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Meet Kenyatta Watson, a onetime receiver who’s been named the first general manager in Boston College football history – The Boston Globe

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Meet Kenyatta Watson, a onetime receiver who’s been named the first general manager in Boston College football history – The Boston Globe


When he interviewed with Boston College coach Steve Addazio and didn’t get the job, Watson never relented. He interviewed again with Jeff Hafley and was in the running, before landing a position at Florida State.

Recently, after stops at FSU, Georgia Tech, and Auburn, Watson interviewed once more at BC. This time, everything fell into place with Bill O’Brien at the helm. Watson is now the first general manager in Boston College football history.

“Third time’s the charm,” Watson said. “Once the interaction began, it was a natural fit. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh my God, they finished 2-10. I’m afraid of that.’ No, I love the challenge. It’s an honor to have the opportunity.”

Watson first played competitive football at age 7 and immediately fell in love with the game. His mother ran track at Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, which explains Watson’s blazing speed.

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Scarlett, a single mother, worked multiple jobs to provide for her family. Watson said he never went a day without thinking they were the richest people in the world. His mother always ensured he had the best cleats and bike helmet to keep up with his peers.

“Amazing woman. Just amazing,” Watson said. “She taught me discipline. She instilled that hard work will always win. She taught me to never give up.”

Watson starred at Deerfield Beach High and garnered heavy national interest. BC entered the picture relatively late, and Watson always smiles when he thinks about his first interaction with coach Tom Coughlin.

When Coughlin and assistant coach Randy Edsall entered Watson’s living room, before they could get a word in, Scarlett turned to them and addressed the elephant in the room.

“You’re not going to make him turn Catholic, are you?” Watson recalls his mother asking.

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Coughlin clarified that they were not, and a conversation flowed naturally from there. Watson helped the Eagles to a 9-3 season as a freshman in 1993, highlighted by wins over No. 13 Syracuse, No. 25 Virginia Tech, and No. 1 Notre Dame.

Watson gravitated toward the gritty nature of the program under Coughlin. The Eagles couldn’t wear earrings or have facial hair below the bottom lip. There was no indoor facility, so practices were outdoors in the cold. Games were won in the trenches, and opposing players left battered and bruised.

“Tom Coughlin taught me discipline,” Watson said. “He taught hard work. He taught me to always have a plan, and then if that plan didn’t work, make sure you had another plan.”

The Eagles finished 7-4-1 the next year under Dan Henning. Watson, a wide receiver and returner, teamed up with quarterback Glenn Foley for one season, Mark Hartsell for two, and Matt Hasselbeck for one.

Watson finished his career with 93 catches for 1,215 yards and five touchdowns, along with a rushing TD and two punt returns for scores.

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Watson dreamed of a long and fruitful career in the NFL. After a brief stint with the Cowboys in 1997, he realized that wasn’t feasible and pivoted to helping the next generation.

When BC football coach Bill O’Brien blows the whistle to open preseason camp next summer, he’ll have spent a full offseason working alongside new Eagles general manager Kenyatta Watson.Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe

Watson spearheaded the creation of a highly successful travel football program in Georgia, the Gwinnett Chargers, that has since sent dozens of players to Division 1 college programs and several to the NFL.

He then worked for a company called 3Step Sports that helps young prospects gain exposure, and Grayson High School in Loganville, Ga., as a college recruiting liaison. Mentoring and inspiring kids was fulfilling, yet he knew he was capable of even more.

Eventually, that opportunity came at Florida State under Mike Norvell as director of player relations and a pro scout liaison. Watson was later the director of scouting at Georgia Tech for two seasons, followed by assistant general manager/recruiting at Auburn for two years.

BC was far away geographically, yet very much on his mind and in his heart. When everything finally aligned, it felt serendipitous.

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“I tell kids all the time, if you look at my story and you look at my journey, anything is possible, as long as you keep working hard and keep believing in you,” Watson said.

When Watson speaks with parents, they rarely discuss football. Watson, whose sons, Kenyatta and Jett, have been highly recruited, tells them what to expect.

He prides himself on his ability to build and maintain relationships, which he believes pays dividends initially and when players transfer.

“One of the things that we needed to do was do a great job of upgrading how we acquire talent,” O’Brien said in a BC Athletics video. “Kenyatta has an unbelievable track record.”

Watson referenced Vanderbilt, Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Duke as prestigious academic institutions that have revitalized their football programs. If they can do it, Watson said, so can BC.

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Director of athletics Blake James called the hiring a “huge win,” referring to Watson as someone who can help the Eagles compete on a national level.

“He’s someone who understands what it means to be a Boston College student-athlete and how that’s different from other places,” James said.

As Watson got off the plane Dec. 7, and arrived for work the following day, it felt surreal to complete a dream nearly 30 years later.

With notes from grateful alumni on his desk, and a warm welcome from O’Brien and Co., it immediately felt like home again.

Then, it was time to work.

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“Let’s build this thing back up,” Watson said.

Ben Volin and Chris Price cover the Patriots’ loss to the Bills, what losing out on Pete Alonso means for the Red Sox, and ESPN’s Chris Berman joins the show.

Trevor Hass can be reached at trevor.hass@globe.com. Follow him on X @TrevorHass.





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Kraft Group reaches deal with Foxborough on security funding for World Cup games at Gillette Stadium – The Boston Globe

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Kraft Group reaches deal with Foxborough on security funding for World Cup games at Gillette Stadium – The Boston Globe


The town’s Select Board had refused to grant the entertainment license that soccer’s governing body, FIFA, needs to stage the World Cup in Foxborough.

The statement, bearing the logos of Boston’s World Cup host committee, Kraft Sports & Entertainment, and the town, said they had reached an “understanding collectively” to “finalize the details” necessary for the town to approve an entertainment license.

The agreement said Foxborough “will not incur any cost or financial burden related to the FIFA World Cup, with Boston Soccer 2026 providing advance funding for security-related capital expenditures and the full extent of deployment that public safety officials have determined is needed to execute the event with Kraft Sports + Entertainment’s backing.”

The town had set a March 17 deadline for the local organizing committee, Boston Soccer 26, FIFA, or the Kraft Group that owns the stadium to front the funds or the Select Board would not issue the necessary entertainment license.

The nearly $8 million was supposed to be delivered as part of a federal grant that was included in last year’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. Massachusetts was allocated $46 million in funding for security needs, with the money originally scheduled to be released by the Department of Homeland Security in late January.

But the money has yet to be disbursed to any of the 11 US cities that are hosting games. (The full tournament, running from mid-June to mid-July, will play in 16 cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico.)

The dispute underscored what business leaders around Greater Boston said was deeper dysfunction and looming financial troubles within the Boston organizing committee, which is now scrambling to pull off the event in less than three months.

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Boston Soccer 26 — dominated by allies of Patriots owner Robert Kraft — appears well short of the $170 million goal it said it needed to stage a World Cup that could draw 2 million visitors to Greater Boston. Exactly how short remains a mystery.

But the dispute with Foxborough pushed the local committee to make a rare public disclosure last week: that it had only $2 million in the bank, but anticipates depositing another $30 million soon.

That’s a fraction of what was envisioned by the organizers two years ago, spawning concerns about what the World Cup will actually look like at kickoff on June 13.

Meanwhile, in Foxborough over the last several weeks, a series of increasingly contentious meetings highlighted a David and Goliath dynamic between the five members of the town’s Select Board and a host committee working closely with FIFA, the global soccer organization that projects the quadrennial tournament to to generate $11 billion in revenues.

At the last meeting on March 3, two lawyers representing the host committee conveyed a proposal that, in part, guaranteed the Kraft Group would backstop all costs.

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Board members made no effort to hide their disbelief and dismay the host committee lawyers did not arrive with essentially a check for security costs that a town with a population of some 18,000 was not equipped to fund.

“I don’t really think you’re hearing us,” said Select Board chair Bill Yukna.

Select Board member Mark Elfman was more direct.

“I find it hard to believe — I’m sorry — that you don’t know after all the discussions that have gone on over the last couple of months exactly what we want,” he said.

Foxborough Police Chief Michael Grace also dismissed the proposal, calling it a “failed strategy.”

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Over the weekend, the Kraft Group issued a terse response to what it saw as the select board’s intransigence: “We are deeply disappointed that the town has seemingly reached a conclusion unilaterally without the platform of a public hearing, which is already scheduled for March 17, and would like to understand what the town requires at this stage to get to ‘yes.’ ”

Then, by Wednesday, all the parties got to “yes.”

“We look forward to moving forward together positively,” the statement concluded, “in our shared goals of providing the highest level of public safety for this historic event and delivering a global experience for our region, which will infuse the Commonwealth and Foxborough with an influx of new visitors and associated economic impact.”

The parties also singled out Massachusetts state Senator Paul Feeney, US Congressman Jake Auchincloss, Governor Maura Healey, and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll for helping to bring about the security plan.


Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.

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Boston, MA

Shay Maloney’s overtime goal lifts Boston Fleet to road victory

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Shay Maloney’s overtime goal lifts Boston Fleet to road victory


VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Shay Maloney scored 41 seconds into overtime and the Boston Fleet edged the Vancouver Goldeneyes 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Much of the game was a goalie duel, with neither side scoring until the third period.

Haley Winn was first to strike, getting the Fleet on the board early in the final frame with her second goal of the year.

Hannah Miller responded for the Goldeneyes with 3:26 remaining, blasting a one-timer past Boston goalie Aerin Frankel from just inside the blue line. Frankel stopped 25 of the 26 shots she faced, and the Fleet won its sixth straight game.

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Kristen Campbell made 25 saves in the Vancouver net.

The win moved the Fleet back into sole possession of first place in the league standings, two points ahead of the Montreal Victoire.

Vancouver was without goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who is listed as day to day with an upper-body injury. Kimberly Newell served as Campbell’s backup.



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Boston Police Blotter: Southie pub brawl leads to alleged stabbing

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Boston Police Blotter: Southie pub brawl leads to alleged stabbing


Two people were stabbed following an alleged bar brawl in Southie over the weekend.

According to a police report, officers arrived at Tom English’s around 10:30 p.m., Friday for a report of a fight. When they arrived on the scene, a victim told police that he was sucker punched during a fight and pointed out a person who was the “main aggressor” throughout the incident.

The suspect was pat frisked by police, but the report said they did not find any weapons. “The suspect stated that he was jumped [by the party of the victim,” the report said. “The suspect refused to cooperate any further after repeated attempts by officers to get his version of events.”

Both the suspect and victim declined EMS.

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Then about an hour later, three more victims arrived at a nearby police station to report that two of them had been stabbed in the fight at Tom English. One of the unnamed victims said that the fight started after the suspect kept moving coins he put down to play pool. The suspect, according to one of the other victims, told them to meet him outside.

All parties were kicked out by a bouncer and “a large brawl ensued,” the report said. The victims told police that that suspect brandished a knife and the victims said they “fled the scene on foot fearing for their lives.”

In the report, police noted that they saw wounds on two of the victims. EMS was called to treat them.

BPD did not confirm whether the suspect was arrested.

Fireworks call leads to firearm recovery in Mattapan

Reports of fireworks led Boston Police to recover a firearm Monday night in Mattapan.

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Officers responded to the area around Callender Street at about 10 p.m. for a call of shots fire, but a supervisor alerted them that individuals were shooting off fireworks.

When police got to the scene, they said they saw a group of people standing near a car that had several packages of fireworks. As officers approached, one man started to sprint towards Blue Hill Ave., throwing a jacket off as he ran, according to BPD.

Multiple officers responded to detain the suspect and a pat frisk of the jacket uncovered a ghost gun with 7 rounds in the magazine, police said.

Kahnari White, 24, of Mattapan was charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm without an FID card, and possession of a large capacity feeding device.

While the foot pursuit and arrest of White unfolded, police said the group standing with the fireworks began to become “hostile and threatening to an officer who remained with them on scene.”

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One person allegedly continued to threaten an officer and bumped him on the chest as more officers arrived.

“Multiple de-escalation tactics were attempted, but the suspect continued to threaten officers,” Boston police said in a statement.

Eventually, officers were able to detain Sean Galvez, 40, of Quincy. Galvez was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer.

Both suspects are expected to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.

Gun recovered after foot chase in Dorchester

A 22-year-old from Dorchester was arrested on gun charges after police said they approached the suspect for drinking in public Monday night.

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Officers saw a group on Draper St. drinking publicly around 8:30 p.m., and when they approached them, one individual started to walk away.

“When officers advised the male that he could not be drinking alcohol in public, he fled on foot,” Boston Police said in a statement. “A foot pursuit ensued, and officers stopped the suspect.”

Police recovered a Smith and Wesson M&P Bodyguard .380 with nine rounds in the magazine during a pat frisk and said that the serial number on the gun was defaced.

Denilson Pires was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and defacing a firearm serial number.

He is expected to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.

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