Bill Watters
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William Wayne Watters (born June 29, 1943) is a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
sports media personality and former Assistant General Manager of the
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
.


College career

Watters was a fullback and
linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...
with the
Toronto Varsity Blues The Toronto Varsity Blues are the intercollegiate sports program at the University of Toronto. Its 43 athletic teams regularly participate in competitions held by Ontario University Athletics and U Sports. The Varsity Blues trace their foundin ...
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team from 1961 through 1964. He was a team co-captain and league All-Star at linebacker in both 1963 and 1964. In his final season (1964), he received the Johnny Copp Trophy as the team's Most Valuable Player. Watters also was a member of the Wrestling Blues for three seasons (1961–62, 62–63, 63–64) and practiced regularly with the
Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team The Toronto Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team is an ice hockey team operated by the Toronto Varsity Blues, Varsity Blues athletics program of the University of Toronto. They are members of the Ontario University Athletics conference and compe ...
, although he saw limited action in league play. He earned a total of three First Colours and five Second Colours, and served on the UTAA Men's Athletic Directorate in 1963–64.


Professional sports career

Watters was selected second overall by the
Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...
(Despite being offered to be drafted at the number one pick as he wanted to play closer to his family) in the 1964
CFL draft The CFL draft (also known as the CFL Canadian draft, CFL college draft, or the Canadian college draft) is an annual sports draft in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) select eligible Canadian Football League#Players and compens ...
but chose not to play professional football after he was cut due to a knee injury. In the 2000s, his son, Brad Watters, became the Argonaut's Team President.Watters the Younger chip off ol' Wilbur's block
from ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'' retrieved 17 April 2014
Following graduation, he embarked on a career as a
teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
then turned to professional sports as a broadcaster, player
agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...
, and assistant general manager of Toronto Maple Leafs from 1991 to 2003.


Sportscasting career

Watters formerly co-hosted '' Hockey Central'' on
Rogers Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globe ...
, '' The Bill Watters Show'' on AM 640 Toronto Radio and has been a regular contributor on Q107's John Derringer morning show. Watters was also a former co-host of ''
Prime Time Sports ''Prime Time Sports'' was a sports radio talk show produced from the studios of CJCL, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'', in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The show was hosted by Bob McCown until June 21, 2019, when McCown left the show. After his departure ...
'' back when it debuted in 1989. On January 14, 2011 his contract expired and left Rogers Sportsnet. The Bill Watters show on AM 640 Toronto Radio has been replaced by the drive-time show by Arlene Bynon as of July 18, 2011 due to Bill's contract expiring and a reprogram of the station. Watters is now a co-host on the bi-weekly live internet broadcast of "Next Sport Star" (NSS) along with entrepreneur and filmmaker Frank D'Angelo, hockey great Phil Esposito and sportscaster John Gallagher.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watters, Bill 1943 births Living people Canadian football linebackers Canadian radio sportscasters Canadian television sportscasters Ice hockey people from Ontario National Hockey League broadcasters National Hockey League executives People from Orillia Players of Canadian football from Ontario Toronto Maple Leafs announcers Toronto Maple Leafs executives Toronto Varsity Blues football players Toronto Varsity Blues ice hockey players