Late in the first half of the Monday Night Football matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium, T.J. Watt corralled Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson for a big sack.
Not only was it a big sack at that moment in the game, it was one that broke the Steelers’ all-time sacks record previously held by James Harrison at 80.5, giving Watt 81.5 in his career with the Steelers.
Harrison, who set the Steelers’ franchise record with 80.5 with a sack against the Browns — ironically — on Sept. 15, 2016, on the road in Cleveland, was in attendance for the Monday night matchup between the two AFC North rivals. He told Steelers.com’s Teresa Varley that he was thankful to be in person to see Watt break his record.
“It’s great. That is the whole reason I came, so I could be here in person to see it. Records are meant to be broken and that was one I was happy to see go down, especially watching it here,” Harrison said to Varley, according to her tweet. “It’s simple. It’s guys that played here wanting to see guys that are currently playing do better and greater things than what the previous group did and holding up what the Steelers’ lore is.”
Watt dragged down Watson on a critical third and 7 in the first half, beating rookie right tackle Dawand Jones to put an end to a critical drive for Cleveland.
Having Harrison at Acrisure Stadium to see Watt break the record at home is rather special, especially after Watt recorded three sacks in the first week of the season against the San Francisco 49ers, tying him with Harrison entering Week Two. Chances are, if Watt stayed healthy last season and didn’t partially tear his pectoral last season, he would have broken the record in 2022.
Instead, Watt did it on primetime, again showing the NFL landscape just how special he is. And the Steelers Way shows again with Harrison in person to see the moment and continue to uphold that Steelers standard, even post-playing days.
