Tag: J.J. Watt

J.J. Watt has harsh words for NFL GMs who didn’t pursue Lamar Jackson during the offseason

J.J. Watt reacts to NFL GM’s not pursuing Lamar Jackson during offseason

With Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson catapulting to the front of the race for league MVP after his performance against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16, many have pointed back to a time in the offseason when no teams expressed interest in trading for him.

With contract talks seemingly going nowhere, the Ravens opted to place the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson, meaning that any team could submit an offer sheet that Baltimore could either match or receive two first-round picks for the former unanimous MVP instead.

Many teams desperately needed a franchise quarterback and were quick to relay their disinterest in pursuing Jackson.

Former Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt spoke on the topic while on the Pat McAfee show this week.

“Everybody in this offseason came out of their way to say we don’t want him,” Watt said. “If your GM said that, fire him.”

Many teams that declined to pursue Jackson will still enter this offseason with a glaring need at the quarterback position.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently revealed that no teams reached out to Baltimore after Jackson publicly announced his desire to be traded.

The Ravens now sit at the top of the league with a 12-3 record and the MVP favorite at quarterback. Meanwhile, several other teams are probably rethinking their decision to forgo an effort at acquiring one of the league’s best players at the most crucial position.

J.J. Watt ‘so sick’ of the conversation surrounding Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt

J.J. Watt is tired of the debate about who’s the best defensive player in the NFL.

Whether you like it or not, sacks are where it’s at for defensive players in the NFL. It’s the stat for which most are judged on their success. And though it’s a narrow margin, T.J. Watt is, once again, leading the league with 16.

Watt’s older brother, future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt, is tired of the debate about who’s the best defensive player in the NFL.

“He’s the best defensive player in football,” Watt said on the Dec. 20 Pat McAfee Show. “I’m so sick of the conversation.”

“He does it every single week. Teams double-team him, triple-team him, he gets held. I don’t know what more you’d want from an argument standpoint.”

Watt feels a certain way about fans who want to look outside of the stats.

“Some people want to say don’t look at the statistics. I’m like, ‘Hey, dumbass, that’s how you judge stuff in football.’ You judge teams by wins, you judge players by stats, that’s how this s–t works. Why do we keep track of anything? Oh, I don’t know… maybe it’s because that’s how you judge who’s good and who’s not.”

“Guys got the most sacks. He’s the best. What do you want?”

You call him biased, but you can’t call him wrong.

Whether that will hold up in the final three games remains to be seen. The only year over the past four that Watt hasn’t accomplished this feat of NFL sack leader was when he was sidelined for half of the 2022 season.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Watt ranks third in the Defensive Player of the Year race.

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J.J. Watt trolls the Titans after Texans fans were furious Tennessee wore Houston Oilers uniforms

A win for J.J. Watt and Texans fans everywhere.

It was the uniform choice that had a fanbase FURIOUS: The Tennessee Titans decided to wear their Houston Oilers uniforms against the Texans on Sunday, a troll job of the highest order.

That’s because the Titans were once the Oilers, and they left Houston for Nashville. Sure, the Texans were born out of that, but the history stings.

But the Texans got their revenge on Sunday with a 19-16 comeback win in overtime, which had Texans fans everywhere super thrilled.

That included ex-Texan legend J.J. Watt, who had this to say in response to all the uniform talk during the contest:

People loved it:

 

Patrick Mahomes and J.J. Watt were in awe over Shohei Ohtani’s monster $700 million Dodgers deal

But really, who isn’t?!

The Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes officially ended Saturday when the superstar pitcher and slugger announced on Instagram that he’ll be staying in southern California and will play for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Fans had so many emotions about Ohtani’s announcement, which surely crushed fan bases everywhere as the Dodgers’ World Series odds jumped to the top of the board. But people were also absolutely stunned by the 10-year, $700 million deal, which makes Ohtani the highest-paid athlete in North American sports history, as USA TODAY Sports‘ Bob Nightengale noted.

The monster deal ended a wild week in Major League Baseball in free agency, and it caught the attention of other star athletes, including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and retired tight end J.J. Watt, who were wowed by the giant price tag.

But Mahomes and Watt weren’t the only athletes to take note of this record-breaking contract:

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NFL legend slams the league for ‘stealing money’ on Amon-Ra St. Brown’s fine

Watt made it clear the NFL “is stealing money” from St. Brown with the hefty fine

Amon-Ra St. Brown got an unlikely defender in the fight against the Lions’ wideout’s hefty fine for a block in Detroit’s Week 11 win over the Chicago Bears. Recently retired defensive legend J.J. Watt slammed the NFL for a fine that Watt claims violates a “general rule of thumb.”

The play in question saw St. Brown engage in a block in space. It’s difficult to ascertain what exactly St. Brown did wrong on the play, and it was not penalized during the game.

“If you have to watch the video multiple times to try figuring out which person did something wrong and you still can’t figure it out, we probably shouldn’t be taking $43,709 from someone,” Watt wrote on a social media post.

He then added,

“This. Is. Stealing. Money.”

Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt’s got an addiction problem

Can’t stop, won’t stop.

With each passing game, T.J. Watt‘s career gets more and more Hall of Fame-worthy, and Sunday against the Green Bay Packers was no different.

When Watt took down quarterback Jordan Love in the second quarter, he surpassed the sack total of a very well-known defensive end: J.J. Watt. Watt has 88 sacks in 96 games, four less than his older brother.

And he just can’t get enough.

“None of it registers, honestly,” he said Monday on the Green Light podcast. “I can’t even fathom all of the stuff that’s been accomplished… I’m sure one day we’ll sit down and watch a whole bunch of highlights and talk about everything. I can’t get through my mind what’s happening. I just know that I’m addicted to the process of continually trying to get better, and I’m just so hungry.”

But there’s no time to dwell on his outstanding accomplishments — one of Pittsburgh’s biggest games of the corner is mere days away with the Cleveland Browns on deck.

“It’s just a massive game this week, and there’s no time to sit back and pat myself on the back and get a big head. I just know how special this moment is. I know how short of a period that I have to play this game, and I’m trying to maximize the most of it, and I just want to keep going.”

Watt’s a humble dude who clearly doesn’t feel comfortable bragging about all he’s done in his seven-year career. There’s too much work to be done.

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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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J.J. Watt congratulates brother T.J. after huge milestone

J.J. Watt offered an emotional congratulations to his brother after passing him on the sack list.

On Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt passed his brother with 88 career sacks in the first 100 games and did it in just 96 games as Pittsburgh got a narrow win over the Green Bay Packers. The mark put the Watt brothers at No.2 and No. 3 all-time with only the immortal Reggie White ahead of them.

The elder Watt took to X to offer an emotional post about his brother’s achievement and how much it means to two guys from Wisconsin to be mentioned in the same breath as White.

T.J. still has four more games to extend his lead over his big brother and creep close to White. It’s not realistic for Watt to catch White but this level of production just cements Watt’s status as one of the best pass rushers in the league. Watt has 10.5 sacks on the season.

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Steelers spectator J.J. Watt defends his terrible Terrible Towel technique

Just add Terrible Towel twirling to the list of things @JJWatt needs to work on in retirement.

J.J. Watt is good at a lot of things. Terrible Towel twirling ain’t one of them.

Watt attended his first Pittsburgh Steelers game last week to watch his younger brother, T.J. Watt, take on the Tennessee Titans.

In the third quarter, Watt witnessed Acrisure Stadium on a “Renegade” high, and, of course, he joined in on the fun.

Unfortunately, his Terrible Towel twirling lacked … grace. And Mike Nicastro, host of The Jaylen Warren Show, let him know.

“NFL Player JJ Watt = Hall of Famer. Terrible Towel twirler JJ Watt = revoke this man’s credentials,” NiCastro tweeted.

Watt’s defense? Undertrained and overserved. “I was 245 tater tots and 7 Sarri’s Pretzels deep by this point.”

The towel kept hitting the ceiling of where the 6-foot-five Watt stood in the suite, but also in the eye and face.

His technique needs a little work. But now that he’s retired, he has time.

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J.J. Watt unsurprisingly had a biased reaction to T.J. Watt’s questionable roughing the passer penalty

J.J. Watt is proof that brothers always stick together.

With J.J. Watt officially retired from the NFL, he has more time to follow the exploits of his younger brother T.J., the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive talisman. That also means he might likely be more vocal about his opinions on penalties that, unfortunately, go against his sibling.

Early on during the Steelers’ Thursday night matchup against the Tennessee Titans, T.J. Watt unloaded on Tennessee starting quarterback Will Levis with a perfect picture form tackle. Except according to the officials on hand, it was roughing the passer by virtue of Watt using his body weight on Levis.

This was such a call that will almost always look silly in the context of pro football:

Naturally, J.J. was in attendance and was closely watching play. He did not remotely agree with the penalty on T.J.:

It’s hard to disagree with J.J. about this questionable call. It’s also unsurprising watching him stump for his brother as he dominates the line of scrimmage.