Sammy Watson Is Going Pro

Why not? She's talented enough and can still work towards her degree while running professionally. Strike while the iron is hot.

Seems odd, she has been running slower this winter than she did last winter. The iron might not be as hot as it was last year?

It’s also being covered by dyestat. No word yet on who she’s signed with.

https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=561504

Hasn’t even broken 2 minutes and she’s going pro? Bad idea. That’s nothing in this day and age. Enjoy your tiny contract and struggling in obscurity.

Planet of the apes wrote:

Hasn’t even broken 2 minutes and she’s going pro? Bad idea. That’s nothing in this day and age. Enjoy your tiny contract and struggling in obscurity.

As opposed to enjoying no contract and posting on Letsrun in obscurity. Tough choice!

Is it April 1st? She already raced once this year and lost an 800 and ran 2:06. What shoe company would give someone who just ran 2:06 a pro contract?

Look I know she has basically done EVERYTHING an amateur could want - win World Youth gold, win World Junior gold and then win an NCAA titles as a frosh.

But if I was a shoe company, I wouldn't pay a penny to a woman who just turned 19 in November but was faster at 17 (2:00.65) than 18 (2:01.46) and just ran 2:06 in her last race (unless she fell in that race and the Texas A&M recap didn't mention it ). And while she won World Junior gold in 2016, she didn't even make the final in 2018.

From her standpoint, if she's getting PAID BIG and is sure the A&M coaches will agree to let her workout there, then it's fine, but if I'm the CEO of a shoe company and she's not really good, I think I might fire whoever signed her to that contract.

As a fan, it pisses me off. I like seeing people do college athletics.

Anyways, here is what A&M wrote about her first race, "Here is what they wrote: "Sammy Watson finished second in the 800 with a 2:06.89 as USC's Alyssa Brewer edged her for the victory in 2:06.48. Watson, who led the field throughout the race until the final meters, had splits of 29.44, 31.76 (1:01.20), 32.62 (1:33.82), and 33.07. Brewer finished with a 31.81 over the final lap."

Here is an article from her hometown paper that includes an LRC interview in it.

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/2019/02/12/sammy-watson-track-field-pro-texas-a-m-usa-national-world-championships-olympics-ncaa-champion-800/2852588002/

She was only 80th in the world last year and 17th American. That should get her shoes and a uniform.

I can see a shoe company signing her if it was right after NCAAs, thinking "She's won everything." But then she doesn't make world junior final and the opens up in 2:06.

She'd better sign as quickly as possible or some shoe exec had better know something that I don't know.

This seems like such a weird time to go pro. Why not wait one more month and go for an indoor title? Further, why not ride out the outdoor season as well and try to repeat/boost her résumé in an attempt to get a better contract?

Something seems weird to me here.

Reptilians wrote:

This seems like such a weird time to go pro. Why not wait one more month and go for an indoor title? Further, why not ride out the outdoor season as well and try to repeat/boost her résumé in an attempt to get a better contract?

Something seems weird to me here.

Both Sammy Watson and teammate Jasmine Frey haven't responded well fitness wise to their former coach Alleyne Francique getting in trouble and let go last year. Frey the indoor record holder opened her season with a 2:12 in the 800 a few weeks ago and Sammy's 2:06 didn't bode well either. I thought Sammy would end up transferring after this season is over but instead sticking around getting beat all season because I am sure A&M wouldn't release her, at this point the only other option for was to go pro and maybe get into and an environment where she can get her fitness back and maybe gear up for some summer races. I guarantee she is not going to be training at A&M anymore and its pretty clear that she didn't leave A&M in good graces.

Too bad Frey is a senior and its pretty late in the game for her to jump ship as well. No NCAA title for the indoor record holder for the third year in a row!!!!

Rojo-

I completely agree with every word you said. I would not invest one dollar in her. It seems like she probably feels entitled to an annual six figure shoe deal because of her past achievements. She is likely living in ignorance, or maybe not, and is hoping to capitalize on those achievements before her performances get worse from here.

-former ncaa athlete that spoke with you in the recruiting process while you were at Cornell.

My goodness, I hadn't really read the article this closely. I just realized it says she hasn't picked an agent yet? That's crazy.

You don't do this unless you already a) Have an agent and b) An offer you are willing to sign off the bat.

I assumed she had an offer she'd sign any day now. My goodness, we may have just killed her marketability with our blurb on the homepage when we wrote, "Watson accomplished it all as an amateur – winning a World Youth, World Jr and NCAA title but this is a risky sign for any shoe company as she was slower at 18 than 17 and just ran 2:06 in her first race as a 19 year old."

She had better hold off on signing with an agent in case she wants to go back to the NCAA.

I mean if she was in state I could see a shoe company offering her a little cash on top of the 28k it costs to go to A&M with some huge incentives but i think she's out of state so that's like 50k just for college.

It gets better...She has already put "professional" under her name on Instagram and in the picture with a blank singlet and shorts, she has put "we made it".

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtzeebOAddi/

How has anyone made it yet when nothing has been signed or agreed to? This seems to be what gives the younger end of my millenial generation a bad rap. "I quit, so I made it."

She has won everything at the junior level and NCAA as a freshman. I place zero stock whatsoever in a 2:06 indoor opener.

I also don't fault her for not going faster in the 800m last year in a race in Bloomington than the previous year at World's in Europe. However, I do find it mildly worrisome that her 400m best slowed by over 2 seconds from 2015 (52.69, quite good for a pro 800m runner, and that was when she was just 15, which is very, very fast) to 2018 (54.77 at 18 years old, a big slowdown). There is probably something wrong at A and M for her to do this, especially in a speed-based program where her 400m would not stand to slow down this much. But with her championship record, I expect that when she makes the adjustment to the new coach/environment, she will be successful again.

Egads.

Are you kidding me with this Millenial BS? She had the guts to leave a program that clearly isn't working for her. She could have stuck around and been mediocre.

You guys jump to concluscious so fast. And Rojo sounds ignorant to the idea that being in a toxic environment affects you mentally and physically.

zxcvzxcv wrote:

She has won everything at the junior level and NCAA as a freshman. I place zero stock whatsoever in a 2:06 indoor opener.

I also don't fault her for not going faster in the 800m last year in a race in Bloomington than the previous year at World's in Europe. However, I do find it mildly worrisome that her 400m best slowed by over 2 seconds from 2015 (52.69, quite good for a pro 800m runner, and that was when she was just 15, which is very, very fast) to 2018 (54.77 at 18 years old, a big slowdown). There is probably something wrong at A and M for her to do this, especially in a speed-based program where her 400m would not stand to slow down this much. But with her championship record, I expect that when she makes the adjustment to the new coach/environment, she will be successful again.

The 2:06 800 wasn't an opener. I saw her race a 2:50 1k in December on espn3 and she just didn't look fluid. She then DNFed a mile on 1/11 at A&M, went through halfway in 2:26 and dropped out shortly thereafter looking like something was definitely "off". She has also run some legs on the 4x4 in the 55 range I think before the 2:06. So the 2:06 wasn't a rust buster. There's clearly something not right with her currently. I wonder if she's coming back from injury? She looks like she needs Vince Anderson's wicket drills - she frequently overstrides, although she is tall and it might be difficult to run fluidly on the indoor banked track. I wish her good luck with her pro endeavors. She is insanely talented.

[quote]OhioBuff wrote:

Track and Field News indicated that she may be going pro early, meaning she’d forego her remaining NCAA Eligibility. She’s the reigning NCAA outdoor 800m champion.

https://twitter.com/tandfn/status/1095474009125212160?s=21

Good idea/Bad idea? What company do you think she’ll sign with? Discus.

Editor's note: We changed the title from Sammy Watson Is Going Pro According to T&F News to simply Sammy Watson Is Going Pro

as Watson's hometown paper had already published an article before the TFN tweet was sent. Here is that article:

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/2019/02/12/sammy-watson-track-field-pro-texas-a-m-usa-national-world-championships-olympics-ncaa-champion-800/2852588002

Typically 800m & 400m “long sprinters” have shown to be the most reliable athletes to sign at a young age

Expecting a HS distance phenom to continue to develop is generally riskier

what's up here wrote:

Seems odd, she has been running slower this winter than she did last winter. The iron might not be as hot as it was last year?

Let’s not overreact. Even Clayton Murphy ran poorly in college at times and as a pro. Talent doesn’t go away