St. Louis Rams RB Trey Watts suspended indefinitely for substance abuse

St. Louis Rams Running Back Trey Watts still has not learned from his past mistakes. Backup running back Watts, the son of the former US lawmaker has been suspended indefinitely without pay for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy the league announced on Wednesday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the news via twitter on the 24-year-old running back. Watts has only appeared in only one game this season. Watts played nine special-teams snaps in the Rams’ Oct. 25 win against the Cleveland Browns but was inactive last week against San Francisco. He was listed fourth on the Rams running back depth chart behind, Todd Gurley, Tre Mason and Benjamin Cunningham. Watts was on the practice squad for most of the season, however he was brought up to the team last month.

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However this is not the first time Watts has been in trouble for this type of situation. The NFL suspended the running back in May, for the first four games of the 2015 NFL season. It has not been announced what product Watts has been using to get tested positive for, but it won’t matter now as he has been suspended from the league. To be suspended/banned from the NFL for substance abuse, a player must fail the test at least three times since entering the NFL.

Back in August, Watts addressed the media about his mistake and sounded as if he would never do it again. Per Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Watts told fans and teammates.

"“I made a mistake and now I have to deal with it. I’m disappointed in myself because I feel like I let people down. I let my teammates down and I let my family down. But all I can do now is try to move forward. I can’t think about the suspension; on the football field, my focus has to be on football and right now, I’m just focused on pushing myself each day to become a better player.”"

Watts also was a special teams player who played in 14 NFL games as an undrafted rookie last season. Last year with the Rams, Watts totaled 30 rushing yards on seven carries and three receptions for 18 yards. He also made five tackles on special teams as well. However with Watts leaving the Rams for the season, it won’t hurt the Rams running game one bit.

Aug 29, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Trey Watts (42) scores a touchdown during the third quarter of a football game against the Indianapolis Colts at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports

Rookie Gurley already has emerged as possibly one of the best running backs in the NFL right now. Gurley has 94 carries for 575 rushing yards along with three touchdowns. All of this has been done in five regular season games, however he has only started the last four. With Gurley clearing running the Rams to victory, Watts was going to get nearly no playing time at all. Hopefully Watts can get his act together and have a very succesful road to recovery as he does have some talent. Watts is the fourth player in school history at Tulsa to rush for 1,000 yards in two seasons. For the rest of the Rams team, they will head to Minnesota to take on the (5-2) Vikings this Sunday.

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