MENTOR MATCHUP
Texans’ Deshaun Watson gets to face the Patriots’ Cam Newton, who he refers to as a ‘big brother’ and mentor who helped him grow as an NFL quarterback.
Deshaun Watson is ready to face the Pats’ Cam Newton, whom he calls “a big brother.”
Deshaun Watson will never forget his first telephone call from Cam Newton and how it launched a friendship and ongoing conversation that helped guide the Texans’ quarterback on his pathway to the NFL.
Growing up in Georgia, Watson idolized Newton and emulated aspects of his multidimensional game.
Seven years ago when he was a junior at Gainesville High School, Watson was informed by Newton that he had selected him to his prestigious seven-on-seven tournament team headlined by some of the top high school football players in the South.
While Watson had already accepted a scholarship to Clemson and didn’t heed Newton, a former Heisman Trophy winner and Carolina Panthers top overall pick, when he urged him to switch his commitment to Auburn, they did see eye to eye on a lot of other important matters.
Now, Watson, 25, is poised to square off against his mentor Sunday at NRG Stadium as Newton, 31, leads the New England Patriots as the replacement for Tom Brady. Newton was injured last season when the Texans lost to Carolina at NRG Stadium and missed the game.
“Cam is a big brother to me, a mentor,” Watson said. “Just life experiences, life advice, football advice, just always been there for me since I was in high school. Me and him have a great relationship. We always support each other.
“He’s a guy that I based my game, especially at a young age, around what he did. He was definitely a reason why I watched Auburn in college and things like that. He’s just always been my favorite quarterback. It’s a cool opportunity for us to be able to go against each other, too.”
Before Watson emerged as a national championship game winner, a first-round draft pick and Pro Bowl selection, he was a young quarterback who enjoyed watching Newton ply his trade.
Eager to soak up knowledge, Watson would quiz Newton about everything on the field and surrounding the game of football.
When Watson reached the championship game of Newton’s tournament in Atlanta, he got picked for his all-star team and flew out to the IMG Academy in Florida for another tournament. That interaction cemented their relationship.
“That’s when we became close,” Watson said. “I was committed to Clemson but he wanted me to go to Auburn and switch that around, but I couldn’t do that. I was so locked in. We just kind of built from there.”
Throughout every stage of Watson’s development, from taking over as the starting quarterback as a freshman, to overcoming a torn anterior cruciate ligament in college and as an NFL rookie, to the draft process and off-field situations, Newton has been there for him.
“Of course, he’s in Charlotte, I’m in Clemson, we’re right there,” Watson said. “A lot of times on the phone, a lot of situations where we just kind of chopped it up all night and he just showed me a lot of different life experiences and how to be a professional quarterback at this level. He always told me, really just this one thing: If you continue to do what you do, stay in school, stay locked in and stay focused on your craft, I’m going to be in the position that he was in, especially at that time.
“It was early, early in his career and he had just been the No. 1 pick. Having the opportunity now and being in the position I am, he spoke everything to existence. For me, I just kind of followed his lead and his guidance and it led me here.”
Despite the Texans’ 2-7 record and the firing of coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, Watson is playing arguably the best football of his career. He’s completing 68.1 percent of his throws for 2,539 yards, 18 touchdown passes, five interceptions and a career-high 107.0 passer rating.
In his fourth NFL season, Watson is 26-20 as a starter with 12,255 career passing yards, 89 touchdowns and 34 interceptions with 1,466 rushing yards and 15 touchdown runs. Before the season, the Texans signed him to a four-year, $156 million contract.
All of Watson’s accomplishments have created a huge sense of pride for Newton.
“Yeah, that’s my guy,” Newton said. “I just love the player, the person that he’s grown to be; he’s growing to be. His stock is still ascending. Deshaun was on the foundation team, and we knew then he was a star.
“How easy the ball came off his hands, how he had so much arm talent at such a young age. It’s a person that I just sit back, man, and admire from afar knowing that I know where he came from. I know his circle pretty close. And he’s just a person that has a bright future in front of him, and I look forward to Sunday’s matchup.”
Newton has made it a point to mentor several players, including Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, another former member of Newton’s high school all-star team.
Watson is special to Newton, though. There’s an intangible factor that Newton picked up on a long time ago.
“Another person who’s got swag, sauce, goo, drip, whatever you want to call it,” Newton said. “Just an Atlanta thing or Georgia thing, if you want to say it, man. Just trying to bring the fun to the football game.”
A former NFL Most Valuable Player, Newton is a super-sized quarterback at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds who excels at overpowering defenders and has rushed for nine touchdowns to lead the Patriots’ third-ranked running game.
Watson can run with the best of them as a scrambler or on designed runs, but has emphasized his ability to beat defenses from inside and outside the pocket with his mind and his arm.
Watson can’t wait to do his thing Sunday with Newton watching from the opposing sideline.
“It’s definitely very, very cool,” he said. “I’m finally where I want to be as far as just my dream and getting opportunities like I wanted to be in high school and learning from him.”
For Newton, this is all he’s ever wanted. He deeply wants to pass on whatever he can to the next generation of football players.
Newton wants to see others thrive the way Watson has.
“Why? It’s simple,” Newton said. “I am not going to sit up here and proclaim I am the most thuggish, ruggish quarterback in the NFL, but a lot of people where I’m from don’t have the opportunities that I have now. To use my platform, for me to use my reach from the people who spend advertisement money on me and things like that, I want to always give back to the community
“I can just remember growing up, nobody really did that for me, back in Atlanta. I always had people I wanted to look up to, and I did look up to the Michael Vicks and Adam ‘Pacman’ Joneses. At the same time, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to those camps when they had them or it just wasn’t in my area. Now, I just try and make it as accessible as possible for me to get a person who may not have a (scholarship), or whatever their circumstances may be, just to give them an opportunity to play the game of football, which I love and I know a lot of people love. An opportunity is an opportunity.”