16-Year NFL Veteran Opens Up on Lasting Physical Toll of Football Career

Former NFL tight end Benjamin Watson retired in 2020 after coming back from retirement in 2019 to play for New England Patriots. After six years of his retirement, he opened up on an injury that still makes him suffer after all these years. While he was playing for the Baltimore Ravens in 2016, he ruptured his Achilles. He still continued to play for a few more years but after 10 years, he ha talked about the physical toll he had on him which still has effects on him. The injury that Benjamin Watson still remembers Benjamin Watson is a former NFL tight end who played 16 seasons in the league from 2004 to 2019. In 2016, Watson signed a two-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens as one of their premier free-agent additions. He was entering his 13th NFL season at 35 years old, coming off a career-high year with the New Orleans Saints in 2015 with 74 catches, 825 yards, 6 touchdowns. Before even starting the season with Baltimore Ravens, in a preseason game against the Detroit Lions, Watson tripped running a route over the middle on the very first play and completely tore his right Achilles tendon. He was unable to put weight on his leg, carried off the field, and subsequently missed the entire 2016 regular season. '10 years later, Benjamin Watson had opened up about it on his Instagram account with a heartfelt confession and the video clip of the exact moment he got injured. 'Ten years ago my Achilles completely ruptured. I was 35, in my 13th season in the NFL. I missed the entire season, rehabbed, played another 3 seasons but my body was never the same,' Watson wrote describing the injury. Later on he talked about how he dealt the injury and the blessing in disguise that she had felt. 'Today I still deal with the impact of that injury but through it all God continued to show his faithfulness. As I reflect on that time, I'm grateful for relationships with people like Sam Bell and @pairofjeanz who helped me build back as I fought to return to the field.' He had also opened up on his family and how they helped him. 'I'm grateful for the special moments of bonding that I was able to spend with my youngest daughter that the football season would normally not afford me. I'm grateful for my wife, for speaking life into me when I was overcome with doubt, and for the way we were able to host couples Bible study in our home for the first time,' he added. This is not the only major injury he suffered in his career. In 2004, in his rookie season, Benjamin Watson tore his ACL which ended his season after just one game. Benjamin Watson thought he let people down Benjamin Watson's rookie season in 2004 began with immense promise after the New England Patriots selected him in the first round (32nd overall) out of the University of Georgia. However, his professional career hit an immediate setback just two weeks into the regular season. When reflecting on his rookie season torn ACL in 2004, Benjamin Watson spoke openly about the sudden shift from excitement to severe disappointment. 'When they called my name, I thought I'd made it. I started out with the Patriots so excited to play, and then I tore my ACL. With that particular injury, you're pretty much out for the whole year. I was so disappointed. I really felt like I let people down,' Watson said. He also detailed the personal emotional toll of being sidelined during New England's Super Bowl run. 'That was in 2004, and the team won the Super Bowl. I wasn't able to play because of the ACL injury, and I just felt miserable. I had this bad attitude the whole week… At the time, I had the attitude that it was all about me. I felt like I was a failure because I couldn't play.' Despite the early setback, Watson fully rehabilitated his knee ahead of the 2005 season. He returned to become a staple of the Patriots' offense, playing five more seasons in New England before continuing his 16-year career across the league. More NFL News: