Invitation to an NFL rookie camp has Watson determined to make the most out of his last chance

“It has been a while since I’ve been this happy,” said Watson, who will spend Thursday through Sunday at the Bucs’ camp. “(Football) is my life; I’ve been playing it my whole life. I’m going to look at this as if it is my last chance.”

Watson has had days like this before, when all the promise in the world lay on his athletic ability and not his choices. When getting out of his poor Williamston neighborhood started with a quarterback pounding a ball into his ribs and ended when his personal problems tackled him harder than any linebacker.

Until Tuesday, he said, some of the days that should have been his best are better forgotten.

This time, Watson has honed his talent with a five-day-a-week regimen prescribed by personal trainer Emery Williams that includes six meals a day, eight hours of sleep a night and plenty of exercise in between.

But what keeps Watson going is the memory of his setbacks.

He does not apologize for his mistakes; he calls them the most impressive lessons of his life.

“He has been through hell,” Williams said. “A little bit of success in his life, and this guy is going to explode.”

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY

Watson’s grandmother and legal guardian, Mable Wright, would not sign his letter of intent to play at USC, even though the 17-year-old Watson needed her signature. He knew he would play for the Gamecocks all along, but many family members, friends and teachers at Palmetto High tried to persuade Watson, the state’s top high school recruit in 1999, to go to Tennessee.

He never changed his mind. And before heading to school, where he put his decision in writing, he slammed open the screen door so hard that he cut his left forearm.

All day, he heard from people at Palmetto, pleading with him not to go to USC, telling him he would never play. As the tears welled in his eyes, Watson’s brother, Marvin Campbell, walked in with a Gamecocks hat and sweatshirt and told his brother to go with his instinct.

Watson says now that he spent most of the school day in the principal’s office, the only place he could escape everyone who told him they knew what was best for him.

He says he cried much of that day despite signing his letter and persuading his grandmother to do the same.

AFTER THE 2002 OUTBACK BOWL

After being arrested in January for marijuana possession, Watson assumed the consequences would be harsh. After several brushes with the law, the Gamecocks star tailback got an ultimatum from coach Lou Holtz: transfer or wait it out, which might mean dismissal from USC too late to play elsewhere.

Watson’s meeting with Holtz came about two weeks after the Gamecocks defeated Ohio State, 31-28, to win their second consecutive Outback Bowl. Instead of celebrating with his team, Watson knew his career at USC had probably ended.

“He (Holtz) was kind of like a father figure to me,” Watson said. “He didn’t want me to have to make that decision, and I don’t think he wanted to make that decision, either. But it was about time for a change.

“If you have some bad apple in the bunch you get the bad apples out, but I can’t be mad because those were my actions.”

Watson withdrew from USC and took his chances at S.C. State. But he was never the same player who rushed for 2,078 yards in three seasons at USC. Watson trudged through his senior season, finishing with 296 yards and three touchdowns.

THE FIRST NFL TRYOUT

Watson arrived at the New England Patriots training camp out of shape. He could not continue halfway through a conditioning drill that required him to complete 20 60-yard dashes in eight seconds or less. Watson, who admits that he never gave much effort during high school and college workouts, could not complete the Patriots’ conditioning test, and he was cut.

After he returned home to Williamston, Watson rarely went outside, including one stretch in which he did not leave his home for three days. He spent his days in bed and his nights in front of the television, even though he could not bear to watch football because it reminded him of the joy he had lost.

But about seven months ago, Watson called Williams, a childhood friend, and asked him to help him get one final chance at football. Since then, he has spent five days a week working on strength, speed and footwork, as well as the mental grind the NFL requires.

He has bulked up to nearly 230 pounds and has trimmed his 40-yard dash time to about 4.5 seconds.

Watson and Williams sent tapes to NFL scouts and coaches, and the Bucs were the first to offer a tryout. Despite being lumped with free-agent receivers, Watson caught 28 of 30 balls and learned Monday afternoon that he was impressive enough for an encore.

And this time, Watson says he will not think about the possibility of failure. He says he has worked too hard — for the first time in his life — to let it slip away again.

“I can’t think about what-ifs anymore,” he says. “Finding out about Tampa, for me, it marks a turning point. And this time, it’s going to work out for me.”