Ricky Watters is Coming Back This Weekend, and He's Not in Great Shape
For who? For what?
For Marcus Hayes, who didn’t write a ridiculous sonnet today.
Ricky Watters will be the Eagles’ honorary captain on Sunday. For what? I don’t know.
The oft-maligned former running back, whose time in Philly is fortunately or unfortunately summed up by those four simple words (well, three), will probably receive a mixture of boos and cheers from the lathered up masses.
But perhaps that shouldn’t be the case.
Hayes caught up with Watters, one of many former players who has filed for disability.
Watters can’t draw or paint, because of injury.
He has pins and plates in his bones.
He can’t sit for long stretches.
And he forgets things. So much so that his wife and kids have to remind him of names and conversations: [Philly.com]
He said he had dozens of concussions, from the time he starred at Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg, then at Notre Dame, then in San Francisco, Philadelphia and, finally, Seattle, his last stop in a 10-year NFL career.
"Not that I knew what a concussion was then," Watters said.
How many times did he play without his full mental faculties?
"Hundreds of times."
Watters ignored the signs: headaches, fatigue, forgetfulness. His wife of 13 years, Catherina, was his fianceé when he was in Philadelphia. The Ricky she knew was disappearing: the Ricky with a photographic memory; the tireless Ricky who always followed through. She begged him to file for disability.
