Benjamin Watson and Mary J. Blige on the set of ‘Fox and Friends’. (Twitter.com/BenjaminSWatson)
Benjamin Watson, who is on pace to have the best season of his 12-year career in his age-34 season, was best known in the past for his NFL prowess. All of that may change now that his first published book, Under Our Skin, is on sale and available to the world.
The genesis of Watson’s book were the events late in the Summer of 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, in which 18-year-old Michael Brown, an African-American, was shot dead by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. The ensuing furor and uprisings in Ferguson, and a grand jury’s decision not to indict Wilson, spawned this viral Facebook post by Watson:
At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson…
Posted by Benjamin Watson on Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Watson received so much support – nearly 900,00 Facebook likes and nearly 500,000 mostly positive comments – that he decided to become more involved in articulating his thoughts on the matters of race relations and issues in the United States.
Watson is now making the rounds on his book tour. He has appeared on ‘Fox and Friends’ and ESPN, among other outlets, this past week.
Teammates, including Drew Brees, have given favorable feedback on the book. Watson doesn’t intend to stop writing after this effort; he already has a future deal in place to write a book on fatherhood.