He made the right career switch.
Watkins, an offensive lineman from Baylor, was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 23rd pick of the NFL draft on Thursday night.
"I thought it was the wrong number," Watkins said of the phone call he received from the Eagles. "I was really excited."
The 26-year-old Watkins is a former firefighter who took an unconventional route to the pros. The Canadian has more experience as a firefighter (five years) than a football player (four) and played hockey and rugby in high school.
"I know it's not a glamour position, but it's a crucial position in this sport," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "This is a guy that's a tough, tough guy and he has phenomenal character on and off the field. He's a class act."
Watkins, listed at 6-foot-4 and 312 pounds, played left tackle in college, but projects as a guard in the pros. He could help an offensive line that allowed 49 sacks last season, despite the presence of Michael Vick.
"He'll bring toughness and a blue-collar attitude to the offense," Reid said. "He's very powerful in the core and in his jam. Those are hard things to teach and he has that."
Watkins didn't visit the Eagles, but met with team personnel at the scouting combine and the Senior Bowl. He's quite familiar with new offensive line coach Howard Mudd.
"I've always considered it an honor and privilege to be one of his guys," Watkins said.
Though he's much older than most rookies, the Eagles weren't scared off by Watkins' age. He'll turn 27 in November.
"His body hasn't gone through the beating-up process," Reid said. "It's a unique situation."
The defending NFC East champions entered the draft with pressing needs at cornerback as well as both lines. There was speculation they would trade up and select Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara, especially as he kept slipping. Amukamara went to the New York Giants at 19.
But Reid said they weren't close to pulling the trigger on any moves this time around.
The Eagles are one of the most active teams during the draft. They traded up in the first round the last two years and have made 29 draft-day trades over the last eight years. With Watkins on the board, though, they stayed put.
"This was the guy we wanted," Reid said.
Watkins could step in and start at right guard. The Eagles used Max Jean-Gilles and Nick Cole there last season. He also could figure into the mix at right tackle over Winston Justice and King Dunlap.
"I'm a highly motivated person," Watkins said. "I don't think (starting) will be an issue."
Watkins was attending Butte College near Sacramento, Calif., to study fire science, when someone suggested he should try football. He landed at Baylor after his sophomore year and wound up replacing Jason Smith, the NFL's No. 2 overall pick in 2009, at left tackle and held down that spot the past two seasons. Watkins was a first-team All-Big 12 Conference performer as a senior.
Watkins started working as a volunteer firefighter at 17, getting paid per call and spending one year living in a fire hall with guys who were mostly years older. Some members of his fire department were present at Radio City Music Hall to hear his name announced as a first-round pick.
So what makes someone want to be a firefighter?
"The guys you work with," he said, "and the desire to help people."
QB Cam Newton goes 1st in NFL draft to Panthers
While the league's labor dispute played out in the courts, the Heisman Trophy winner was selected No. 1, as expected, in Thursday night's NFL draft, taken by the Carolina Panthers.
Moments before the Auburn quarterback's name was called by Roger Goodell, frustrated fans showered the NFL commissioner with chants of "We want football. We want football."
Goodell responded with a smile, saying, "I hear you. So do I." Newton led Auburn to an undefeated season and its first national championship since 1957. Carolina was 2-14 last year, using four quarterbacks, two of them rookies.
"I'm ready to change this whole organization around, to go from worst to first," said Newton, the third straight quarterback taken first overall. "Just being a Panther is the most special part about this."
Then things got a little wackier when Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller became the second pick, selected by Denver. Miller, a plaintiff in the antitrust lawsuit players filed to block the lockout, strode across the stage with tears in his eyes and hugged Goodell.
"I've never had anything against Roger Goodell," Miller said. "I just want to make sure football continues to get played. When I walked across the stage, I was meeting the commissioner. That was it."
It was a strange opening for what normally is a festive occasion. In this offseason of labor strife, the league's first work stoppage since 1987 temporarily ends Friday. The 32 teams will resume business in compliance with U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson's order to lift the lockout.
But the lockout could be back in place if the NFL wins an appeal. If that happens, Newton, Miller and all the players chosen Thursday night would be thrown back into a labor limbo.
For now, they will be allowed to report to their teams, meet coaches and get playbooks. Contract negotiations are uncertain until the league announces its rules for the 2011 season - rules that might be in force for only a short time if an appeal is granted.
The draft was never in danger of being held because it was protected under the old collective bargaining agreement that expired in March. Moments before it began, Goodell requested a moment of silence for victims of the vicious storms that decimated part of the South on Wednesday. On stage, he was surrounded the Auburn and Alabama stars and their coaches.
As for the stars, none shined brighter than Newton, who has shown he can handle the heat of a spotlight. He turned in a sensational 2010 season while the NCAA investigated his recruitment. Newton's father, Cecil, has admitted soliciting money from Mississippi State during the recruiting process, but said neither the player nor Auburn knew about the pay-for-play attempt.
With the third pick, Buffalo selected Alabama nose tackle Marcell Dareus, who gave Goodell an even bigger hug. Of course, Dareus weighs 308 pounds, about 70 more than Miller - and at least 100 more than Goodell.
Cincinnati, perhaps calling the bluff of quarterback Carson Palmer, who is demanding a trade, instead took the top receiver in this crop, A.J. Green of Georgia.
Arizona, also in need of a quarterback, selected the top cornerback available, Patrick Peterson of LSU.
The labor strife caused speculation not many trades would be made Thursday. But just six picks in, Atlanta cut a massive deal with Cleveland and moved up from No. 27 to grab Alabama receiver Julio Jones - the fifth Southeastern Conference player in the first six.
"We knew it was going to be an aggressive move and cost us," Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said. "As an organization we felt very strongly about the move for a player who truly adds the explosive, urgent athleticism we're looking for ..."
The Browns received the Falcons' first-rounder, second- and fourth-rounders, plus their first pick and fourth-rounder in 2012. San Francisco chose defensive end Aldon Smith of Missouri to bolster a weak pass rush, then the second quarterback was selected: Washington's Jake Locker to Tennessee.
That began a small run on passers. After Dallas went for offensive tackle Tyron Smith of Southern California with the ninth pick,
Jacksonville saw a chance to get its future quarterback. The Jaguars moved up six slots for Missouri's Blaine Gabbert, dealing their first-round pick and a second-rounder to Washington.
"You really don't have any idea where you will go, especially with the lockout," Gabbert said. "But the trades are happening now."
Houston bolstered its weak defense with Wisconsin end J.J. Watt at No. 11 before yet another QB was chosen: Florida State's Christian Ponder, who impressed Minnesota with his workouts leading up to the draft.
Auburn DT Nick Fairley, once projected as a top-three selection, was chosen 13th by the Lions. It was a head-scratcher because the Lions already have a star defensive tackle in Ndamukong Suh, the 2010 defensive rookie of the year.
St. Louis, undeterred by Robert Quinn's lost season - the linebacker-end was suspended from North Carolina for his role in an agents scandal - took him at No. 14.
Mike Pouncey, whose twin brother, Maurkice, was a sensational rookie center for Pittsburgh last year, was chosen by Miami to play the same position.
After moving down to No. 16, Washington took Purdue LB Ryan Kerrigan. Cleveland traded again, from No. 27 to 21st for Baylor DT Phil Taylor, with Kansas City sliding to 27th.
New England addressed concerns about protecting Tom Brady by taking Colorado tackle Nate Solder, and archrival Indianapolis safeguarded Peyton Manning by selecting Boston College tackle Anthony Castonzo.
Former firefighter and hockey player Danny Watkins went to Philadelphia. The Canadian guard from Baylor apologized to Giants fans in the audience who booed him for going to the rival Eagles. Watkins was told to get used to such treatment in New York.
Baltimore passed after using all 10 minutes at No. 26 and Kansas City, in the next slot acquired through Atlanta and Cleveland, swooped in. The Chiefs got Pitt wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin while the Ravens still pondered their pick.
Mark Ingram, the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, went 28th overall to New Orleans, which traded with New England to get the spot. The Saints surrendered a 2012 first-rounder for the Alabama running back, giving them two Heisman winners in their backfield - sort of. Reggie Bush won the award in 2005, but he relinquished it after an NCAA probe found he accepted improper gifts while playing at Southern California.
