Earl Watford
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Earl Watford (born June 24, 1990) is an American former professional
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 ...
guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...
. He played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
at
James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...
, and was selected by the
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
in the fourth round of the
2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...
.


Early life

He attended Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, and played
high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...
for the Gratz Bulldogs. He was a first-team all-city selection as a senior, and was named to the second-team All-Decade Public Team on the defensive line by the ''Philadelphia News''. Watford did not begin playing football until his junior year and played defensive end for Simon Gratz High School.


College career

Head coach Mickey Matthews stated that the main reason they recruited Watford was his large size. He was originally recruited as a defensive end, but the coaching staff realized he would be better suited to be an offensive linemen. Watford attended
James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...
in
Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham Cou ...
, where he played for the
James Madison Dukes football The James Madison Dukes football program represents James Madison University in the sport of American football. The Dukes compete in the NCAA Division I NCAA Division I#Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of th ...
team from 2008 to 2012. He started in 37 games over his college career, and was a first-team All-
Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...
(CAA) selection as a junior in 2011, and again as a senior in 2012.


Professional career


Pre-draft

On January 8, 2013, it was announced that Watford had accepted his invitation to play in the 2013 East–West Shrine Game. On January 19, 2013, Watford played for former Atlanta Falcons' head coach Jerry Glanville's East team that lost 28-13 to the West. Watford was one of 57 collegiate offensive linemen to attend the
NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...
in
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
. He completed all of the combine drills and finished fifth among all offensive linemen in the vertical and ninth in the 40-yard dash. On March 18, 2013, Watford attended James Madison's pro day, but chose to stand on his combine numbers and only perform positional and blocking drills. During the draft process, attended private workouts and meetings with a few teams, including the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
,
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
, and
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, NFL draft experts and scouts projected Watford would be a fourth or fifth round pick. He was ranked the seventh best offensive guard in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.


Arizona Cardinals (first stint)


2013

The
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
selected Watford in the fourth round (116th overall) of the
2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...
. Watford was the 14th player ever selected in the
NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...
from James Madison. He also became the fourth highest selection in the school's history. Earlier in the draft, the Arizona Cardinals also selected North Carolina's guard
Jonathan Cooper Jonathan Javell Cooper (born January 19, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals seventh overall in the 2013 NFL draft. He play ...
in the first round (seventh overall). On June 4, 2013, the Cardinals signed Watford to a four-year, $2.59 million contract. Throughout training camp, Watford competed against Chilo Rachal, Daryn Colledge,
Jonathan Cooper Jonathan Javell Cooper (born January 19, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals seventh overall in the 2013 NFL draft. He play ...
, Paul Fanaika, Mike Gibson, and Senio Kelemete for the starting offensive guard role. Head coach Bruce Arians named Watford the backup offensive guard behind starters Daryn College and Paul Fanaika to begin the regular season. Watford spent the entire season on the bench and was inactive for all 16 regular season games.


2014

The following season, Watford competed against Jonathan Cooper for the vacant starting left guard role after the departure of Daryn College to the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
in free agency. Watford and Cooper were named the backup offensive guards behind starters Paul Fanaika and Ted Larsen to start the regular season. On September 18, 2014, he made his professional regular season debut during the Arizona Cardinals' 25-14 victory over the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
. He missed five games during the season (Weeks 8-12) after suffering a high ankle sprain. He finished the season with ten games and zero starts as the Arizona Cardinals finished second in the
NFC West The National Football Conference – Western Division or NFC West is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Card ...
with an 11-5 record. On January 3, 2015, Watford played in his first career playoff game as the Arizona Cardinals lost to the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
27-16 in the NFC Wildcard game.


2015

During the off season, the Arizona Cardinals saw the departure of Paul Fanaika, signed free agent guard Mike Iupati, and moved Ted Larsen to center. With Iupati slated as the starting right guard, Watford competed against
Jonathan Cooper Jonathan Javell Cooper (born January 19, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals seventh overall in the 2013 NFL draft. He play ...
for the vacant starting left guard position. In an unexpected move, the Arizona Cardinals named Watford the starting right tackle, ahead of Bradley Sowell. He would replace Bobby Massie who was in the midst of serving a two-game suspension after an incident during the week of the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
. He made his first career start in the Arizona Cardinals' season-opening 31-19 victory over the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...
. On December 8, 2015, the Cardinals placed Watford on injured/reserve after he suffered a hand injury, effectively ending his season. He finished the season with two starts and appeared in eight games. Watford also missed three games during the season (Weeks 6-8).


2016

The Arizona Cardinals signed Evan Mathis to be the starting offensive guard opposite Mike Iupati. Watford competed for a backup guard role against Cole Toner. Head coach Bruce Arians named him the backup left guard to Iupati to start the regular season. After starting the season in a reserve role, Watford was named the starting right guard for a Week 3 loss at the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
. Evan Mathis was inactive after suffering a foot injury. Watford was named the starting right guard for the rest of the season prior to the Arizona Cardinals' Week 6 victory over the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
. He replaced Evan Mathis in the lineup after Mathis suffered an ankle injury and was placed on injured/reserve for the remainder of the season. He finished the 2016 season with ten starts in 15 games.


Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 11, 2017, the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...
signed Watford to a two-year, $6 million contract that included $750,000 guaranteed and a
signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...
of $250,000. Throughout training camp, he competed against A. J. Cann and Patrick Omameh for one of the starting guard jobs. Head coach Doug Marrone named Watford the backup to A. J. Cann and Patrick Omameh to start the regular season. He was released on September 8, 2017.


Arizona Cardinals (second stint)

On October 2, 2017, the Cardinals signed Watford after starting left guard Mike Iupati suffered a triceps injury and was placed on injured reserve. The terms of his contract were for one-year and $775,000. Upon arrival, he was named the starting right guard with Alex Boone moving to the left. He started Weeks 5-14, was inactive for 15-16, before returning for the season finale. He finished with a total of ten games and nine starts. Pro Football Focus gave him a 36.7 overall grade, but gave him "high quality" marks for run and pass blocking.


Chicago Bears

On April 3, 2018, Watford signed a one-year contract with the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
. He was released on August 26, 2018.


Cleveland Browns

On August 28, 2018, Watford was signed by the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
.


Tampa Bay Buccaneers (first stint)

On March 15, 2019, Watford signed a one-year contract with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...
.


New England Patriots

On December 15, 2020, Watford was signed to the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
practice squad. He was released on December 29, 2020.


Tampa Bay Buccaneers (second stint)

On January 15, 2021, Watford signed with the Buccaneers. He was waived on January 22, and signed to the team's practice squad on January 27. His practice squad contract with the team expired after the season on February 16, 2021. On August 12, 2021, Watford re-signed with the Buccaneers. He was placed on injured reserve on September 6, 2021. He was released on September 14.


References


External links


James Madison Dukes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watford, Earl Living people 1990 births Players of American football from Philadelphia American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles James Madison Dukes football players Arizona Cardinals players Jacksonville Jaguars players Chicago Bears players Cleveland Browns players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New England Patriots players