The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of, if not, the best defensive player in the entire National Football League. TJ Watt was selected out of the University of Wisconsin with the 30th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The name was extremely familiar to football fans throughout the world because of his dominant brother, JJ Watt, while also having another member of his family, Derek Watt, in the NFL at the time. TJ has turned into an incredible force on defense and is currently on track to break all of the main statistical numbers that JJ, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year Award winner, put up in his Hall of Fame career.
JJ decided to retire from playing professional football after the 2022 season, a decision that had Steelers fans upset. The hope was always to have TJ, JJ and possibly even Derek, all in the same locker room at the same time. No one will ever know what a Pittsburgh defense would have looked like with TJ, JJ, Cameron Heyward and Alex Highsmith.
JJ, during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, was asked about his attendance at the Steelers Week 9 game versus the Tennessee Titans. He has joked in the past of what it would take for him to play again, but being in Pittsburgh and around his brother made him truly miss football for the first time since he hung up his cleats.
"I will say that Sunday when we were at his [TJ Watt] house and he was getting ready for the game... He's getting dressed, he's putting on his music, he's got his coffee and as the music starts going and it gets closer and closer and he's getting ready to leave and we start talking about the pregame, that was truly the first time where I was like, 'Man, I wish I was doing this right now.'"
In the famous words of Head Coach Mike Tomlin: "Never say never, but never." It's extremely unlikely that JJ would ever consider leaving his post-football life to join the Steelers, but being around his brother and the city was the first time he really missed the game.
JJ went into more detail about hanging out with TJ before the Thursday Night Football contest and just watching his brother prepare and get pumped up made him a little bit jealous.
"For that moment, I was like, 'I do wish I was getting ready for a game.' Just that feeling, that adrenaline and being able to see it and feel it in the house. It was the first time that I actually had that FOMO [fear of missing out] about it."
As the crew on the show began to get even more intrigued by his comments, JJ decided to pump the breaks on a return to play for the Steelers, or any other team for that matter.
"Then, after the game when we're driving home and he's talking about ah, 'My finger hurts, my wrist hurts,' ya know, 'My heel hurts,' I was like, 'Oh yeah, that's why I don't do it.'"
It goes extremely unnoticed that players deal with significant bumps and bruises that don't show up on the injury report. Apparently, TJ had some ailments after the 20-16 win.
Steelers Chemistry And Facilities Impressed JJ
The former defensive lineman wasn't done speaking about missing the game, however. The day after, heading to the Steelers team facility and working out got his juices flowing even more.
"Then I went in the next day and I worked out in their facility, it's a great spot. Being around, ya know, some of those guys and the strength coaches and just kind of that atmosphere inside of a building. You know it. I mean, there's nothing like that camaraderie, that chemistry, that feeling of being in a building. It was fun. I enjoyed it out there. I had a great time."
No one should be expecting him to come out of retirement any time soon, but it's pretty cool to hear that the atmosphere in Pittsburgh is the one that made him think, maybe just for a minute or two, that he should come back and compete on a football field.
Would you want the Steelers to go after JJ if he announced that he wanted to come out of retirement?
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