Monday, September 14, 2009

Jamie Watson was honored as the USL Second Division MVP and leading scorer, but the Wilmington Hammerheads forward was also out to score increased awareness for those in need of bone marrow transplants according to Tom Grady of the Star News.

The issue is rooted in a close friendship. He wears No. 77 on his jersey to honor a former Major League Soccer teammate whose wife is battling a rare form of leukemia.

Watson and current Real Salt Lake midfielder Andy Williams were MLS teammates as well as road roommates in Utah from 2005-07. Williams’ wife Marcia and her doctors are looking for a bone marrow match in the national donor registry.

The 77 comes “out of respect for them and to let them know that even when I’m playing, I’m still thinking about them," he said.

“For them I wanted to let them know, that even though soccer has been my life, there’s things that are bigger than that,” Watson later added. “And they’re part of that.”

The Wilmington forward promotes the web site dkmsamericas.org, which highlights the process of becoming a bone marrow donor and becoming part of the national registry.

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