David Watford


David Watford is a Canadian football quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. He played college football as a quarterback at Virginia for three seasons before transferring to Hampton.

Early years

Watford attended Hampton High School in Hampton, Virginia.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Watford went undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a wide receiver on July 27, 2016. He was waived on September 3, 2016, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Eagles on January 2, 2017. He was waived on August 26, 2017.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On October 9, 2017, Watford was signed to the Saskatchewan Roughriders' practice squad as a quarterback. Watford made his professional debut for the Roughriders the following season in the second half of the Riders Week 3 loss to the Montreal Alouettes. Watord, who came on to replace an ineffective Brandon Bridge, completed 10 of 22 pass attempts for 108 yards, throwing one touchdown and two interceptions in the game. Watford struggled in limited playing time in 2018, completing 15 of 32 pass attempts for 168 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. In the playoffs where the Roughriders were eliminated in their lone game against Winnipeg in the West Division semi-final, Watford recorded one rush for 6 yards. Additionally he was brought in for the final play where he threw a desperation deep pass which was intercepted. Watford was unable to beat out free agent addition Cody Fajardo during the 2019 preseason, and was cut on June 8.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On July 29, 2019, after a season-ending injury to starting QB Jeremiah Masoli, the Tiger-Cats announced that they had signed Watford. Watford provided depth to Hamilton, served as a short yardage rusher who scored 6 touchdowns during 12 games played, and in garbage time in Hamilton's season finale, brought the team in range for a game winning field goal; Hamilton's win was meaningless for playoff seeding purposes which had been settled weeks prior, but it did further establish a franchise best record of 15-3. Watford had two more rushing touchdowns in the Eastern final, a victory which advanced Hamilton to the CFL championship game. During the 107th Grey Cup, Watford was stopped short on a third and short rush, one of many stops made by Winnipeg's defensive line for a Blue Bomber victory.