Adonis Watt may have to hold onto a teammate’s shoulder pad and be led out onto the football field, but make no mistake, once the play is called, the freshman running back is ready to run solo.
Watt, who went blind at the age of 6 due to a rare congenital glaucoma, suits up for Brophy College Preparatory in Arizona and says he lets his other senses pick up the slack when he’s on the gridiron.
“Most of the time, I try to use my ears to hear anything that is coming,” he told Arizona Central. “The plays happen so fast. I just tell my linemen to do their job and get (the defenders) out of the way.”
Watt started playing flag football at about 5 years old and switched to tackle at the age of 8. Even though he’s been playing without his sight for most of his life, he doesn’t want other teams to let up on him just because of his condition, even if that means others are trying to strip the ball away from him.
“I’m a football player and that’s what they’re supposed to do,” he said.
The 6’2,” 140-pound Watt also plays on the defensive line.
“It’s just great to hear someone hit the ground while I’m running over them,” Watt told 12 News.
Away from football, Watt navigates life with a voice-activated computer, he leans on Siri so he can use his iPhone and his textbooks are in braille.
Aside from being a student and a budding high school football player, Watt also wrestles and raises money for other blind children.
In fact, he recently called out Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson from the Arizona Cardinals to a blindfolded peanut butter and jelly challenge to raise money for the Foundation for Blind Children, so they can take 12 students with vision impairments on an ultimate open-water adventure: Sailing the Spanish Virgin Islands for six days.
Watt is certainly a busy guy, but he seems to be making time for it all, and then some. What a way to start your high school career.
