Running Watters Running Back Scores Points With New Coach, As They Reunite After Eight Years

The year was 1991 and fresh-faced rookie Ricky Watters was anxious to showcase his abilities to San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren.

Watters’ foot and hand weren’t as eager. He broke each - the foot in the first week of training camp and the hand in October just after joining the practice squad.

As luck would have it, Watters was a bystander again with a sore calf during the Seattle Seahawks’ initial training-camp practices Sunday at Eastern Washington University. Though he’s a veteran, Watters still feels compelled to prove himself to Seattle’s new head coach, but it really isn’t necessary. Holmgren knows what the 6-foot-1, 227-pound Watters can do with the football.

“He was pretty much out the whole year and that was a tough year for him,” said Holmgren, who left San Francisco to become head coach at Green Bay in 1992. `He’s the prototype for this offense, I have to say that. He’s a strong runner, a big guy with great hands, and he knows the system. And he’s produced - he’s cranked up the yards and he’s been to Pro Bowls.”

Five to be exact, between his brittle beginning with Holmgren and his sore calf at present.

“He’s all about everything I’m about, and that’s winning,” Watters said. “I never got a chance to get on the field and do it for him (in 1991), so now I’m going to get my chance.”

Chances are, Watters will produce. He has been one of the NFL’s most durable running backs in the decade of the ‘90s. He hasn’t missed a start since 1993. He’s carried the ball at least 200 times and caught no fewer than 31 passes in every season since 1992.

Of his five 1,000-yard seasons, four were fashioned in West Coast, Holmgren-styled offenses. Watters’ fifth 1,000-yard campaign came in his first year as a Seahawk last season. He is the only player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards with three different teams.

He’s in a hurry to get his sixth 1,000-yard season. He dropped about seven pounds in the offseason with a combination of yoga and track workouts, attempting to improve his speed. He piled up yardage the last few seasons at 3.9 yards per carry with his longest run just 39 yards. “I’ll be much more explosive, faster, especially in the secondary,” he said. “Once you get past the first level (of defense), just that little bit can be the difference between a guy grabbing your shirt or going the distance.”

“I wanted him to lose a little weight,” Holmgren said. “There will still be some one-back, (but) I’ve never been one to say he’s going to carry the ball more so he’s got to weigh 10 pounds more. It’s more, what is the weight you function the best and move the best.”

Offensive coordinator Mike Sherman has been impressed with Watters’ physical condition and his impact on teammates.

“I’ve never known Ricky until I came here, but he’s been a tremendous guy to work with, a tremendous leader,” Sherman said. “I’m looking forward to seeing him play and seeing his leadership extend throughout the season.”

Watters will be the centerpiece of the running game and catch his fair share of passes, too. But coaches also plan on using second-year back Ahman Green, one of the fastest players on the team. Green rushed for 100 yards on six carries in the ‘98 season opener, then had just 29 more attempts the next 15 games.

“Ricky is obviously a workhorse, but Ahman is certainly a guy who can do some things and there will be opportunities for both of them,” Sherman said. “We’ll do a combination of things, be in some two-back, one-back, whatever the situation calls for according to down and distance.”

Wins are about the only things missing from Watters’ resume the last few seasons. After injuries derailed his rookie year in San Francisco, Watters was on playoff teams the next five seasons and he owns a Super Bowl ring from the 49ers’ 1994 season. But he’s watched the playoffs on TV the last two years, several of those games featuring Holmgren’s Green Bay Packers.

“It’s a system that works and I’m very excited because I know it works,” Watters said. “When coach says something some of the other guys might be (scratching their heads), but I’m like, `It works.’ It’s a good feeling because I know the way we’re going is the right way.”