Kewanee’s great running back played football with Ronald Reagan. His nickname was “Lump,” for the lumps he put on the poor defensive players who tried to tackle him. He was called the best fullback ever developed for his high school, and his line plunges and field running received praise from all who saw him play. While a terror on the high school gridiron, he excelled at all sports. He then excelled at football at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois.
It was at Eureka that Kewaneean Eudell Watts Jr. started what became a lifelong friendship with Ronald Reagan, later the 40th President of the United States, that lasted up to the last decade of the 20th century.
Here’s the story.
Eudell was the second of six children born to Eudell and Mildred Watts in 1907 when the family was living on Acorn St. The elder Eudell, born in 1878, came to Kewanee around 1900 with his father and mother, Arthur and Laura, both of whom had been born in slavery in Missouri. (You can read the story of Arthur Watts on my DUSTY ROADS® Facebook page, by clicking here.)
Eudell grew up active. Once he entered high school in 1925, his athletic prowess came to the fore. Eudell earned varsity letters in three sports. He won the Illinois state pole vaulting title, setting a record that went unbroken for years. He also was an all-county guard on the basketball team.
But it was in football that Eudell’s star shined brightest. He was called one of the greatest football players ever produced by Kewanee High School.
After high school, opportunities were limited for Black American football players. But Eureka College was welcoming, and Eudell began his freshman year there in 1928. He played alongside two others from Kewanee at Eureka, Bill Jenkins and George Keist.
And a young Ronald Reagan.
Eudell later told his children that Reagan “was just an ordinary joe, who had a certain doggedness to play football. He was just one of the guys, never aloof.”
As to his football skills, Eudell described Reagan as “tall, a little skinny, maybe small for football, but with a dogged determination to play football. Though initially a sub, he always was around, willing and enthusiastic, and he was included in everything. He stuck with it and became a regular the following season. He lettered in football after that.”
What did Reagan think of Eudell? In his 1965 autobiography, he described a Eureka football game against Illinois College where “Lump Watts . . . set a conference record by punting one that carried over 80 yards in the air. Late in the quarter he won the game with a drop kick of better than 50 yards.”
In the autobiography, Reagan also said “I often daydream of what the next three years might have been if Lump hadn’t dropped out of school – a depression victim.”
After his time at Eureka, Eudell played semi-professional football with the Kewanee Boilermakers. He then moved to the Quad Cities, and worked at Lockjoint Pipe Co., the Bettendorf Co., and Ordinance Steel. He also worked at the Outing Club and Davenport Club and served as a Rock Island County deputy sheriff.
In 1948, Eudell started a small, family-owned business that grew into Watts Trucking Service, Inc, successfully operating in many cities in the Midwest and Southwest.
In 1935, Eudell married Lorene Evans in Fort Worth, Texas. They had two daughters and three sons.
Eudell and Reagan stayed in touch after Eureka, and they met a number of times. When Reagan spoke at a Davenport Chamber of Commerce event in 1961, Eudell quietly entered the back of the Gold Room of the Hotel Blackhawk, trying not to attract attention. But Reagan saw Eudell and quickly waved him up and introduced him to the attendees.
The two men met again in 1967 at Eureka College when Reagan, then governor of California, gave the dedication address for a new library at Eureka.
In 1968, Governor Reagan donated signed copies of one of his books for a Jaycettes’ auction at a fundraiser where Eudell’s daughter-in-law served as the auctioneer.
After Reagan was elected in 1980, Eudell received an invitation to the inauguration. However, he couldn’t attend because he was recovering from open heart surgery. When Reagan learned of Eudell’s recovery, he sent a personal note: “Dear Lump: I just learned of your illness and want you to know that Nancy and I are rooting for you and hoping for a speedy recovery. YOU WILL be in our prayers.
With warm personal regards, Ron.”
In 1982, the two men both attended their 50th class reunion at Eureka. Eudell received a special invitation for a private reception attended by Reagan. He then attended a banquet held that night with Reagan.
When Eudell died in 1990, Reagan wrote to Eudell’s daughter:
“I’ll always be grateful for Lump’s friendship and hope that Our Lord will comfort you with many warm memories of him.”
Two small town, northern Illinois men, a Black American and a white American, forged a bond on a gridiron at a small Illinois college in another small Illinois town. Although they only played football together for a year before the realities of the world sent them in different directions, that bond led to a lasting friendship between the two very different but similarly successful men. Ronald Reagan and Eudell Watts Jr. knew of the important things in life.
