Stalwart Ole Miss wide receiver Jordan Watkins changed his diet to help protect himself from injury
OXFORD, Miss. — While most normal people are looking to lose a few pounds, Ole Miss receiver Jordan Watkins is proving he is not normal — in a good way.
After fighting injuries throughout his college career– Watkins admits he has never gone injury-free for a season.
“I’ve had a lot of injuries throughout my college career. I don’t think I’ve ever played a full season truly healthy. I’ve stuck it out, but just not healthy. The main goal for me was to take care of my body and stay healthy.”
Last year, for instance, he suffered some broken bones in his hand during a week of practice. He underwent surgery to have two plates inserted to stabilize the injury and he was on the field that Saturday.
To protect himself from injury, Watkins has decided to try and put on weight. Yes, he wants to gain weight.
But with the exertion a college football player uses during practice, in the weight room and in drills, just how does one go about putting on weight? Watkins thinks he has the dilemma solved.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just my diet,” Watkins said.
“I’ve really changed my diet around, you know, watching what I eat and things like that, so I think that had a huge impact on my injuries…but I’ve gained some weight. I think that was one of my goals, as well, just to gain a little bit of weight. I’m probably about 200 pounds now, to where I was like 195 last season and I think that’ll help out a little bit too. But my diet is the main thing I am focusing on.”
Jordan Watkins on gaining weight
Watkins has a role model to give him advice. Last season quarterback Jaxson Dart decided to get healthy with his diet. The duo are monitoring each other’s progress.
“(I’m) eating more healthy. You know, adding greens to my plate, making sure I have the right portion of proteins to greens and stuff like that, so that’s truly helped. Me and Jaxson have really pushed each other on you know our diets, just watching what we eat.”
Jordan Watkins
For Dart, he got healthier by giving up sweets. Watkins decided he had to make a sacrifice, too. But his involved a certain establishment with golden arches.
“I was a big McDonald’s guy,” Watkins said. “A big, big McDonald’s guy, so I’ve had to cut that out of my diet. It’s been tough. I don’t think I’ve had McDonald’s in like three months.”
Even with a few quarter pounders a week, Watkins has excelled on the field.
In 26 games with the Rebels, the Louisville transfer has 93 catches for 1,190 yards and five touchdowns. He has also added a punt return for a touchdown.
Watkins is a leader for Ole Miss on the field, entering his fifth season of college football, and his diet could be setting an example off the field. With the numbers he has put up in two seasons in Oxford carrying around a few Big Macs and fries, imagine how explosive he can be with a healthy diet.
Ole Miss concludes spring practice April 13 with the Grove Bowl in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
