Xavier Watts

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The way Jeff Watts remembers it.Nothing else much mattered in his life,
the product of inner city Omaha,where often accountability is a dirty word.
Forget about Fallon, his young wife. I got to see people, thought
Jeff, eighteen month old son.That's what women's work is. Kids get
my way. So on that nighttwenty years ago, Jeff took off late,

(00:20):
leaving Fallon and the baby at home, so he could run with the
boys, hang out, look fortrouble, or wait for it to find
him, which it did. Longblack suv pulls up, window comes down,
Bullets spray the street corner. Oneof them hits Jeff in the lower
back. His body goes dead,but he lives next day with Fallon and

(00:42):
the baby in the room. Doctorsshoot straight, you're paralyzed. You'll never
walk again, and for the nextyear you're going to be in physical therapy
every day just to be able tofunction. Did any of that really matter
to Jeff, who made a habitof behaving badly inside Jeff Watts, the
answer was yes, because it mattersto them, Fallon and the eighteen month

(01:06):
old son, Xavier, who,thanks to Jeff's example, has grown up
to be one of the best collegefootball safeties in the country, a four
to zero student, and a futureNFL draft choice, the kind of kid
you'd lock your daughter in with.The Watts story is getting retold this week
because x was named National Defensive Playerof the Week. He had a season

(01:27):
of highlights. In Notre Dame's blowoutof rival in top ten USC Xavier had
two interceptions, a forced fumble,and a scoop and score. It is
the crowning achievement of a college careerthat started as a highly touted recruit,
through two position changes, injuries,a new head coach, and a whole
lot of doubt. He rode thebench a long time early in his time

(01:51):
with the Irish, but whenever thingsgot tense for Xavier, he'd look at
a photo of Jeff, who mayhave to live in a wheelchair, but
he's sure to knack, or he'dcall him talk about it. Jeff would
remind him to keep making deposits forthe day when it'll be time for withdrawals.
After the shooting and the rehab,Jeff relocated his family from trouble in
Minneapolis back to Omaha, went towork doing menial jobs in hotels before he

(02:16):
was able to join the family screenprinting business, but every night he was
home for Fallin and Xavier, he'dhelp out. He couldn't shovel the snow,
but he could fold clothes. Hecouldn't mow the lawn, but he
washed and dried dishes. All ofthe things that almost always infected the disabled
lethargy, drugs, alcohol, depression, self pity never seemed to infected Jeff

(02:40):
Watts never had the time. Hewas too busy taking care of the house
while Fallen earned multiple college degrees andworking and being a mom. He could
show the way for his son,who was growing into an elite high school
football player at Burke, by directinghim away from the path that he took

(03:00):
in an age when seventy five percentthree out of four black kids grow up
without a father, male authority figure, which often leads them into poor choices,
truancy, crime, incarceration, anda cycle of despair. Jeff Watts
gave his son a gift so manyof us take for granted. Himself.

(03:22):
He was just there proving a parentaltruth, which is half the job is
just showing up. Today, XavierWats is more than just the National College
defensive Player of the Week. He'salso a graduate. He earned a bachelor's
degree in graphic design. His futureis as bright as the autumn sun bouncing
off of the Golden Dome. He'sa leader by example, an example he

(03:45):
got from the guy in the wheelchair.