Retired NFL star J.J. Watt smiles at pregame prior to inducting him into the Texans Ring of Honor ... [+]
One thing that stands out about J.J. Watt is that the NFL hasn’t changed him—or at least his decade as a big name and standout player has not made him any less down-to-earth.
I spoke to him via Zoom a week ago, on a 22-degree day just after subzero temperatures had just released their grip on America. And that's where both his humor and Midwestern roots came out.
“Don't complain to me if it's in double digits, Andy,” Watt said. “I grew up in Wisconsin, and I know that doesn't count as cold.”
Watt’s easy nature and relatability are likely why he’s a sought-after business partner and why he’s got so many interesting things going.
Since retiring in 2022 from the NFL, where he was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, the longtime Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals star has been in the news just as much for his participation in English football.
Last May, Watt announced that he and his wife, Kealia, both huge soccer fans, would become new minority investors and part owners in Burnley FC, the Lancashire club that earned promotion from the EFL Championship to the Premier League.
Since joining Burnley, Watt has been present at many a match day during the 2023–24 season, and also spends his time in the stands, mixing it up with everyday Clarets fans.
Watt’s been a grand marshal of NASCAR’s Daytona 500, hosted Saturday Night Live, and is deeply involved in philanthropic efforts that range from after-school programs and youth sports to protecting the environment.
And, of course, with the Super Bowl LVIII a week away, football diehards and TV viewers alike are getting to see more of Watt and his sense of humor on TV screens and perhaps even at home in the kitchen.
In a TV spot that began airing this week, Watt says that Super Bowl Sunday “means one thing—delicious, greasy, but tough-to-clean recipes.”
In teaming up with Dawn, Watt said he’s partnering with “America's #1 Dish Brand to help tackle Super Bowl LVIII’s toughest messes.”
But Watt said that for him, the brand’s concerns for and interest in environmental efforts were a big deal.
“We have a son now who makes plenty of messes, so we have to clean up a lot using Dawn,” Watt said. “The natural partnership with Wildlife Rescue and Dawn being the only brand that wildlife rescuers trust to use on birds and ducks is a perfect combination for us.”
JD Bergeron, the CEO of the California-based organization International Bird Rescue, echoed Watt’s sentiment.
“All it takes is one drop of grease to cause detrimental effects to wildlife,” Bergeron said this week. “So it’s crucial that we have the best products to clean them, and Dawn Platinum is our trusted go-to.”
As part of Dawn’s Super Bowl campaign, the brand is giving away $1 million worth of its Dawn Platinum to tackle everyone else’s Super Bowl messes.
There’s also Watt’s Super Bowl “Wash Party.” Football fans can go to JJWashParty.com to enter for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip for up to nine guests to Arizona, where the five-time All-Pro will handle the dishes.
VIDEO: J.J. Watt is a monster in the kitchen too
I asked Watt if he’d wear a jersey with “J.J. Wash” on the back. Unfortunately, that is not in the plans.
“No, I'm not. But we did have the giant duck wearing a #99 Watt jersey.”
Watt says Badgers are not pets
Then again, Watt was, after all, a Wisconsin Badger and not an Oregon Duck in his college years. The fact that I made mere mention of that brought up another point.
“I don't know what it's like to wash a badger. Probably not very safe to do,” Watt said. He added that he once Googled to see if you can have a badger as a pet. “I found out that you can't and that it's dangerous. And a really bad idea.”
Watt explained the badger-as-pet idea came up right after he was an Arizona Cardinals player.
“The reason I looked it up,” Watt said, “was because a fan my last year in Arizona sent me a taxidermy badger in a box. My teammates and I opened it in the locker room, and everyone freaked.”
Beyond his big personality and his sense of humor, Watt was known widely throughout the NFL and on both his teams as a dependable team player and natural leader.
But Watt said that his transformation from a Wisconsin boy to one of the NFL’s most celebrated defensive ends took a lot of effort. And that he wasn’t a monster on the D-line initially during his high school years.
“I wouldn't say skinny, but I had to try very hard to put on weight as I was coming up,” Watt said of his early football years. “I started out as a quarterback, and then (in) junior high school, I switched to tight end, then defense, and then I had to put on weight and deal with all that.”
Watt adds that both his toughness and possibly his sense of humor came from his family situation.
“The sense of humor, I think, comes from having two brothers. We grow up, obviously, beating up on each other and cracking jokes.”
Watt also mentions that his dad was also a firefighter and that dropping by his dad’s work location during downtimes offered its own life training that combined well with football culture.
“Being around the firehouse and being around those guys, knowing what that environment's like—and then when you're in the locker room for most of your life, you're around guys 24/7. You have to have a little bit of personality; otherwise, you kind of get pushed out of there.”
Football life, NFL will “humble you”
Watt certainly looks back at his time in football as a big part of who he is. He also says that he grew up swiftly during his first NFL years as a part of the Houston Texans, an expansion team.
“I think that the thing that I've learned over my career is just how difficult (it) is.” Watt elaborated, saying, “That's why you see people all the time judging guys on their playoff or their Super Bowl wins. And if they don't have that, they have an ‘unsuccessful’ career.”
JJ Watt and wife Kealia Watt, both minority owners of English Premier team Burnley FC, cheer from ... [+]
Yet, Watt and his fearsome defense helped turn around the Texans, who spent their first nine seasons, from 2002 to 2010, without a playoff appearance. After a 6-10 season in 2010, the Texans won the AFC South Division twice in a row while also posting successive AFC Wild Card wins against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2011 and 2012.
For his efforts in the 2012 NFL season, Watt won Defensive Player of the Year for the first of three times in four years. The Texans would also win the AFC South six times during Watt’s tenure there.
Watt also said that his 2013 season with the Texas, which started with two wins, was also formative. "Then we lost fourteen straight. So you get humbled in the NFL real, real quick."
When I asked him about the Texans now, and the breakout season of rookie quarterback C.J. Stout, the odds-on Rookie of the Year favorite, Watt explained that success all comes down to teamwork and good team culture.
“I think C.J. is a special talent. Who he is as a person, and (his) leadership qualities, the way that he communicates with his teammates, the way he handles himself both inside the locker room and publicly—is special,” Watt said.
But there’s also the Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, the two-time Pro Bowler and ex-Texans linebacker.
“When DeMeco Ryans was named as head coach, it immediately became a place you want to go because of who he is as a leader, who he is as a person, and the knowledge that he has,” Watt said. “And I think that C.J. and DeMeco together are an unbelievable partnership.”
