Popular Post pakapablo Posted June 23, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted June 23, 2022 What a cool shout out for Larry the Legend. Didn’t know much about Armon Watts before reading this but I’ll be rooting for him if I catch any Vikings games this season. Best of luck Mr. Watts. Armon Watts, now in NFL, feels ‘duty to give back’ to North St. Louis https://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-armon-watts-now-in-nfl-feels-duty-to-give-back-to-north-st-louis/article_82337d33-a9f6-5fff-8f85-49118b449410.html There are kids he doesn’t know, but he knows them. They live in north St. Louis, like he did. Like his family still does. They are so innocent and precious, yet vulnerable and imperiled. “You know, gun violence, stuff like that,” Armon Watts said. “You know, robberies. ... “I grew up right off Newstead and Bircher. Back then, it was still dangerous with some of the violence that happens in the city. Of course, we had to witness some of those things. Just being able to make it out of that, to where I am now, it’s definitely a big achievement.” Growing up, Watts could’ve been a number. Now he’s No. 96 for the Minnesota Vikings. The defensive tackle tallied five sacks last season, third-most on his team. Two forced fumbles, too. And as each career step takes him farther from north St. Louis, it also brings him closer. He’s starting the Armon Watts Foundation this summer. He’s hosting a free football camp for kids. And now that he’s a name around the NFL, he wants to meet and inspire kids from his neighborhood. “I just felt like it was kind of my duty to give back,” said Watts, 25, who played high school football at CBC and college ball at Arkansas. “Because I see a lot of potential (in kids), especially with (the impact) of somebody being like me, who can make a change or start to make a change. Whether it’s with the youth or my plan to buy back some property (in north St. Louis) and build some new stuff ... it’s definitely just the beginning. I’ve got a lot of plans for that part of town. ... “I was raised by my mom. ... My dad was actually incarcerated for a while, but he’s back in my life. Just getting over some of those hurdles — some of the things my mom had to go through — she made life as easy as possible as she could on us. Having seen her go through adversity, and me go through some of those adversities, adversity wasn’t anything I was new to. You just overcome it. And I’ve just been blessed to do what I do now.” Watts remembers his mentors, back to those who worked at the Boys & Girls Club. And he cherishes a childhood encounter with a pro athlete. The impression was inimitable. Everlasting. It’s one he hopes to make with this new generation of kids in north St. Louis. “Larry Hughes would throw these inner-city camps,” he said of Hughes, a St. Louisan who played 11-plus years in the NBA. “And I remember going, him teaching a basketball skills, passing out T-shirts, taking pictures and signing autographs. As a kid, being able to meet somebody on professional level — it sticks with you for a while. So it’s kind of exciting being able to be in his shoes now.” Watts’ camp, for kids ages 10-18, is from 12:30-3 p.m. Sunday at CBC. He’s hosting the camp along with another CBC alum in the NFL. That’s Jonathan Owens, who made his first-career interception last year for the Texans — and is engaged to the famed Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. Watts recalls waking up before the sun in order to make the bus to CBC each school day. He became a star athlete for the Cadets, noshing on quarterbacks every fall Friday. This newspaper named an all-decade high school football team for 2010-19, and Watts was named to the second-team defensive line. Incidentally, the first team D-line was rather stacked, featuring Edwardsville’s AJ Epenesa (second-round draft pick by the Bills), Edwardsville’s Vincent Valentine (third-round pick by the Patriots), Lutheran North’s Ronnie Perkins (also a third-round pick by the Patriots) and East St. Louis’ Terry Beckner Jr. (who was a marquee signee for Mizzou and a seventh-round pick by the Buccaneers). Watts also was a contributor to a winning basketball program at CBC before he went on to play football for the Razorbacks. Alas, he didn’t play much. Entering his final season, he had yet to start a game or sack a quarterback. But he unleashed a strip-sack in each of the first two games in 2018. The 6-foot-5, 307-pound Watts became a force. He finished with seven sacks and was picked in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft by Minnesota. “So it’s a big year for me,” he said of 2022. “We’ve got a new coaching staff, it’s my contract year. And especially coming off a big year, which I had last year. “And I think for me, just having this platform I have, it’s just taking advantage of it while I’m playing. Me being from the inner city, actually growing up there and seeing day-to-day stuff ... I want to do what I can to do my part. ... There are people around the neighborhood who just weren’t able to take things as far as I did, as far as college and being able to play sports at the highest level. But that’s part of why I’m doing my foundation.” Old guy, NextYearBill, Young Charles and 7 others like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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