Derek Watson, a blast from the past

[volmeister]

Ex-football star Derek Watson charged with selling pot
By Kirk Brown

Monday, November 7, 2011

ANDERSON — Former football star Derek Watson is accused of selling a quarter-pound of marijuana to an “undercover operative” working with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

Watson, 30, was a record-setting running back at Palmetto High School. He went on to become a standout player at the University of South Carolina before a 2002 marijuana arrest led to his dismissal from the team.

He was being held on a marijuana distribution charge Monday at the Anderson County Detention Center with bail set at $15,000, a jail spokesman said.

According to a sheriff’s report, Watson sold drugs to an undercover operative at the Creekside Apartments in Piedmont on March 10. The report says an audio and video device was used to monitor the exchange.

The alleged drug deal happened 15 days after Watson was arrested on drug trafficking charges by the Greenville County sheriff’s officials.

Court records show that Watson pleaded guilty Aug. 11 to a pair of drug charges in Greenville County. He was given a 15-year suspended sentence and placed on three years’ probation.

Watson was arrested again on Aug. 27 in Greenville. He was charged with possession of less than 28 grams of marijuana and interfering with officers serving a warrant, both of which are misdemeanors, records show.

Anderson County sheriff’s spokesman Chad McBride said Watson was transferred from the Greenville County Detention Center to the county jail in Anderson early Monday.

During his collegiate career, Watson played his senior season at South Carolina State University after being kicked off the Gamecock squad.

He also spent time in the National Football League with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After being charged with burglary and grand larceny in 2007, Watson signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He was released by the team in July 2010.