Texans’s Deshaun Watson Recalls being a “Nervous” Ball Boy with the Atlanta Falcons

The story of 24-year old Deshaun Watson is so much closer to the dreams of many a 14-year olds acting as ball boys across the grounds in the US. Talking to ESPN, Watson said that he was nervous 14-year old ball boy with the Atlanta Falcons.

Before Watson’s freshman year in Georgia, he joined the Falcons, picking up balls and doing other such help in the Falcon’s training.

“Anything that the players needed, we took care of it,” Watson was quoted as saying.

Terry Robiskie, the then Falcons coach said that he was assigned to throw to the receivers during drills.

“He would throw to Eric Weems, Harry Douglas, Andrew Davis, and when he would throw to my ‘no-name guys,’ and he would hit them all in the chest, throw the ball right in their face,” Terry said. “Just perfect balls, you know what I mean? And then all of a sudden, Roddy White would step up … and he’d throw it in the ground.”

“That first year I was a little nervous because I wanted to be perfect,” Watson said. “I wanted to make sure they were getting the right balls thrown to them and everything like that.” But those nerves went away quickly, and Watson “was just cutting it loose.”

“They were like, ‘OK, now I see what all these schools are talking about. It became fun, and we became cool.’”

Watson, who is now playing for Houston Texans will be coming back to the place where it all started. Texans play Falcons on Sunday and Watson was looking forward to the homecoming.

“It’s cool for them to be able to see that I became the person that they thought I was going to be able to become,” Watson said.

Speaking about the return of the 14-year old nervous ball boy who is now 24 years old, Robiskie said: “I know a lot of those guys sit there and watch him and, like me, they’re just amazed at how far he’s come and where it all came from and where it all started. And we all see that little guy who stood there that day, and when Roddy and Julio came up, he couldn’t throw it 10 yards. But eventually he got it, and boy, did he get it well.”