A career in pro football is just a job for some guys, but many players forge relationships that last a lifetime, even if they were only teammates for a couple of years. That’s the case for former New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson — who is watching Jimmy Graham go out and score touchdowns each week at around the same age he chose to hang up his cleats.
Watson and Graham played together on the Saints in 2013 and 2014, with Watson stepping in as a quality blocker and seasoned veteran five years Graham’s senior who could mentor the breakout star. And it worked out well with Graham’s 16 touchdown receptions leading the league in 2013.
But it was a humbling experience, Watson says, because he’d always been a starter on his previous teams — as a former first-round draft pick and highly-rated high school recruit, he had already enjoyed a lot of success in football, but here he was being asked to fill the role of a No. 2. But he embraced the opportunity to play on a winning team and did what he could to support Graham, and it ultimately worked out well for both of them.
“I practiced hard with Jimmy, and we pushed ourselves to be better. His success was my success because big-time performances from Jimmy often meant wins for the Saints, and that’s what I really wanted,” Watson wrote on the blog All Pro Dad. “I also learned a lot from Jimmy. Because of him, I would go on to become a better route runner later in my career. I wasn’t in the limelight as often that season, but embracing my role as a team player was worth it.”
Having picked up the playbook and seen how Graham executed his assignments when they were teammates, Watson posted a career-high 825 receiving yards with the Saints in 2015. He returned to the team for their Super Bowl run in 2018 and continued to play an important role on offense, but an untimely case of appendicitis sidelined him for the infamous NFC title game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Watson closed out his career in 2019 with the same New England Patriots team that drafted him way back in 2004, retiring at age 39 as one of the league’s most experienced players. And the way he tells it, the opportunity to work with Graham and learn some new things helped keep him going late into his career.
