Sidney J. Watson was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in the sports of football and ice hockey.
Before graduating in 1956, Watson starred on Northeastern's 1951 undefeated team, and was chosen Little All America in 1953 and captained the 1954 team. He set the Northeastern record for most points in a career with 191, that stood until 1997. His 74 points in 1953 set the Northeastern record that still stands today. In addition to lettering in football for three years, he also received one letter in basketball and three in hockey. On skates, Watson was an All New England defenseman.
After playing three years of professional football with the Pittsburgh Steelers and one year with the Washington Redskins, he became the head hockey coach at Bowdoin College. Bowdoin was happy to have him aboard. His teams won the ECAC Division II title four times, 1971, 1975, 1976 and 1978. Only one other small college hockey coach, Bob Priestly of Norwich, won more games than Watson did at Bowdoin. He was voted New England Coach of the Year in 1969 and 1970 and on a national level received College Division Coach of the Year honors in 1970 and 1971. He also coached golf and was an assistant football coach at Bowdoin. He spent 24 years as men's ice hockey coach before becoming athletic director in 1983, a position he held until 1997. During his athletic director reign, Bowdoin grew to 29 varsity sports
He was a member of the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee from 1968 to 1974. In 1969 he became secretary-treasurer of the American Hockey Coaches Association, before being promoted to vice president in 1973, and eventually president in 1975.
