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TJ Watt’s wife Dani Watt

Originally posted on NFL on ClutchPoints
By Nate Duffett | Last updated Jan 10, 2025 12:19 PM ET

TJ Watt is an American professional football player whose wife is Dani Rhodes, a fellow athlete. Dani was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin while TJ played his senior season.

However, they had to take some time apart when the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Watt with the 30th-overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The couple persevered through their athletic careers and are now the Watts, happily married with a child on the way.

Watt was a three-star prospect out of high school and slowly became one of the best defensive players in college football. He redshirted his freshman year, then injured his knee in his sophomore year. The injury kept him out until 2015.

However, he broke out in 2016 with 11.5 sacks. Watt was a second-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten. He decided to cash in on his stellar season and enter the NFL Draft.

Watt staved off the injury concerns for each of the first five seasons. In 2021, he recorded 22.5 sacks, matching Michael Strahan for the single-season NFL record. He also became the second-fastest player in history to record 100 sacks, behind only Reggie White.

Watt is a four-time All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler, three-time Deacon Jones Award winner, and the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2021. He was also a finalist for the award three other times.

If Watt’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he is the brother of JJ and Derek Watt. All three brothers made it to the NFL, but JJ was the most successful, winning three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. TJ Watt hopes to one day match his brother’s success.

Nevertheless, let’s learn why everyone came to this article. We’ll meet JJ Watt’s wife, Dani Watt.

Who is TJ Watts’ wife Dani (Rhodes) Watt?

Parents Connie and John Watt, center, pose with their sons Derek, left, and TJ, along with Derek's wife Gabriella, left, sons Brayden and Logan, and TJ's wife Dani, during the jersey retirement ceremony for the Watt brothers at Pewaukee High School, Friday, May 5, 2023. © Scott Ash / Now News Group / USA TODAY NETWORK

Dani Watt is TJ Watt’s wife. However, in the sports world, she is known as Dani Rhodes. Dani is a former American professional soccer player who starred at the University of Wisconsin, where her connection with TJ began. She was a two-time Wisconsin State Girls Soccer Player of the Year at Waukesha High School, and her destiny was to be a professional soccer player.

Dani played college soccer at Wisconsin from 2016 to 2019. She made 85 appearances with the Badgers and scored 38 goals. Her first collegiate goal came on August 19, 2016, against Illinois State, and she was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team in 2016.

Dani continued to accumulate accolades in 2017 when she was named to the second team. However, her big breakthrough came in her senior season when she was named the Big Ten Forward of the Year.

Dani turned pro after her senior season, debuting with the Chicago Red Stars on September 12, 2020. She was in the lineup for three out of their four games during the season before it was cut short by a COVID-19 shutdown.

Dani would never return to Chicago, instead signing with Prottur Reykjavik in the top-tier Icelandic women’s league. She made 10 appearances with the team in Iceland, totaling four goals.

A full-time professional soccer career wasn’t in the cards for Dani, as she retired in 2023. However, in between there, she married TJ Watt on July 9, 2022. Dani retired to start a family with Watt, which came to fruition on September 2, 2024, when the couple announced they were expecting their first child.

Nevertheless, this is all we know about TJ Watt’s wife, Dani Watt.

This article first appeared on NFL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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