Cory Watson (born March 27, 1984) is a
wide receivers coach
In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive and Defensive c ...
for the
Concordia Stingers
The Concordia Stingers are the athletic teams that represent Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They compete with other schools in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, and more specifically in Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSE ...
of
U Sports football
U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...
. He was formerly a professional
Canadian football
Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...
wide receiver who was drafted ninth overall by the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...
in the
2010 CFL Draft
The 2010 CFL Draft took place on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 12:00 PM ET on TSN. 47 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. After a number of tra ...
and played for five seasons with the club. He was also a member of the
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
,
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...
and
BC Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place.
The Lions played their first season ...
. He also played
CIS football
U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...
for the Stingers.
Professional career
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Watson joined the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...
after being drafted by them in the 2nd round of the
2010 CFL Draft
The 2010 CFL Draft took place on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 12:00 PM ET on TSN. 47 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. After a number of tra ...
. In his rookie season in the league he played in 15 games, totalling 277 yards on 17 receptions. He caught his first touchdown pass in the final game of that
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
. Watson showed great improvement in his sophomore season racking up 793 yards on 69 catches, which is, to date, the best season of his career. Over the next three seasons Watson missed significant playing time due to injuries, playing in only 30 of a possible 54 games. During those 30 games he averaged only 38.2 yards per game on 3.1 receptions per game.
Saskatchewan Roughriders
On January 29, 2015, Watson and a 3rd round selection in the
2015 CFL Draft
The 2015 CFL Draft took place on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at 8:00 PM ET on TSN2 and RDS2. 62 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA.
For the fi ...
were traded to the
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
in exchange for Canadian receiver
Kris Bastien, a 2nd round pick in the 2015 CFL Draft and the rights to a player on Winnipeg's negotiation list.
Edmonton Eskimos
One day before the
2015 CFL Draft
The 2015 CFL Draft took place on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at 8:00 PM ET on TSN2 and RDS2. 62 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA.
For the fi ...
, the Riders traded Watson to the
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...
. In return, the Riders received national long-snapper
Jorgen Hus
Jorgen Hus (born September 12, 1989) is a professional Canadian football longsnapper for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted in the fourth round, 31st overall by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2013 CFL D ...
and a second-round selection in the
2016 CFL Draft
The 2016 CFL Draft took place on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 7:00 PM ET on TSN2 and RDS2. 70 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The draft wa ...
. Watson contributed 42 receptions for 319 yards with three touchdowns during the Eskimos
103rd Grey Cup
The 103rd Grey Cup was a Canadian football game that was played on November 29, 2015 between the East Division champion Ottawa Redblacks and the West Division champion Edmonton Eskimos to decide the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship f ...
winning season. Following the season, Watson was re-signed by the Eskimos throughout the 2017 CFL season. Over three seasons with the Eskimos, he played in 48 games, recording 112 receptions for 1,114 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
BC Lions
Upon entering
free agency
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
, Watson signed with the
BC Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place.
The Lions played their first season ...
on February 14, 2018, reuniting him with former Eskimos
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
,
Ed Hervey
Edward Hervey (born May 4, 1973) is a former professional Canadian football wide receiver and currently an assistant general manager for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played in the CFL for the Edmonton Eskimos ...
. Watson played in 18 games for the Lions in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, catching 38 passes for 406 yards with three touchdowns.
Saskatchewan Roughriders (II)
Watson returned to Saskatchewan for the
2019 season, and contributed with 46 receptions for 401 yards with one touchdown.
Coaching career
On April 27, 2022, it was announced that Watson had joined his alma mater
Concordia as a wide receivers coach.
References
External links
BC Lions bioSaskatchewan Roughriders bioWinnipeg Blue Bombers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Cory
1984 births
Living people
Anglophone Quebec people
Canadian football wide receivers
Concordia Stingers football players
Edmonton Elks players
People from Dollard-des-Ormeaux
Players of Canadian football from Quebec
Saskatchewan Roughriders players
Winnipeg Blue Bombers players
BC Lions players