Hoping to catch on

There was a time, a couple of months ago, when Deon Watson might have wondered if this business of chasing an NFL dream was really worth it.

It was in February, and Watson, the former Coeur d’Alene High and University of Idaho star, was training seven hours a day in Bellevue, Wash., for his shot at the NFL. Roughly a month into the training, Watson was talking with his old Idaho roommate and teammate, safety Jayshawn Jordan, who was also training for his chance at pro football.

“I said, ‘Hey man, I don’t know if I’m really cut out for this,” Watson recalled the other day, from his home in Spokane. “I might need to go back home and maybe find a speed coach. I wanted to resort to something that was comfortable for me, and the more I thought about it, I needed to perservere, and being uncomfortable, for once in my life, was probably a good thing.”

Watson, never one to back down from a challenge, opted to stick it out through 2 1/2 months of training, and he hopes to reap the benefits this weekend.

Based on what he and his agents have heard from NFL teams, Watson, who flourished as a combination wide receiver and tight end at Idaho, could be either a late-round draft choice on Saturday, or get an invite to a rookie camp as an undrafted free agent.

“I’ve had a wide range of teams looking at me,” Watson said, listing the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks among those interested. “Honestly I’m just excited that people are interested in me, but it’s looking like I’m going to have an opportunity to go somewhere for a camp.”

IN JANUARY, not long after he caught five passes for 140 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown, in Idaho’s 61-50 victory over Colorado State in the Humanitarian Bowl, Watson moved to the Seattle area to train under Tracy Ford, a former Vandal receiver who works with NFL players in the offseason, and has trained a few former Vandals.

The group Watson trained with numbered around 18, and included former Eastern Washington wide receivers Shaq Hill and Kendrick Bourne, as well as Washington tight end Darrell Daniels and Montana State linebacker Fletcher Collins.

A typical day, Watson said, involved working out from 8 a.m. to noon, followed by a lunch break, followed by position drills or more lifting from 1 to 4 p.m.

“It was like a full-time job, honestly,” Watson said. “It was honestly kind of exciting. It was the first step I took toward really realizing this is something I could do for a living. Playing football is something I could see myself doing as a job.”

Ford planned out the athletes’ meals for lunch and dinner.

“He gave us a list of what we could or couldn’t eat,” Watson said. “We were eating a lot of lunchmeat, and that was probably the worst part about it, honestly.”

Lunchmeat?

“I don’t know if it is (healthy), but it worked out,” he said. “He trained our minds to think of food as fuel — it really wasn’t about taste or look, it was kind of like, ‘I need this because my body is burning so many calories.’”

After 2 1/2 months of that kind of training, Watson said his body was “pretty cut up.”

“I was about 217 (pounds) going into it, and I left at 222,” he said. “I didn’t gain too much weight, just the weight that was on me definitely transformed. I felt like a ball of muscle when I left that place.”

After he rejoined his former Vandal teammates at Idaho’s pro day in March in Moscow, Watson returned to Spokane, where he continues to work out — though not nearly as intense as in Bellevue.

He spoke to his agents at Reign Sports Management, whose clients include former Vandals Aaron Grymes, about putting on weight, trying to sell NFL teams on the tight end/wide receiver hybrid model, realizing that 222 might be a little light for a tight end.

“I’m up to 230 now, but I managed to hold on to my six-pack (abs),” the 6-foot-4 Watson said.

Watson said his time in the Seattle area was beneficial off the field as well as potentially on the field.

“It was more than just putting on muscle to me, it was about the experience, also, being around guys that are like-minded, and on the same mission,” she said. “Just going to Seattle was eye-opening ... it really made me feel like an ant on the mat. It really motivated me.”

Motivated him, in part, to silence the doubters.

“Especially being from Idaho, I get that funny look, being African-American ... people are like, ‘you’re from Idaho?’” said Watson, who grew up in Mullan. “Over the years I just embrace it. It’s just something I use. Not a lot of people say they’ve gotten this far in their high school and college career, and I take a lot of pride in it. I take pride in being different; I have no shame where I’m from, and where I got my roots from.”

Particularly on Saturday, Watson said he plans to keep tabs on the draft from his home in Spokane, accompanied by family and, just as importantly, his phone.

“This is something I’ve dreamt about since I was a kid,” said Watson, who caught 149 passes for 1,992 yards and 14 touchdowns as a Vandal. “I definitely have butterflies. I’m very nervous on how things are going to happen. I’m also very very excited because I have faith that I’m going to get a shot, from what I hear. I just don’t know where, and I don’t know when. I’m extremely excited, but it’s also like being excited for the unknown ... it’s a good kind of stress, you could say. I realize I’m in a position that a lot of people wish they could be in, so I feel extremely blessed.

“A lot of people have supported me this far, and I hope to make ’em proud. I take pride in my roots. I hope everyone’s looking out for me, and I hope to bring back good news.”