T.J. Watt’s done almost everything a player can do. He’s set sack records. He’s won Defensive Player of the Year. And even before he turns 30, his resume is that of a Hall of Famer. But there’s one blemish on an otherwise sparkling record.
No Super Bowls.
Heck, he doesn’t even have a playoff win. He, like the rest of the current Steelers who haven’t had a taste of postseason success, hopes that story can change.
“I hope we’re in the right direction,” Watt said to Sirius XM Radio of an active Steelers offseason. “I talked about not having a playoff win. I just want to get in the right direction. I don’t want my legacy to say that T.J. Watt had all these individual things but what happened in the big moments?”
Entering his eighth year in the league, Watt has appeared in just three playoff games, losing them all. He was part of the bitter upset against the Jacksonville in 2017, the Wild Card loss to Cleveland in 2020, and a blowout defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. In 2023, he stood on the sideline as he watched Pittsburgh fall to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round, out with a sprained MCL. Had the Steelers won, it’s likely Watt would’ve played the following week in a rematch against Baltimore.
Pittsburgh’s biggest offseason move so far was signing QB Russell Wilson, taking advantage of the chance to sign him to a one-year deal for league minimum. With a smile and laugh, Watt laid out what he hopes Wilson can bring.
“A Super Bowl.”
Wilson already has one ring, blowing out Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, 43-8, in Super Bowl XLVIII. He nearly won a second but threw a game-losing interception to the New England Patriots’ Malcolm Butler, the Seahawks calling a goal-line pass in one of the most regrettable decisions in NFL history.
Watt isn’t the only Steeler yearning for a playoff run. In his great career, DL Cam Heyward has just one postseason victory, injured for the lone season the team made a serious run, 2016, making it to the AFC title game. The Steelers have a rich history of great players with great accomplishments, first formed by the dynasty of the 1970s. Lately, Pittsburgh’s big names have shared a lack of playoff success. Watt, Heyward, and former C Maurkice Pouncey, who never won a ring in his Pittsburgh career. Watt hopes he won’t have to say the same.
