Charlie Waters

Or What I Find Attractive in A Man, Part 1

I've never really understood why people get so spastic over celebrities. It just isn't my thing. On the way home from Wisconsin with the church youth group, somewhere in Missouri, the church van was filled with teenage girls. Suddenly, the girls all started screaming and jumping up and down--as much as one can jump in a van. They were all looking out the window, waving and taking pictures. And screaming. Being the clueless one of the bunch, I asked what was going on. One of the girls turned to me and said,

"It's Richard Gere!"

I didn't even know who Richard Gere was at the time, but these girls had spotted a man in a car and they were sure it was him. After we'd passed the car, the girls were all discussing whether it really was Richard Gere or not. Some of them insisted that it had to be because it looked just like him. Ever the practical one, I burst all their bubbles when I posed the question,

"Come on, what would Richard Gere be doing driving through Missouri?" and although I didn't say it, I could have added, "and being passed by a church van?"

That kind of carrying on has never been my style.

Backtrack a few years--to 7th grade. The girls in my school were all agog over Charlie Waters. I was all agog over him, too, but what I couldn't understand was why they weren't just as agog over Cliff Harris. After all, he was just as good a ball player as Charlie Waters. Why didn't they go goo-goo over him?

"You've got to be kidding! That old bald headed guy?"

I didn't understand how being bald affected his ability to play football. What did it matter anyway? Once he had his helmet on, you couldn't tell he was bald.

"Oh, Becky, you just don't get it."

I'll admit, I was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to noticing boys as boys. It was late the next year before I really began to notice boys. Up until then, Charlie Waters was just the best strong safety to ever set foot on a ball field.

Now, let me set the record straight. Just because I was a late bloomer, doesn't mean I was blind.

Yeah, I thought he was cute. It just wasn't as important to me as the way he played football.


Charlie Waters played football with a passion and intensity that was rare, even in those days, and is almost never found among today's pampered pansy players--at all levels of the game. He gave of himself 100% in every game. There was no holding back. And he never quit until the game was done.

Charlie Waters broke his arm. Now, for most players, that would be a season ending injury. Even if it weren't, it would mean a big chunk of the season sitting on the sidelines for them.

Not Charlie Waters. He continued to play, even with his arm in a cast. Not only did he continue to play, he played with such passion and intensity that he broke his arm in two more places inside the cast. Now for most players, that would be a season ending injury. Even if it weren't, it would mean a big chunk of the season sitting on the sidelines for them.

Not Charlie Waters. Doctors inserted a steel rod in his bone, and he continued to play. Not only did he continue to play, he played with such passion and intensity that at times the end of the rod would pop out through the top of his shoulder.

Some people would say that is just foolishness. I don't think so. I think just showed how much he loved the game. It showed the passion he had for what he loved. It showed how much of himself he was willing to give for what he loved.

He carried that passion with him off the field as well, and kept it even after he retired from football. And he still gives of himself 100% in everything he does.

He was, and still is, involved in many charities and community events, including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the I’m Third Foundation of Kanakuk Kamps, the Boles Home for Children, The American Diabetes Association and the Cody Waters Memorial Fund. In interviews, you can still see the passion, the intensity, and ..and..and a joy shining through his life. It shows in his eyes. It sounds in his voice. It works in his actions. It sings through his entire being.

As for his physical appearance...

Well, he can still make guys like

and
hang their heads in shame.

Even at 58 years of age.
That's what I find attractive in a man.