FOSTER J. WATKINS - INDUCTEE #102
hall of fame fast fact:
Foster Watkins was a practical joker and had a good sense of humor, according to Cromartie. "He'd tell some of the corniest jokes," Cromartie said, "but he'd start laughing before he got to the punch line."
Foster J. Watkins
Foster Watkins’ parents died when he was 18 months old. When he was in the seventh grade, he left a Fort Worth orphanage to live with relatives in Dumas.
He played baseball and football at Dumas, quarterbacking the Demons to their first district championship in 1933.
Watkins spent two years at Amarillo College, leading AC to the Texas Junior College Championships both seasons.
He then went onto WT where he was a Little All-American honorable mention, passing 17 touchdowns, running for six more, and converting 22 PATs in the 1938 season. Watkins was inducted into WT’s Hall of Champions in 1987.
Watkins was drafted and signed by the NFL Eagles after playing 10 exhibition games with the Amarillo Gold Sox. He played two seasons for Philadelphia, mainly as a backup to quarterback.
After Pearl Harbor was attacked, Watkins joined the Navy and eventually earned the rank of lieutenant commander and commanded three PT boats in the Pacific.
After the war, Watkins became a high school football coach.
Watkins died in 2002 at age 86.
