Former NFL linebacker gives Marshall kids a look at ethics

LYNN-Robert Watts Jr. has come a long way since eighth grade.Once unable to do so much as read and write, the now 54 -year-old New York native boasts a resume that includes National Football League linebacker, successful executive, author and cancer survivor.He took his story of success to the Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn Friday morning, speaking to students, many of whom may be facing the same struggles and temptation Watts faced while he was growing up in the inner city.Unlike many professional athletes who take up motivational speaking, Watts spoke little of his career in sports. Instead, he spoke of his commitment and drive to become successful in life coming from a difficult background.”Growing up in the South Bronx, many of my peers succumbed to a lack of ethics. Most of my friends ended up shooting each other, or overdosing on drugs,” Watts said. “I didn’t have a lot of friends. I didn’t dress in the coolest clothes, I didn’t drink wine or smoke cigarettes or smoke dope. The girls didn’t like me because I wouldn’t have sex. Why didn’t I do these things? Out of respect. Respect to my mother.”Instead of succumbing to gangs or drugs, Watts joined the Harlem Street Academy as a teenager, learning to read and write from male role models. Eventually, he was accepted to the Vermont Academy High School and later Boston University where he was both an athletic and academic standout.After his years with the New Orleans Saints and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, Watts retired to a career of academia and business, working as an award winning professor of speech at San Francisco State University and writing the self-help book “People are never the Problem. People Have Problems.”His speech touched on many of the issues facing children in Lynn today, issues that are made relevant by a recent increase in gang activity and drug use at the middle school level across the city’s schools.Watts encouraged the students to set goals and find their values and interests to calm the temptations of gangs and drug dealers.He interacted with students and allowed some to approach the microphone to answer questions, encouraging kids to participate, rather than simply listen.”We all have something in our lives that we are afraid of,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to talk to people that you love and trust. Don’t turn to gangs or drugs. Don’t turn to someone in a romantic way; you are too young for that kind of relationship. Revert back to your values instead.”Watts spoke to both seventh and eighth graders before moving north to watch his son play football at Merrimack College later Friday evening.