I’m sure deep down, you knew at some point we were going to cover this topic with the most obvious pun possible. We have known since Derek Watt signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers that the team’s game against the Houston Texans in 2020 will see a full family reunion between the three Watt brothers, but now we know when.
Pittsburgh will host J.J. Watt and the Texans on Week Three at Heinz Field at a 1PM kickoff time. It will be the first time that the three brothers have ever been involved in the same game in their lives, as even growing up, J.J. had always been too much older than his younger siblings to be in the same league, though T.J. Watt and Derek had previously played together.
With T.J. and Derek now both in Pittsburgh, though, we will now get the maximum Wattage. The Steelers have played against Derek Watt and J.J. Watt separately since the youngest brother was made their first-round pick in 2017 (though J.J. was injured for that game), but this will be the first in which they will be together.
And this won’t be the only family reunion, or at least, may not be. With the Steelers also set to face the Buffalo Bills again this season, in primetime in Week 14, we may get another Edmunds family reunion, which we already had in 2019. The Steelers have the older brothers, Trey Edmunds and Terrell Edmunds, while the Bills have Tremaine Edmunds, the youngest, who was a Pro Bowl alternate (over Devin Bush) last year.
The only problem is Trey’s roster status is anything but certain this year. As it currently stands, he can be no better than fifth, and possibly even sixth, on the running back depth chart behind James Conner, Benny Snell, Jaylen Samuels, and rookie Anthony McFarland, with Kerrith Whyte possibly also holding an edge over him. If he does not make the 53-man roster, it is still possible he makes the practice squad, however, especially now that it has expanded to 12 spots.
The Edmundses already got together, though. And they even played together in college. The Watts, this is new for them, and probably a bigger deal for older brother J.J. than for anybody else, who, according to T.J., is more than a little jealous of the opportunity his younger brothers have to be teammates now.
J.J. is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and when healthy, remains one of the very best defenders in the league. T.J. emerge as a top defender himself in 2019, and was among the top candidates for Defensive Player of the Year last season.
Here’s to hoping all three of them are healthy when it comes time to play that game—and that the game will be able to be played in the first place. Football is many things, but family is among its most important identities.
