Category: J.J. Watt

C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson Jr. headline Texans playing in J.J. Watt’s charity softball game

J.J. Watt is bringing back his celebrity softball game, and all of your favorite Texans will be looking to go deep at Constellation Field.

J.J. Watt is bringing back his celebrity softball game and several current Houston Texans players will be looking to launch one out of Constellation Field in Sugar Land.

Watt announced the rosters for the game on May 4, which will pit former Texans players against the current AFC South champions. Among those from the active roster include Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud, Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson Jr., newly-acquired Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs, All-Pro tackle Laremy Tunsil, and Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter.

Watt’s team, known as the “Texans Legends, features several standouts from the legendary roster of old, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Andre Johnson, Brian Cushing, Glover Quinn, Owen Daniels, and current head coach DeMeco Ryans, among others.

“Bias or no bias, these rosters are straight heat,” Watt posted on Instagram.

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Watt, the Texans’ all-time leader in sacks (101), began the yearly spectacle in 2013, first at Minute Maid Park and later in Sugar Land. The game raised money for the J.J. Watt Foundation, whose mission is to provide funding for junior high school athletic programs to purchase uniforms and equipment.

After his release, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year put the game on a hiatus while playing with the Arizona Cardinals. After retiring last offseason, Watt wanted to bring back the game back to H-Town, making the announcement in October before being inducted into the Texans Ring of Honor.

Since 2013, the foundation has provided more than $7 million in funding across 800-plus schools in the Greater Houston area.

Fans love the event, making a day of spending time with the Texans of old and now. It’s more than just a baseball game, but rather a full-fledged day filled with activities past the diamond.

Gates will open at 4 p.m. at Constellation Field and festivities will begin at 6 p.m. with a home run derby. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. and a postgame fireworks show will take place after the final out.

Who comes out on top? The only way to find out is to watch it live on Star Wars Day.

Here’s a list of every player participating from both teams.

Texans Legends (home team): J.J. Watt, Andre Johnson, DeMeco Ryans, Brian Cushing, Shane Lechler, Johnathan Joseph, Antonio Smith, T.J. Yates, Kareem Jackson, Glover Quin, Owen Daniels, Kevin Walter.

Current Texans (visitor team): C.J. Stroud, Stefon Diggs, Will Anderson Jr., Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Danielle Hunter, Dalton Schultz, Laremy Tunsil, Tytus Howard, Jimmie Ward, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Jon Weeks, Case Keenum and Jalen Pitre.

‘Top tier destination’: Texans legend J.J. Watt is a fan of Stefon Diggs trade

J.J. Watt has been pleased with the future of the Houston Texans over the past two offseasons.

J.J. Watt served as the final piece of the turning of times at NRG Stadium when the Houston Texans selected him 11th overall in 2011. Prior to his arrival, Houston had only one winning season.

Perhaps the arrival of Offensive Rookie of the Year and wunderkind C.J. Stroud sends a second wind through the franchise that ends with a Lombardi Trophy. Regardless, Watt is excited to see what unfolds in the Texans’ future.

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year took to Twitter on Wednesday following the Stefon Diggs trade, praising the AFC South franchise for its two-year turnaround. Last season, Houston added Stroud, along with Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson Jr. and former Pro Bowl linebacker DeMeco Ryans as head coach.

A year later, the Texans added Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon, Diggs and four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter.

The Texans were looking to build off their first double-digit win season in four years and saw the opportunity to splurge with Stroud still on his rookie contract. After failing to sign a premier running back at the start of free agency, general manager Nick Caserio traded a seventh-round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals for Mixon.

Mixon, who will turn 28 in July, is coming off another 1,000-yard rushing season and has shown no signs of slowing down. The Texans believe his best years are still ahead and plan to use him as their bell-cow back after agreeing to terms on a three-year extension worth $27 million.

“I’m not thinking about a drop-off,” Ryans said of Mixon at the owners meetings last week. “I’m thinking about the positives and the things that [he’s] done in his career. He’s been consistent throughout his entire career — a guy who can move the chains for you, a guy who can open up the passing game with his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. He just opens up the things that we can do offensively.”

Defensively, the addition of Hunter should be considered an upgrade — on paper at least — over the departed Jonathan Greenard. He’s coming off a career-high 16.5-sack season with the Minnesota Vikings and led the league with 23 tackles for loss.

Signed to a two-year deal worth up to $51 million, Hunter looks to become the first Texans player since Watt to record back-to-back double-digit sack campaigns on Houston’s defense. He also will serve as a teacher and confidant for Anderson, who broke Watt’s rookie sack record this past fall.

“He’s exciting,” Hunter said of Anderson during his introductory press conference last month. “Has a lot of tools. I was with him earlier, and he just can’t stop jumping, how eager he is to go out there and rush the passer together. Very good kid. I’m excited just to be able to go out there and teach him a lot of things that I know and become a better player.

One of the greatest defensive linemen of the 2000s, Watt guided Houston to five playoff appearances in 10 years. On top of winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards, Watt also recorded 101 of his 113 career sacks as a member of the AFC South franchise.

Watt was the second player added to Houston’s Ring of Honor this offseason, joining Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson. He’ll join Johnson in Canton, Ohio, when eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2028.

JJ Watt says NFL getting closer to flag football with recent rule change

Former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is among those who aren’t with the NFL’s “hip drop” tackle ban.

NFL approved a ban on “swivel hip drop” tackles Monday, which would penalize defensive players for pulling offensive players to the ground with their bodies. While these tackles have resulted in some serious injuries, a lot of NFL players aren’t happy with the decision by the league, its owners and the competition committee.

Former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt was among those to denounce the ban. He posted a message on social media that the NFL is trending toward becoming a flag football league.

“Just fast forward to the belts with flags on them …” Watt wrote.

Other players like Texans’ defensive back Lonnie Johnson Jr. called the rule change “BS” while Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Hollard wrote, “Breaking news: Tackling Banned.”

The NFL Players Association also denounced the decision. The NFLPA wrote in a statement Monday that “we cannot support a rule change that causes confusion for us as players, for coaches, for officials and especially, for fans” and asked the league to reconsider its stance on the rule change.

 

There were 230 tackles like the ones the league will ban, according to NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller. He added that 15 players missed time because of the tackle.

The biggest injury to come out of one of these tackles was to Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews. He suffered serious ankle injury that required surgery and forced Andrews to miss the next seven games before he could return in the AFC championship match. Andrews played just 18 snaps in that game.

 

Here is the full rule, per NFL.com:

It is a foul if a player uses the following technique to bring a runner to the ground:

(a) grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms; and

(b) unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.

Penalty: For a Hip-Drop Tackle: Loss of 15 yards and an automatic first down.
Competition committee chairman Rich McKay disagreed with the idea that this new rule would have unintended consequences, such as making tackling harder for players.

“Because this isn’t the elimination of hip-drop, this is an elimination of a swivel technique that doesn’t get used very often. When it is used, it is incredibly injurious to the runner — the runner is purely defenseless,” McKay said. “I’ve heard defenders say before and I hear them — ‘Hey, you’re putting me in a really tough spot, you’re saying I can’t hit here and what do I do?’ My response has as always been, ‘Well, you can’t do that.’ That’s just because the guy you’re hitting is defenseless, has no way to protect himself. So, we’ve got to protect him.

“You’ve got to come up with other ways and you know what, they do. Yes, we outlawed the hip-drop, but what you may think are the drag-from-behind where he falls on the – that’s still a tackle. This is only that tackle where the player is lifting themselves in the air and then falling on the legs.”

McKay also acknowledged that it could be tough for referees to officiate in the first year.

“This will be a hard one to call on the field, you have to see every element of it,” he said. “We want to make it a rule so we can deal on the discipline during the week.”

J.J. Watt says Texans’ title contention window is ‘very real and legitimate’

Houston Texans legendary defensive end J.J. Watt thinks his old team can compete for a championship this season.

J.J. Watt is very high on his former team.

The legendary defensive end called the Houston Texans “a team on the rise” after they rose from the bottom of the AFC South to the top and made the AFC divisional round. Even more, Watt told the Houston Chronicle’s Greg Rajan the Texans are already at the point where they can compete for championships.

“I would say from an outsider’s perspective, they’re ahead of schedule,” Watt said. “… I think they do have to approach this as this is a very real and legitimate window.”

What comes next is entirely up to the team, though.

They have a lot of in-house free agents but the third-most salary cap space. There are needs across the roster, too, such as a running back, backup wide receiver and various other positions depending on who the team keeps ahead of free agency. And then there’s the draft, where the Texans hold the No. 23 overall pick a year after general manager Nick Caserio hit it big with Derek Stingley Jr. in 2022 and then C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson and Tank Dell in 2023.

But the success of this past season makes Houston an enviable location for new talent, according to Watt. He called the Texans “a destination” for players now.

“Players are going to want to play for [head coach] DeMeco Ryans. Players are going to want to play with a C.J. Stroud-led team,” Watt said. “And they see what’s being built down there and we all know in the NFL, if you have a phenomenal quarterback on a rookie deal, that sets you up for success.”

The AFC is littered with competitors, though, as evidenced by the Kansas City Chiefs’ back-to-back Super Bowl wins, the Baltimore Ravens dismantling of this Texans team in the divisional round and the always-contending Buffalo Bills.

The window to win is there, but now it’s on the Texans to jump through it wholeheartedly.

3 former Texans make Peter King’s all-time 53-man roster

NBC Sports’ Peter King listed his top 53 players and included three who played for the Houston Texans.

NBC Sports’ Peter King has covered 40 seasons of the NFL. He’s seen the best players begin their careers, reach their peaks and eventually exit the league.

As such, he’s put together a list of his all-time 53-man roster of every player he’s covered during his career. King caveated that he only included players whose careers weren’t half over yet. It’s an expansive list that includes a lot of NFL legends and Hall-of-Famers.

Three former Texans stars made the roster, too: defensive end J.J. Watt, safety Tyrann Mathieu and punter Shane Lechler.

King named Watt as his lone “hybrid” player on the defensive line because of Watt’s versatility. He also put Watt in the same tier of player as Hall-of-Fame and two-time Defensive Player of the Year defensive end Reggie White – right behind Lawrence Taylor.

“I put Watt in White’s league for many reasons, but there’s this: In 2014, I think Watt had the best season by a defender in my 40 seasons,” King wrote. “[Watt had] 20.5 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, three receiving touchdowns (as a short-yardage tight end (kudos, Bill O’Brien)), a fumble returned for touchdown, an interception returned for touchdown (80 yards), and a safety in 1,132 snaps played. Talk about no time off.”

The reasoning makes sense as well when you consider Watt won Defensive Player of the Year three times from 2012 to 2015 during his decade in Houston. The only defensive players to win DPOY that many times are Taylor and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who are both also on King’s roster. Watt also finished his career with five Pro Bowls and five All-Pro nods.

Mathieu also made the list as King’s third safety. While he only played one season in Houston, Mathieu became one of the best players at his position since he was taken in the third round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2013. He tallied an interception, a fumble recovery and recorded five tackles in his Texans debut and finished with 89 combined tackles, three sacks and two interceptions as a 16-game starter.

King called Lechler the best punter he’s ever seen after 18 NFL seasons – 13 with the then-Oakland Raiders and five with the Texans. Lechler made seven Pro Bowls and six All-Pro teams during his career, although none were in Houston. He was still solid with the Texans, though, and actually had a higher net yards per punt average in Houston than he did in Oakland and a higher percentage of punts inside the 20-yard line.

While all of these players rightfully made the list, that was the old Texans. This new regime, led by head coach DeMeco Ryans and general manager Nick Caserio, got off to a fast start in 2023 with an AFC South title and a playoff win.

C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson Jr. and Derek Stingley Jr. are foundational pieces for the next era in Houston, and could perhaps be added to similar lists when their careers are beginning to wrap up in the distance future.

Texans legend J.J. Watt showers DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud with praise

Former Houston Texans defensive J.J. Watt believes Ryans and Stroud can deliver excellence for awhile.

The future is looking bright in Houston.

Following a rise from the bottom of the AFC South to the top, the Texans look like a team with a ton of potential with former player and now head coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud at the helm. They advanced to the divisional round of the AFC playoffs, too, after a big win over the Cleveland Browns but ran into a buzzsaw that is the Baltimore Ravens a week later.

Former Texans legend J.J. Watt concurred in an interview with SB Nation’s  Nick Schwager. Watt had nothing but positive things to say about his former team and former Texans teammate after the 2023 season.

“I think it’s an incredibly exciting time to be a Texans fan,” Watt said. “Obviously, DeMeco did an unbelievable job with that team. And any of us who knew DeMeco, knew exactly what he was going to do, and what he’s capable of, because who he is as a person, and also who he is as a football mind. He’s brilliant. He also has the ability to communicate and get his message across to players extremely well.

“And then you add in a quarterback like C.J., who not only has all the physical skills and talent to do everything on the field, but he also has the maturity and the leadership to handle that locker room to do everything the right way, along with in the locker room publicly and in his press conferences.”

The Texans have one of the youngest cores with Stroud and wide receivers Tank Dell and Nico Collins on offense with defensive end Will Anderson Jr. and cornerback Derek Stingely on defense. And with the third-most projected salary cap space in 2024 and the No. 23 pick in the NFL draft, Houston could fortify positions of need as it heads into next season.

But it all starts at the top with Ryans and Stroud. That duo proved to be key to the Texans’ quick rise in the league this past season, and their continued success will rely on Stroud’s prowess in the pocket and Ryans’ skill from the sideline. Houston could lose one of its top offensive assistants in Bobby Slowik or Jerrod Johnson, but Ryans showed he knows how to hire a good staff and would certainly be able to do it again if necessary.

“It’s a great combination, DeMeco and C.J.,” Watt added. “That organization is in good hands for a long time.”

Watt did stray far from the Texans after he officially retired after the 2023 season. He mentored Anderson throughout the year and was inducted into the Texans Ring of Honor earlier this year following a 10-year career in Houston from 2011 to 2020. He made five Pro Bowl and All-Pro rosters and was named Defensive Player of the Year three times.

Twitter reacts to the Texans’ 22-17 win over the Broncos

Here are some of the best tweets from the Houston Texans’ 22-17 win over the Denver Broncos.

The Houston Texans are young and learning how to win close ballgames, which will no doubt help to reinforce the culture with new coach DeMeco Ryans.

Take Week 13 against the Denver Broncos. Houston safety Jimmie Ward picked off quarterback Russell Wilson on a third-and-goal from the 8-yard line to seal the deal 22-17. In a pivotal matchup of two 6-5 teams vying for AFC wild-card positioning, Houston’s youngsters came away with victory rather than Denver’s cavalcade of experienced veterans, and coaching to boot.

As usual Twitter was full of takes and comments regarding the action. Here are some of the best remarks.

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J.J. Watt puzzled by Texans LB Denzel Perryman 3-game suspension

Former Houston Texans DE J.J. Watt is puzzled as to the type of suspension the NFL laid upon LB Denzel Perryman.

 

J.J. Watt may not play for the Houston Texans any longer, but expect the former All-Pro to constantly side the organization that enshrined him in its Ring of Honor.

Watt took to social media Tuesday to pose rhetorical questions surrounding the three-game suspension without pay of Texans linebacker Denzel Perryman for repeated health and safety violations of in-game rules.

“‘Six violations throughout his career,’ Watt tweeted from the suspension notice. “He’s played in the league for 8 years! 6 penalties in 102 games means you deserve to be suspended 3 games without pay?”

Perryman’s first such penalty came in Week 9 in the 39-37 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Perryman provided the Texans with five combined tackles and two tackles for loss in Houston’s 30-27 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Texans DE Will Anderson says J.J. Watt ‘has been a good mentor’

Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson says Ring of Honor member J.J. Watt has been beneficial to his early development.

While Will Anderson may come from a storied college football program in Alabama that has its own vast alumni network, the defensive end chooses to acknowledge the Houston Texans’ history.

The most dominant defensive end since 2011 was J.J. Watt, garnering three NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in his 128 career games with the Texans through the 2020 campaign. It didn’t take long for Anderson to make the connection that the former face of the franchise needed to be among his counsel.

“J.J. has been a good mentor for me so far,” Anderson told reporters following Houston’s 30-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers Oct. 1. “I’m going to start sending him some more clips so I can get some more help. ”

Anderson finished with two combined tackles as the Texans limited the Steelers to 225 yards total offense and 12 first downs.

Nevertheless as the pursuit for greatness continues, so should constant communication with a possible first ballot Hall-of-Famer.

Said Anderson: “He’s been good. Honestly, it’s a privilege and a blessing to have someone like J.J. to communicate with and help out. What he has done in the league, what he has done for the Houston Texans is unbelievable.”

When Watt addressed the Texans ahead of their Week 4 matchup with the Steelers, Anderson identified with one particular aspect of the message.

“‘Don’t take anything for granted. You’re here in the NFL,'” Anderson recalled. “Not a lot of people can say that, and I think that resonated with a lot of the guys.”

Anderson has collected 15 combined tackles, 1.0 sack, a tackle for loss, five quarterback hits, and a blocked field goal in his four games with Houston.

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