For former New England Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson , his trip to the Dominican Republic didn't truly sink in until a young girl had grabbed ahold of his leg. The longtime NFL veteran was on a trip with the International Justice Mission, and was trying to break the language barrier with some fun games.
Then Mia, a five-year-old who had been sexually trafficked by her family, latched onto his leg and wouldn't let go. Watson began to cry.
"How can people who are supposed to protect this child, how could they allow something like that to happen to her?" Watson told Patriots on SI.
The Patriots' first round selection back in 2004 made his living on the football field. He has a Super Bowl ring from when he was a rookie, caught 44 total touchdowns throughout his career and was named the 2018 Bart Starr Award winner for outstanding character. And yet, his journeys to the Dominican Republic and Ghana have given him the most gratitude -- "a calling," as he put it.
"One thing that really impacted me, and one of the reasons why I felt it was important, is because I'm a descendant of trafficked human beings, like I'm a descendant," said Watson, who's become an advocate for those through IJM's global work with modern-day slavery.
"My kids are descendants of people who are trafficked across an ocean and also within this country, right? And so that that issue is important to me because of that ... 50 million people that are living in modern day slavery," he continued.
IJM is a cause that's been close to a number of pro athletes' hearts. In December, Hunter Henry wore speciality cleats for "My Cause, My Cleats" that honored the work IJM does . When Watson was playing for the Ravens in 2016, he chose IJM as his cause. It's been an organization that Watson and his wife Kirsten have been with for over a decade.
"We actually got involved with them specifically in about 2015 or so, we led a team. We were the first couple to lead a team of athletes on the field to go see their work out of the country," Watson said. "So we took a team of a few couples down to Dominican Republic back in 2015 just to see their work in the field. And for us, the on ramp, was just protecting vulnerable people and just an understanding that people are made in the image of God, that we all have inherent value."
Watson is a devout man of faith, citing Micah 6:8 when discussing what these trips mean to him. He's the father of seven, feeling a sense of pride when it comes to his family. He feels like it's his duty to provide, and for those in high-risk areas, to help.
Former New England Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson meets Mia, a survivor of sex trafficking in the Dominican Republic. | Contributed by International Justice Mission
But it's hard to truly think about human trafficking or slavery in the modern day, or even talk about it. It's just something that happens across the world, right? It isn't happening now, is it?
"It's not necessarily the most talked about thing in America," Mark Herzlich , director of IJM's Team Freedom, told Patriots on SI. "It's not as well known or well funded as pediatric cancer or breast cancer or something like that.
"It feels like something that happens over there and not here, right?" Watson said. "We've done a lot of things with IJM, you know, over the last half of my career. So it kind of extended into why, you know, while I after I left the league, but there was, it's crazy that there was, there was a point in time where it just became real."
But Watson feels the calling, one he didn't feel when he strapped up the pads. Yeah, the glory of an NFL player is nice. Watson says this is better -- plus you're not just seen as an athlete looking for the glory of charity.
"You don't have to be an athlete to have a platform to talk about the 50 million enslaved," Watson said. "You don't be have to be an athlete with a platform to care about a child or an adult who is enduring violence because of poverty. ... What can we say? Who can we tell? What can we do? What organizations can we support? How can we be more aware?"
Former New England Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson during his trip to Ghana with the International Justice Mission. | Contributed by International Justice Mission
Part of his mission was to represent IJM at Radio Row ahead of Super LX. While there, he posed the question to dozens of NFL athletes: "How many people in the world are trapped in human trafficking and modern-day slavery?"
Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski didn't know. Neither did Kirk Cousins , Brandon Marshall , Cam Newton or Tony Dungy. The 50 million people still stuck in slavery opened eyes across the NFL.
For Watson, his football occupation life in the NFL is over. Now, it's his internal calling that's taking the field.
"When it comes to IJM and the work that they're doing specifically to rescue and to restore survivors and really to create a future for people that they're not taken advantage of by violence simply because they are poor," Watson said. "That's a calling."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/patriots/onsi as Former Patriots TE Benjamin Watson Honoring True Calling After Football .
