No cause of death was given by the city. A message for the Calhoun County coroner\u2019s office in Alabama was not returned.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got the text message that he had passed, it really stung my heart,\u201d said Fitz Hill, who along with Louis Campbell served as a position coach for Watters at Arkansas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a good kid who never said much,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cHe just went about his business in a workmanlike manner and got the job done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 1992, Watters was one of three players to earn All-SEC honors in Arkansas\u2019 first year as an SEC member. The others were tight end Kirk Botkin and punter Pete Raether.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019 interim head coach for the rest of the 3-7-1 campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach Kines was his biggest advocate,\u201d Hill said. \u201cComing from Tampa Bay, [Kines] just immediately said, \u2018That\u2019s a ballplayer right there.\u2019 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a game changer,\u201d Hill said. \u201cThe cream came to the top. Those are things that Coach Kines was always talking about \u2014 the biggest games, the biggest players make the biggest plays, and that was him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s ensuing onside kick was recovered by linebacker Darwin Ireland at the Arkansas 48. Lunney drove the offense 28 yards to set up Wright\u2019s 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 \u2014 the largest to watch an Arkansas football game at that time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was certainly a stepping stone in the SEC, to beat Tennessee,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cIt\u2019d have been hard doing it without [Watters]. I wouldn\u2019t have wanted to try on that given day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Watters is one of four Arkansas players to return multiple punts for touchdowns in the same season. All of the others \u2014 Ken Hatfield in 1963 and 1964, Martine Bercher in 1966 and Joe Adams in 2011 \u2014 earned All-America honors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing is he could make people miss him,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cI mean, that\u2019s oversimplified, but somebody sent me the highlights of the Tennessee game when we beat Tennessee. … They couldn\u2019t tackle him and didn’t tackle him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could make the right plays at the right time. You could coach him, but he just naturally picked up some things. He didn\u2019t have the speed to be an All-Southeastern Conference player, but he made enough plays to be an All-Southeastern Conference player.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
It was Watters\u2019 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Watters\u2019 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHis ball skills, 5-star,\u201d Hill said. \u201cThat\u2019s why you\u2019re talking about him today because he made the plays that 5-star athletes make.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a high school senior in 1989, Watters starred on Anniston\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 9 receiving, 2 rushing and 2 punt returns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe 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,\u201d his high school football coach, Rodney Bivens, told East Alabama Sports Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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 \u201ca fitting honor for someone whose talent, work ethic, and legacy meant so much to this community.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n
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