Friday, March 26, 1999
Ex-UK player on DUI wreck: 'Scars will last forever'
2 friends' deaths 'a stupid mistake'
BY TERESA M. WALKER
The Associated Press
COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. — The University of Kentucky football player driving when two friends died in a crash said Thursday he still recalls them dying in his arms.
“The mental and emotional scars will last forever,” Jason Watts said in his first public comments since the Nov. 15 accident.
The accident killed teammate Arthur Steinmetz, 19, and Eastern Kentucky student Scott Brock, 21.
“I literally see my buddies dying in my arms because of me,” Mr. Watts said.
Mr. Watts, 21, of Ovieda, Fla., faces a July 19 trial on two counts of second-degree manslaughter and a count of wanton endangerment. He is scheduled for a court appearance Wednesday.
He chose to speak about the crash to students at Southern Adventist University about 18 miles north of Chattanooga as part of the Christian school's drug and alcohol awareness week.
Mr. Watts, a starting center who was dismissed from the team, said he hoped someone will learn from his tragedy.
“It's all because of a stupid mistake,” he said. “Drinking beers and getting behind the wheel is something that could've been avoided.”
Mr. Watts said he and his friends had spent Saturday night drinking like typical college students, he said. The celebration was fueled by their excitement over Kentucky's 55-17 Senior Day victory over Vanderbilt, which earned the Wildcats a berth in the Outback Bowl.
But by early morning, they became bored and decided to hunt deer.
Mr. Watts was driving his truck on U.S. 27 north of Somerset when it slipped off the road as he passed a car, clipped a mailbox and blew out a back tire.
The three men said nothing to one another, knowing they were about to crash, Mr. Watts said. The truck flipped, throwing all three out of the vehicle. Mr. Watts went through the windshield.
When he came to, he went first to Mr. Brock, who gave him a half-smile before dying, he said. He then tried to shake awake Mr. Steinmetz, only to have him die in his arms.
“Because of my poor judgment, my two buddies were gone,” said a soft-spoken Mr. Watts. “When you think about it, I should've been the first one to go. ... Getting in that car that night was a mistake.”
With his friends dead, Mr. Watts said he wanted to die as well, and even tried holding his breath in the ambulance.
At the hospital, his blood-alcohol content tested 11/2 times the legal limit.
He suffered a 12-inch gash on his right arm that would require several surgeries to clean and repair. He also had injured ribs, as well as cuts on his left shoulder and back that required stitches and staples.
Mr. Watts had been in trouble before while drinking. He shot then-teammate Omar Smith in the buttocks as they handled a rifle outside the house they shared in 1997, and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.129 two hours after the shooting. He was charged with unlawful discharge of a weapon.
He met with the Brock family before leaving the hospital in Lexington and was shocked that they greeted him with a hug and forgave him for his part in the crash.
He spoke with the Steinmetz family recently and was again surprised that they also forgave him.
“You almost want them to be mad at you because it will make the guilt easier,” Mr. Watts said.
He said even his friends on the offensive line said he should have been the first person killed. But he told the audience that he feels he is now living three lives — his own and for his dead friends.
He dreams nightly about the crash and figures he is lucky to sleep three or four hours a night.
“It's rough, but it's nowhere near as rough as it is on the families,” he said.
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