Former Philadelphia Eagle OL Danny Watkins is being investigated by the Philadelphia Fire Department. The fireman turned lineman has become center of controversy after pictures recently surfaced of him fighting a fire with Rescue 1 of the PFD. At the time of the fire, Watkins was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Watkins, the former first round draft pick, resulted in being another NFL bust as he retired this past NFL season after only two years as an NFL player. He worked previously as a firefighter before going to college where he joined the football team.
Most professional athletes have clauses in their contracts that prohibit them from partaking in dangerous activities such as jet skiing, sky diving, and any other extreme sport that may result in a serious injury. Watkins may be the first to have broken this clause by firefighting.
It was long known that Watkins still loved the fire service even after being drafted. He would visit many PFD fire stations and even bought a fire truck with one of his first paychecks. In fact this news was stirred up after someone found out that Watkins is now a firefighter in the Dallas (TX) area.
The PFD released a statement that it is not uncommon or illegal for celebrities to ride along with the PFD as long as waivers are signed and that the signee does not put themselves in harms way. It is unclear at this time Watkins ever made entry into the structure prior to the extinguishment of the fire. The pictures online show Watkins in full PFD PPE, including SCBA, carrying a saw.
There have also been claims that Watkins gave firefighters Eagles tickets in return for the special privilege to ride along on the trucks. Once again the PFD stated that many times local athletes will give tickets to the fire department so the tickets may be used for charity.
Understandably people are upset. A first round draft pick who was supposed to be the answer the Eagles offensive line woes, is instead out fighting fires. Going from a fan (and certainly firefighters') favorite making millions of dollars to doing a thankless job for free, is certainly not a popular choice.
What some people fail to realize is that prior to the NFL, Watkins was a fully trained firefighter. Sure he may be a little out of practice but it is not like a totally untrained civilian is trying to fight the fire. Watkins would have clearly been in shape at the time as he was a starter on the offensive line.
Some habits and thought patterns gained in the fire service stick with firefighters no matter what. Firefighters will say that when they go out to a large venue, either restaurants or a concert venue, it is a habit for them to immediately locate the fire exits. I too do this. I also look at windows and doors and how I could possibly force entry if there was a fire. Recently at IKEA, I noticed that part of the warehouse was Type I construction. Type I construction is noncombustible construction materials (concrete and steel in this case), sprayed with a fire retardant.
These are all things that a non-firefighter may not notice. You can take the firefighter out of the fire service but you cant take the fire service out of the firefighter. Watkins may have violated his contract by participating in this highly dangerous activity, and yes that was wrong on his part.
The investigation is ongoing into what role he served that day on the fire ground. What is safe to safe by Watkins's recent career change back into the fire service is that he couldn't be kept Out of the Smoke.
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