Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson knew his dramatic return to Thursday night's 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers looked like something out of an old WWE episode, as he leaped from an ambulance and scampered through the bowels of Lambeau Field.
"It was super dramatic," Watson said with a laugh, via the team’s official website. "I used to watch WWE as a kid. I felt like I was watching WWE SmackDown vs. Raw or something, seeing the cameras on me when I was coming out of the ambulance. That was a little crazy."
Watson clanged to the turf on a deep catch with 9:11 left in the second quarter, writhing in pain before being helped to the sideline. After being looked at on the sideline, Watson slowly walked to the locker room with a grimace on his face.
"I think I just came down on the ball or my elbow or something," he said. "I couldn't breathe on the field. I got the wind knocked out of me. I got back to the sideline, and I was kind of spitting up some blood or something like that. So the doctor said I had to go get a CT [scan]. I was trying to beg them to not make me do that."
Watson was transported to St. Vincent Hospital, 3.9 miles from Lambeau Field. An X-ray showed cracked ribs, but the CT scan and bloodwork showed no additional issues. Upon hearing that news, Watson's first thought was getting back on the field.
"Before I even left (the hospital), I wanted to get back out there," Watson said. "This means everything to me, to be out there on the football field. I've had injuries that I was not able to go back out on the field after for, and I missed a significant amount of time with injuries. So, any chance I get to go out there on the football field, I'm going to be out there on the football field."
Before he left, Watson had six catches for 100 yards. He returned with 4:01 left in the third quarter and finished with eight catches for 113 yards.
"Yeah, that's pretty remarkable," coach Matt LaFleur said. "He had a heck of a night. Just can't imagine what he would have had had he not missed so much time."
Teammates were inspired by Watson's desire to join them in finishing out the win.
"I think it shows resiliency, I think it shows toughness, and I think it just shows the love that he has for this team," safety Xavier McKinney said. "Sometimes, you might see that happen and he had his 100 yards, and he could've just sat it. But the fact that he wasn't satisfied and the fact that he felt like and he knew that we still needed him out there and he still said, 'OK, I love this team and I want to be able to go out here for this team and do that,' that gains our respect."
The fifth-year receiver has been a dynamic force when he's been on the field, but injuries have derailed Watson from truly taking off. Thursday night, he wasn't going to let another one keep him down long.
