Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt expressed his displeasure when he wasn’t named the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, but he’s not upset over who beat him, which this year was Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett. Watt explained in an interview with Pardon My Take that he just wants clarity on the voting process and how the award is decided.
“I don’t have a problem with any players. Everybody’s phenomenal: Myles [Garrett], Micah [Parsons], they’re great players, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that the voting, I want more clarity on how it all comes.”
Watt said that in a season where you don’t win the Super Bowl, you want something that honors all the hard work that you put in, and not winning it adds more motivation for him to succeed.
“You work so hard, and when you’re not able to come away from the season with the Super Bowl, you like to fall back on something that the hard work is worth it. And to not get that is a sting, but at the end of the day, it’s more motivation.”
For Watt, the award is about his legacy.
“It is a legacy thing. It really is. It’s not why we play, but it comes along with it.”
When a player retires, the first thing voters go to look at when it comes to deciding whether they’re worth of induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is their accolades. How they were viewed among other players they played against and whether or not they were consistently among the best players in football. For Watt, getting snubbed for Defensive Player of the Year this year hurts his legacy. He led the league in sacks, and for my money was the most dominant defensive player in football this year. He still was an All-Pro, but not winning the award matters when it comes time to decide his legacy.
There really is no clarity when it comes to award voting. The AP releases who the voters are, none of whom are actually AP writers, but the voters don’t need to release their ballots. Some of them do, but for the majority, the ballots are kept private and we don’t know as the general public who is voting for who. The players don’t know either, and that’s a problem. There does need to be some clarity so people can be held accountable for their votes.
It’s not just a football thing, as across sports award voting is held close to the chest and we can’t see who individually votes for who, and we just see the results. It’s an antiquated process that should change in the ever-evolving world we live in where so much data is available at the press of a button. For the public not to know who the voters are casting their ballot for is a problem.
It’s definitely a downer for Watt that he didn’t win this season, but like he said, it just provides more motivation. He’s an incredible football player and there’s little doubt that he’ll once again be up for DPOY at some point in his career, and probably as soon as next season.
