RAIDERS : 6-6 Watts Faces Tall Odds in Switch Back to Football

Walter Watts, who played for Grand Rapids in the Continental Basketball Assn. last season, is trying to make the Raiders as a defensive end.

As a 6-foot-6, 265-pound forward for the University of Utah’s basketball team, Watts helped the Utes reach the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1991, where they lost to Nevada Las Vegas.

Invited to the Utah Jazz training camp last season, he was one of the last players cut.

“I wanted to be in the NBA, but I thought it would take two years of playing in the CBA and that’s real rough because of the travel,” Watts said.

The Raiders signed Watts as a free agent last spring on the advice of safety Ronnie Lott, who played in a charity basketball game against him. Watts was invited to training camp after performing well at a mini-camp in May.

Watts gained 40 pounds after basketball season and weighed in at 315 pounds at the start of training camp, but he hopes to lose 15 pounds.

Watts hasn’t played organized football since he was at Mt. Pleasant High in San Jose, where he was a defensive end and tight end. He said he was recruited for football by USC and San Jose State but chose to play basketball in college. He averaged 13 points and nine rebounds at Utah.

“Everything’s a longshot, but if I can get my weight down and just keep going hard like I’ve been going, I’ll be OK,” Watts said.

It will be difficult for Watts to make the Raiders, though, because they are well stocked with defensive linemen--Howie Long, Greg Townsend, Scott Davis, Bob Golic and Anthony Smith.

“We’ve already got a bunch of defensive linemen who are pretty good, but if a guy has some ability to play the game you can always find a way to put him on the roster,” Coach Art Shell said. “He has a lot to learn, but he’s learning in a hurry.”

Wide receiver Stacy Simmons missed practice Tuesday afternoon because he had a blood sugar imbalance. Safety Bernard Ellison was held out of practice after twisting his knee Monday.