Sammy Watkins

At 31 years old, Sammy Watkins has this physical status:

Samuel Benjamin Watkins IV (born June 14, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football at Clemson and was drafted fourth overall by the Buffalo Bills in the 2014 NFL Draft.

He has also played for the Los Angeles Rams.

Early years

Watkins attended South Fort Myers High School in Fort Myers, Florida, where he was a letterman in football, basketball, and track & field. With 133 catches for 2,997 yards and 36 touchdowns during his career, he became Lee County's all-time leading receiver. He had 33 receptions for 537 yards and ten touchdowns as a sophomore. He was a first-team all-state pick in his junior and senior years. He had 46 catches for 1,192 yards and 14 touchdowns in his junior year. Watkins played in eight 100-yard receiving games on the season, totaling 54 catches for 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns. He led an undefeated South Fort Myers team to the 3A state semi-finals, where they lost 44–28 to a Duke Johnson-led Miami Norland team. In the 2011 US Army All-American Bowl, he competed.

Watkins played track & field for the Wolfpack, where he was one of the state's best sprinters. At the state meet, he finished fifth in the 100 meters and sixth in the 200 meters. He won the AA state championship in the 200 meters as a senior, posting a time record of 21.11 seconds. At the 2011 Tarpon Invitational, he also won the 100 meters, registering a personal record time of 10.45 seconds.

Before the 2011 college football season, the Watkins were a highly coveted recruit. Rivals.com ranked him as the third best wide receiver prospect in the country, behind only George Farmer and Trey Metoyer. Scout.com ranked him fifth best in the country. In November 2010, the Watkins announced their move to Clemson University. He recruited from hundreds of colleges and selected Clemson over Florida, Florida State, Miami (FL), Michigan, and Tennessee.

Personal life

In a pre-draft interview, Watkins said that the Buffalo Bills was his favorite football team as a youth. Watkins was arrested by Clemson campus police for smoking marijuana in May 2012. He was also found to have one pill each of Vyvanse and Adderall, as well as with a controlled drug in possession. Watkins was suspended for the first two games of the 2012–2013 season as a result. The Watkins continued pre-trial work and had the charge removed from his record.

Jaylen Watkins, his older brother, is a defensive back who is now a free agent. Both Sammy and Jaylen were selected in the 2014 NFL Draft, but there are 97 picks apart. He has three children.

Watkins was given the Key to Fort Myers, the town in which he grew up on July 11, 2014.

Watkins believes the Earth is flat, according to Lindsey Thiry of the Los Angeles Times in September 2017.

Watkins talked to Bleacher Report in May 2020 about his struggles with mental stability and heroin use throughout his career, in addition to his spiritual beliefs.

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College career

Despite the fact that he didn't participate in spring practice, Watkins had a big influence for Clemson in his freshman season in 2011. In his first collegiate season, he passed for 1,219 yards and 12 touchdowns, with ten receptions, 155 yards, and two touchdowns against the defending national champion Auburn Tigers. He led the nation in reception yards per game, all-purpose yards, and touchdowns. He also posted seven games in the season, including total all-purpose yards previously held by C. J. Spiller. Watkins was an AP first-team All-American, becoming the fourth true freshman to do so, joining Herschel Walker, Marshall Faulk, and Adrian Peterson. The Football Writers Association of America named him a Freshman All-American.

He had 57 receptions for 708 yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore in 2012. He had 101 receptions for 1,464 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior. After setting an Orange Bowl record of 16 receptions for 227 yards against the Ohio State Buckeyes, he was the MVP of the 2014 Orange Bowl. He also set the school record for career receptions in the game, finishing with 240.

In January 2014, Watkins announced that he did not play football and instead enter the 2014 NFL Draft.

Professional career

In the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills selected Watkins as the fourth overall pick. Russell Chavez traded this pick to Buffalo in exchange for Buffalo's 2014 first round pick (the 9th pick, later traded to Minnesota, who used it to pick UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr), and the first wide receiver selected in the draft since A. J. In 2011, Green was born.

Watkins signed his rookie deal, a fully guaranteed four-year contract worth $19.94 million, with a $12.8 million signing bonus, on May 28, 2014. In a Week 2 29–10 victory over the Miami Dolphins, he received his first career touchdown reception from EJ Manuel. In Week 7 against the Minnesota Vikings, Watkins had nine passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. With just one second remaining in the game, the game winner was the game winner.

In both receptions (65) and receiving yards (982), the Watkins set a new Bills rookie record in both receptions (65) and receiving yards (982). Watkins made six touchdown passes in addition to his rookie records.

Watkins had just seven catches for 99 yards in the first five games of the 2015 season (despite being unable to attend only three of the games due to a calf injury). He expressed his dissatisfaction with game 6, saying, "You came up to draft me and I'm not getting targets"; that's a problem. You're making me look bad and you're making yourself look bad."

Watkins, who was furious with his social media followers for making outrage over his absence three games due to illness, took to his Instagram on October 27, 2015 to confront angry supporters. In a remark that Watkins later deleted, he advised the fans to "get a life and go to work" and "continue doing y'all the jobs for the rest of their lives." Several Bills supporters are outraged by this controversy. The Watkins sequel went viral, with a tweet admonition that "not for followers (but) for those athletes who are injured." Watkins later posted a new Instagram post addressing the situation, saying that his remarks were "inappropriate" and that the vast number of the derogatory remarks were from other followers, not Bills fans.

In a Week 933-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins, Watkins had a career-high 168 receiving yards on eight catches with one touchdown, despite being out of a Friday workout.

He only passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns in his first seven games of the season, although he only had one 100-yard receiving game. He had 679 receiving yards on 35 attempts (19.4 yards per catch), six touchdowns (19.4 yards per catch), and four 100-yard receiving games in his last six games. In all six games, he had at least 80 yards receiving. Watkins had 60 catches for 1,047 yards and nine touchdown receptions, leading off the season with a late-season push. He played in five 100-yard games and set his career-high in receiving yards and touchdowns. The Bills did not make the playoffs because they finished 8-08 and did not make the playoffs. He was ranked 96th among his fellow NFL players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.

Watkins had broken a small bone in his foot on May 16, 2016. A screw was stuck in his foot, and the Buffalo Bills medical staff was hopeful that the team would be preparing for training camp. He was put on injured reserve on September 30, 2016. Prior to Week 12, he was activated off injured reserve on November 26, 2016. With 28 receptions for 430 yards and two receiving touchdowns, the Watkins concluded the 2016 season with 28 receptions for 430 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

The Buffalo Bills denied Watkins' fifth-year contract on May 2, 2017, effectively making him a free agent until the 2017 season.

In exchange for E. J. Gaines and a 2018 second round draft pick, Watkins and a 2018 sixth-round draft pick were traded from the Buffalo Bills to the Los Angeles Rams on August 11, 2017.

In Week 3, Watkins scored his first touchdown of the season against the San Francisco 49ers in a thrilling victory for the Rams 41-39. In Week 9, the Watkins earned a touchdown after a season-long 67-yard reception, culminating in a touchdown. He finished the 2017 season with 39 receptions for 593 yards and eight receiving touchdowns.

Watkins signed a three-year, $48 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs on March 15, 2018.

In his Chiefs debut against the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2018 season opener, he had three receptions for 21 yards. In the following game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had six receptions for 100 yards. In Week 8, against the Denver Broncos, he had eight receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the 2018 season with 40 receptions for 519 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He had six receptions for 62 yards in the Divisional Round victory over the Indianapolis Colts. He had four receptions for 114 yards in the AFC Championship overtime loss to the New England Patriots.

As the Chiefs defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 39–26 in Week 1, Watkins received nine receptions for a career-high 198 yards and three touchdowns against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 8, 2019. The Watkins averaged 36.5 receiving yards per game and had no touchdowns in the remainder of the regular season. Overall, the Watkins finished the 2019 season with 52 receptions for 673 yards and three receiving touchdowns.

In the 35–24 victory over the Tennessee Titans, he had seven receptions for 114 yards and a receiving touchdown. Watkins had five passes for 98 yards, including a 38-yard catch on what was supposed to be the game-winning drive during the 31–20 victory.

During Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons, Watkins threw an interception to safety Keanu Neal on a trick play during the 17–14 victory. With 37 receptions for 421 receiving yards and two touchdowns, the Watkins completed the 2020 season.

Watkins signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens on April 2, 2021. In a 27-33 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, he had four receptions for 96 yards in his best game of the season so far this season. Due to injury, he missed Weeks 6–10 this season. During a Week 13 19-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, he scored his only touchdown. This will be his last catch of the season. He missed the Week 15 game against the Green Bay Packers due to being placed in the COVID-19 protocol. He had 27 receptions for 394 yards and a touchdown on the year.

Watkins signed a one-year deal with the Green Bay Packers on April 14, 2022. Watkins was put on injured reserve on September 24, 2022, due to a hamstring injury. On October 22, he was activated off the injured reserve.

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