J.J. Watt spent much of the 2010s being one of the NFL’s most disruptive defensive players, which is why he won Defensive Play of the Year three times in four years.
After being drafted by Houston back in 2011, he wouldn’t have to wait long before getting his first taste of the NFL Playoffs.
Watt would rack up 3.5 sacks in two games during the post-season of his rookie season. It was an encouraging start for a team trending in the right direction.
The Texans would return the following season and suffer yet another divisional-round exit. A two-year absence before making the playoffs again would follow.
Watt has admitted mistakes during his Texans spell after they would wind up failing to even make the AFC Championship game during his time there.
Although the team managed to go 2-14 back in 2013, their struggles in 2020 ended up giving them a multiple-season hangover. It led to a big reset.
J.J. Watt was once ‘angry’ at the Houston Texans for poor start to the 2020 NFL season
Ahead of leaving the Texans at the end of the 2020 season following 10 years of service, Watt had been frustrated.
In fact, according to Yahoo Sports, he was feeling multiple emotions after starting the season with a 1-6 record.
“We’re 1-6,” Watt said. “You are what your record says you are … [I’m] frustrated. I’m angry. I mean, it sucks. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to feel.”
In a campaign where he would play all 16 games, he ended up with his lowest sack total. Just five sacks for the season,
Then the Arizona Cardinals would come calling for 2021, where he made the post-season in year one, before achieving 12.5 sacks and showing signs of his old self in 2022.
Why J.J. Watt teased a return to the NFL during the 2024 season
J.J. Watt is an investor and minority owner in the English football club Burnley. They’re a team based in the north that has bounced between the EFL Championship and Premier League in recent years.
During the 2024/25 season, Watt made a bet with one of his players who wanted to see him come out of retirement to play for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Burnley’s goalkeeper – Will Trafford, agreed with Watt that if he kept a clean sheet at every game for the rest of the season, then he would have to play in the NFL next season.
Keeping one clean sheet (not allowing one goal) is tough enough. Doing it more than 20 times in a row would have broken just about every record in English football.
“I’ll do it,” Watt told Sports Illustrated. “If he does that, which is insane, we have 12 or 13 games left. If he does it it’s insane enough and respectful enough that I will go out there and follow through.
“Who knows if they even want me? I haven’t talked to them, but I’m in shape I’ll go play.”
