Professional Football Player. For seven seasons (1961 to 1965, 1967 to 1968), he played at the halfback position in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers. After transferring from East Los Angeles Junior College, he played collegiate football at Iowa State University and while with the Cyclones, Watkins distinguished himself as he earned first-team All-Big Eight honors and with his 688 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, during his senior year in 1960, he achieved All-American status. Selected by Cleveland during the 15th round of the 1960 NFL Draft, he appeared in 75 regular season games. Watkins strengths and area of success was as a special teams player, and in 1963 (while with Detroit), he led the league with 32 punt returns for 399 yards with 1 touchdown. The following year (1964), he was league leader with a 14.9 punt-return average and 2 touchdown and in 1965 topped the NFL with a 34.4 kickoff return average. Following his playing career, he coached football at the high school level and was the proprietor of a graphics company. He was inducted into the Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. He died following a lengthy illness.
Professional Football Player. For seven seasons (1961 to 1965, 1967 to 1968), he played at the halfback position in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers. After transferring from East Los Angeles Junior College, he played collegiate football at Iowa State University and while with the Cyclones, Watkins distinguished himself as he earned first-team All-Big Eight honors and with his 688 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, during his senior year in 1960, he achieved All-American status. Selected by Cleveland during the 15th round of the 1960 NFL Draft, he appeared in 75 regular season games. Watkins strengths and area of success was as a special teams player, and in 1963 (while with Detroit), he led the league with 32 punt returns for 399 yards with 1 touchdown. The following year (1964), he was league leader with a 14.9 punt-return average and 2 touchdown and in 1965 topped the NFL with a 34.4 kickoff return average. Following his playing career, he coached football at the high school level and was the proprietor of a graphics company. He was inducted into the Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. He died following a lengthy illness.
Bio by: C.S.
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