His departure to Philly had more to do with San Francisco not getting a follow-up Super Bowl in the 90's than anything else, and it's really not close. The drop-off when they moved to Loville and Terry freaking Kirby was enormous. Even Garrison Hearst with his talent wasn't the consistent, complete threat that Watters was (and that's to say nothing of his constant injuries).
I strongly believe that San Francisco would have gotten at least one more Super Bowl out of '95, '97, or '98 had Watters stayed.
And to be clear, I don't put the blame on Holtz or Watters for their feud. I really don't know enough about the details to point fingers there. I'm glad we had him at N.D., though.
Replies to: "You don't have to convince me. I've always been a huge Watters fan."
- Rice, Watters & Rocket or Leonard, Love & Price? - koreasam - 6:38pm 5/27/25
(26) [View All]
- Rocket puts ANY trio over the top. Whether lined up out wide or in the backfield. [NT] - Rocketman84 - 3:56pm 5/31/25
- Waters, Rocket, and a player to be named later. [NT] - Shadow_of_the_Dome - 10:02pm 5/29/25
- McDougal, Becton, Zellars, Dawson, Mayes. NC caliber team. Damn you, Fredo. [NT]
- jrdjr84 - 12:46pm 5/28/25
- zellars /purdue [NT] [LINK] - DonMiller - 2:00pm 5/28/25
- Ian Book Kyren Williams 2020 [NT]
- DonMiller - 10:17am 5/28/25
- Meier Bettis and Brooks 1992 [NT] - DonMiller - 10:47am 5/28/25
- Rice, Watters & Rocket LLP? [NT] - TakethetrainKnute - 8:54am 5/28/25
- Just stop - Nigel Tufnel - 8:46pm 5/27/25
- Baloney, Leonard was a far superior passer than Rice. Remember Rice's passing percentage against - THEISMANCARR - 11:31am 5/29/25
- I don’t agree - Nigel Tufnel - 1:10pm 5/29/25
- Your arguments are very logical, I loved both of those guys. I think that Riley has a chance to - THEISMANCARR - 3:32pm 5/29/25
- I don’t agree - Nigel Tufnel - 1:10pm 5/29/25
- Baloney, Leonard was a far superior passer than Rice. Remember Rice's passing percentage against - THEISMANCARR - 11:31am 5/29/25
- Rick Watters (believe it or not) reads this board every so often. He gets a kick out of you Sammy! [NT]
- irishslovak - 7:57pm 5/27/25
- Ricky was a brilliant talent and made many big plays for us and later on as a pro. I remember his - THEISMANCARR - 11:36am 5/29/25
- Ricky's 97 yd punt return TD vs SMU in 1989 was a beautiful thing. A record that still stands. [NT]
- ELP - 8:08am 5/28/25
- This is my favorite Watters memory [LINK]
- Nigel Tufnel - 9:12am 5/28/25
- I was a high school frosh watching on T.V. - jakers - 12:52pm 5/28/25
- That was just a remarkable game...the whole weekend was great - Nigel Tufnel - 2:46pm 5/28/25
- We did not have an offense that really used Rickey's all around talent. - Curly1918 - 10:02am 5/28/25
- Agree on his time in San Francisco. But he couldn't stay out of Holtz's doghouse. - jakers - 12:55pm 5/28/25
- True, but the fact that Lou made him play WR really helped his draft stock - ndunabomber - 9:54pm 5/28/25
- You don't have to convince me. I've always been a huge Watters fan. - jakers - 10:21am 5/29/25
- With all due to Lou... I wasn't keen on his offensive schemes. I felt these did not open the field. [NT] - Curly1918 - 4:16pm 5/28/25
- True, but the fact that Lou made him play WR really helped his draft stock - ndunabomber - 9:54pm 5/28/25
- Agree on his time in San Francisco. But he couldn't stay out of Holtz's doghouse. - jakers - 12:55pm 5/28/25
- I was a high school frosh watching on T.V. - jakers - 12:52pm 5/28/25
- This is my favorite Watters memory [LINK]
- Nigel Tufnel - 9:12am 5/28/25
- He turned out to be a real standup guy - ndunabomber - 11:33pm 5/27/25
- Carr, Love, Price [NT]
- BaronVonZemo - 6:56pm 5/27/25
- Ha! Excellent response [NT]
- Frankx - 7:02pm 5/27/25
- Miller, Layden, Crowley, Stuhldreher. All 4 in the HOF. Went 27-2-1. Title in 1924. - ELP - 7:13pm 5/28/25
- Ha! Excellent response [NT]
- Frankx - 7:02pm 5/27/25