Former NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt has seemed to enjoy retirement, working part-time for CBS and appearing on The NFL Today, being a co-owner of Burnley F.C. and just not dealing with the grit and grind of life in the NFL. But J.J., the brother of Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt, said last season he “monitored” the Steelers and the Texans to potentially come out of retirement and play, and it sounds like there’s at least a chance he could do so this season. Speaking at his celebrity softball game, J.J. told reporters that he told DeMeco Ryans he would unretire and play for the Texans if they “absolutely need it.”
“I told DeMeco [Ryans] last year, I said don’t call unless you absolutely need it, but if you ever do call, I’ll be there. And he knows not to call unless he absolutely needs it. This year is the last year I’ll tell him that, because I’m not gonna keep training like I’ve been training, but he knows if he ever truly does need it, I’ll be there for him,” Watt said via Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston.
While J.J. obviously didn’t mention the Steelers in that video, if he ever became serious about unretiring, they’d likely be one of the two teams he’d consider playing for, along with the team that drafted him and he spent 10 years with the Texans. Watt retired without a Super Bowl ring after 12 seasons in the league, and this season, the Texans are one of the Super Bowl favorites behind second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud. They added EDGE Danielle Hunter in free agency and WR Stefon Diggs via trade to a core that was already talented, and it would be fitting if Watt was going to a Super Bowl ring in Houston.
Still, file this under the “extremely unlikely and nothing more than offseason fodder” category, as if J.J. didn’t come out of retirement last season, it doesn’t seem like something he would do this season. While he admitted he missed football going to T.J. and the Steelers’ Week Nine Thursday Night Football matchup against the Tennessee Titans, after spending a full year away from the game, it just doesn’t seem all that likely he would lace up his cleats again.
It’s a fun possibility to consider though, and it would be pretty awesome to see J.J. and T.J. line up on the same defense for the first time ever, but J.J.’s heart might still be in Houston if he did give it a go, and the Texans also probably would give him a better chance to get his first Super Bowl ring this season. We’ll see if DeMeco Ryans ever makes the call, but I would be shocked if J.J. Watt played a snap of NFL football again.
