@JohnHCrumpler writes that J.J. Watt was an immeasurable icon while with the Houston Texans, and his impact on Houston will always loom large.
Clutch City sports fans were barely done celebrating the Houston Texans’ 19-14 win over the Tennessee Titans when a legend and future Hall-of-Famer reminded them he still exists.
J.J. Watt subtly announced his retirement via Twitter Tuesday when he alluded to the fact his son, Koa, had witnessed his first NFL game and Watt, defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, has played in his last NFL home game.
Similar to Watt’s emergence to the league in 2011, it came without fanfare and without introduction.
It was over 10 years ago now that Watt’s non-inspiring 5.5-sack rookie season was suddenly finished with an exclamation point as he picked off fellow rookie Andy Dalton in the AFC wild-card matchup and helped to secure the franchise’s first playoff victory.
After a draft season where he was actively booed by Houston fans during the selection, Watt pushed past the noise and launched his career into objective stardom. The most optimistic of Watt fans, even after his pick at 11th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft and his game-defining interception in the playoffs, couldn’t have predicted where his career would go from there.
The next four seasons Watt accumulated a stunning 69 sacks while winning Defensive Player of the Year three times. He gathered Pro Bowl honors and was an All-Pro at the defensive end position each of the four years in addition to competing with Aaron Rogers for MVP during the 2014 season.
Watt caught four touchdowns while gathering 20.5 sacks and 29 tackles for loss. The Texans had the league’s 30th ranked passing offense that season and it almost didn’t matter as they rode Watt’s game-wrecking season to a 9-7 record and missed the AFC playoffs by just one game.
He ultimately lost the MVP vote to Rodgers by a tally of 31-13 but it didn’t take away from what Watt accomplished. He was the best defensive player the NFL had seen in years and a generational pass rusher.
Watt captained the Texans through the Bill O’Brien tenure and was the face of the franchise up until the organization made a draft-day trade with the Cleveland Browns to get a quarterback from Clemson. The two paired together — an elite player on offense and defense — gave Houston hope for the first time in franchise history that a Super Bowl could be within reach.
What nobody could have predicted then was Watt’s greatest victories were both yet to come and off the field.
When Hurricane Harvey hit Houston just prior to the 2017 season, Watt rallied around the community. He put together an effort that would raise $37 million before it was over in a near unprecedented philanthropic effort from a current professional athlete. He was named the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year and Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year.
He would ultimately leave the Texans organization after the 2020 season under questionable circumstances but good terms as leadership transitioned under executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby and new general manager Nick Caserio. Watt chose to end his career alongside former teammate DeAndre Hopkins with the Cardinals.
It’s hard to question how much more an athlete could mean to both a city and a franchise than Watt meant to the Texans. For a team that was often an afterthought in the grand NFL picture as an expansion franchise, Watt made them mean more. He delivered Houston the NFL’s most impactful defensive player for half a decade and placed the Texans on the map in Super Bowl contention.
Whether is the snarky comments on Mic’d Up segments, the letterman jackets in New England, or his scathing comments at the team under-delivering, Watt seemingly thrust the Texans into NFL relevance and playoff contention by sheer force of will.
His retirement comes at a time where it’s difficult to be a Houston fan. The team has suffered three consecutive losing seasons and lacks direction in the NFL’s greater picture. However, for fans of the team, the announcement is a reminder that things can and likely will be better.
Watt showed Houston the light of a relevant NFL franchise. It will unfortunately take another franchise player and another team for the Texans to reach their championship aspirations, but his impact gave Houston a taste of what the football city deserves.
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