First Responder /Firefighter

Danny Watkins needed a credit for his schoolwork and as a result - discovered a vocation he grew to love: Firefighting.  

Heaven knows, Kelowna B.C. has had it's share of fires.

As a 16-year-old boy he joined - in a junior member capacity - the West Kelowna Fire and Rescue Team for high school credits.

In his spare time, like most Canadian boys, he played Hockey and Rugby. 

visiting the Philadelphia Fire Hall

Associating with the squad at the West Kelowna station, he matured and was deeply influenced by the men he worked with.  The guys he worked with were his heroes.

It wasn't a surprise then, when Danny decided he would like to go to a Junior College in Northern California to further his career in firefighting - taking a Fire Science course - stumbling into football in the process.

Someone told him he could have his college fees paid for if he went on a football scholarship.

His first year in football was a steep, painful learning curve because of his ignorance of Football.  Due to his overwhelming love for all things hockey, and his thinking that football just got in the way of hockey,  he didn't even know the bare rudiments of Football.

However, his attitude, determination and focus which he learned as a Firefighter  - and the mean streak as a Hockey player - transferred well onto the Football field.



It wasn't that he hated football, he just didn't care for it all that much.   Football in general, isn't taken as seriously as Hockey in Canada.

It's not that the Canadian Football enthusiasts in his home town didn't try. 

He was recruited for the Okanagan Sun (Kelowna) junior football team, but came down with appendicitis prior to football training and ended up in the hospital -  recovery nixed any further thought of playing football. 

He didn't play one game until he stumbled into it at College - which he only went for the schooling.

With only two years junior college and then on to Baylor on another scholarship in Dallas,  he has managed to become one of the first Canadians to be picked in the first rounds of both CFL and NFL drafts since 1986.

Funny thing - he wouldn't have even attended the draft pick except that he was wanting to make a pilgrimage to Ground Zero and visit the guys at the Firestation in NYC - out of respect for their 9/11 losses. 

It was the first thing he thought of when he woke up that morning of the draft - and definitely his priority.

Danny and his Five Firefighter friends from Kelowna were welcomed like long-lost brothers.

To say "thanks"....Danny had to get his new friends tickets for the draft pick.  They were thrilled to go.
 
Apparently, during the lengthy process of draft choices,  he was more nervous about keeping his friends waiting than about whether he was actually going to be picked or not.



His firefighter buddies from Ktown and NYC  - cheered him on as his name was called.

Six foot three inches and 310lbs - he is now a Philadelphia Eagles Offensive Guard - on a 4 year contract worth $7.9Million.

But this isn't where the story ends.

Wouldn't you know it - first day of practice - a medical emergency occurred.

A team mate - defensive tackle, Mike Patterson - had a seizure on the practice field this am.

Danny's Emergency Response training kicked in as he attended to the player.

The day before he managed to free himself and another player out of a stuck elevator.
 
I guess you just can't take the Firefighter out of the Football player.

Or the Hockey out of the football player.

He admits to missing the Firehall "a lot" and still prefers to watch the NHL over any NFL game.

Good on ya, Home town boy!