Watson living American dream with one of NFL’s most storied franchises

Menelik Watson admits he can scarcely believe that his journey has taken him from Longsight in Manchester to one of the NFL’s most storied franchises.

The 25-year-old Oakland Raiders tackle grew up in impoverished conditions in one of Manchester’s tougher neighbourhoods before branching out to the States in a bid to forge a professional basketball career.

And although one American dream soon faded away, he quickly discovered he was a useful offensive lineman in gridiron, a game he took up properly just over three seasons ago.