2-time defending Super Bowl champs. Many NFL experts compared Watson's extraordinary play to that of Don Beebe's pursuit of Leon Lett in Super Bowl XXVII as two of greatest hustle plays of all time.

Cleveland Browns

On March 12, 2010, Watson signed a three year deal with the Cleveland Browns reuniting him with former Patriots assistant coach, Eric Mangini. In the 2010 season, Watson led the Browns in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns (tied with Brian Robiskie).