FAYETTEVILLE — Orlando Watters, a defensive back and special teams standout on Arkansas’ first two football teams after joining the SEC, died Monday. He was 54.
Watters’ death was confirmed in a social media post Tuesday by The City of Anniston, Alabama. A death notice had also been posted to the website of the S.M. Goodson Funeral Home in Anniston.
No cause of death was given by the city. A message for the Calhoun County coroner’s office in Alabama was not returned.
Watters was a high school sports legend in Anniston, which is located about 65 miles east of Birmingham. He had moved back to the city, according to his Facebook profile.
“When I got the text message that he had passed, it really stung my heart,” said Fitz Hill, who along with Louis Campbell served as a position coach for Watters at Arkansas.
“He was a good kid who never said much,” Campbell said. “He just went about his business in a workmanlike manner and got the job done.”
In 1992, Watters was one of three players to earn All-SEC honors in Arkansas’ first year as an SEC member. The others were tight end Kirk Botkin and punter Pete Raether.
Watters earned All-SEC as a cornerback following a junior season in which he had 42 tackles and 3 interceptions, including a 45-yard touchdown return during a 45-3 victory at South Carolina.
Watters also had an 87-yard punt return touchdown that day against the Gamecocks in the first SEC game for both programs, which was played the week after Arkansas suffered a shocking 10-3 season-opening loss to The Citadel in Fayetteville. The loss to The Citadel cost head coach Jack Crowe his job, and defensive coordinator Joe Kines was Arkansas’ interim head coach for the rest of the 3-7-1 campaign.
“Coach Kines was his biggest advocate,” Hill said. “Coming from Tampa Bay, [Kines] just immediately said, ‘That’s a ballplayer right there.’ So every opportunity from punt return to even a couple of times we put him over at wideout to see how he could do, he just had that uncanny ability to make plays in any situation.”
It was another punt return in 1992 for which Watters became best known. With 2:28 remaining in the fourth quarter at undefeated, fourth-ranked Tennessee, Watters returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown to pull the Razorbacks within 24-22.
Watters fielded the ball near the right hashmark at his own 29. He broke a tackle near the sideline at his own 35, cut back inside near midfield and broke another tackle around the Tennessee 20.
“It was a game changer,” Hill said. “The cream came to the top. Those are things that Coach Kines was always talking about — the biggest games, the biggest players make the biggest plays, and that was him.
“You loved getting off the plane and the bus with Orlando Watters taking the field for you, because you knew that he was going to represent and he was going to ball out.”
Freshman quarterback Barry Lunney Jr., who was making his first career start, was sacked on the 2-point attempt following Watters’ touchdown, but Todd Wright’s ensuing onside kick was recovered by linebacker Darwin Ireland at the Arkansas 48. Lunney drove the offense 28 yards to set up Wright’s 41-yard field goal as time expired to give the Razorbacks a 25-24 victory in front of an announced crowd of 95,202 at Neyland Stadium — the largest to watch an Arkansas football game at that time.
“That was certainly a stepping stone in the SEC, to beat Tennessee,” Campbell said. “It’d have been hard doing it without [Watters]. I wouldn’t have wanted to try on that given day.”
Watters is one of four Arkansas players to return multiple punts for touchdowns in the same season. All of the others — Ken Hatfield in 1963 and 1964, Martine Bercher in 1966 and Joe Adams in 2011 — earned All-America honors.
“The best thing is he could make people miss him,” Campbell said. “I mean, that’s oversimplified, but somebody sent me the highlights of the Tennessee game when we beat Tennessee. … They couldn’t tackle him and didn’t tackle him.
“He could make the right plays at the right time. You could coach him, but he just naturally picked up some things. He didn’t have the speed to be an All-Southeastern Conference player, but he made enough plays to be an All-Southeastern Conference player.”
In 1993, Watters led the NCAA with 185 interception return yards on 6 picks. His final was his most memorable, a 99-yard touchdown return to seal a 42-24 win at LSU in the season finale. It broke an 84-year-old program record for the longest interception return by a Razorback, but has since been eclipsed twice.
It was Watters’ third career interception return for a touchdown and second of 1993. He also had a 42-yard return as a senior during a 13-13 tie against Mississippi State in Little Rock.
Watters’ 12 career interceptions are tied with Campbell (1970-72), Tommy Trantham (1965-67) and Tramain Thomas (2008-11) for third most by an Arkansas player. Steve Atwater is the program record holder with 14 from 1985-88 and Gary Adams had 13 from 1966-68.
“His ball skills, 5-star,” Hill said. “That’s why you’re talking about him today because he made the plays that 5-star athletes make.”
Hill said Watters was recruited by Alabama and Auburn. He and Campbell credited some combination of Crowe and assistants Jerry Pullen and Joe Pate for recruiting Watters to Arkansas.
As a high school senior in 1989, Watters starred on Anniston’s state championship team that finished with a 15-0 record. On offense he set state records for receptions in a game (18) and a season (102), and totaled more than 1,000 yards receiving. Defensively, he made more than 100 tackles, including 17 sacks.
Watters caught 14 passes during a 12-6 victory over Murphy in the Class 6A state championship game. He finished the year with 13 touchdowns — 9 receiving, 2 rushing and 2 punt returns.
Watters also was a standout baseball player and track athlete, and twice lettered in basketball. He set a state record that still stands with a long jump of 24 feet, 10 inches, and was a two-way player in baseball.
“He would knock a home run, come back over and win the long jump and triple jump, then go back over and hit another home run,” his high school football coach, Rodney Bivens, told East Alabama Sports Today.
In 2022, Watters was inducted into the Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame. In its post Tuesday, The City of Anniston said that induction was “a fitting honor for someone whose talent, work ethic, and legacy meant so much to this community.”
Watters was a member of the 1990s All-Decade Team at Arkansas and spent the 1994 season with the Seattle Seahawks. He had 47 tackles and 3 interceptions in his only NFL season.
Matt Jones is the managing editor of WholeHogSports.com and hosts the WholeHogSports Daily Podcast. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas.