Earlier in the week “The Pivot Podcast” was at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe to film an episode with Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin, and while there Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder took in a practice for the Steelers on Chuck Noll Field.
There, “The Pivot Podcast” crew had cameras and microphones with them. During a conversation with Steelers’ star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, the veteran outside linebacker revealed to Clark that he had stem cell treatment on his knee this offseason, leading to him “feeling great” entering the 2024 season.
“I’m feeling great, bro. I got stem cell this offseason,” Watt said to Clark, as captured by the podcast on YouTube.
Here is the clip where Watt reveals what treatment he received this offseason.
According to the National Library of Medicine, stem cell treatment, specifically for the knees, is an injection that is able to regenerate a person’s knee joints and ligaments to help keep patients out of the operating room. Stem cell and platelet-rich plasma injections are the most advanced regenerative treatments for the treatment of knee pain due to arthritis, degenerative conditions, traumatic ligament injuries, or meniscus tears.
Basically, it helps rejuvenate ligaments and heal the knee without undergoing surgery.
Oftentimes, athletes turn to PRP’s or platelet-rich plasma to help instances like this, but Watt went with stem cell treatment after suffering an MCL injury in the Week 18 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. That injury caused Watt to miss the AFC Wild Card round loss to the Buffalo Bills with an injury that was expected to keep him out multiple weeks.
Watt suffered the injury while colliding with nose tackle Montravius Adams during the second half of the Steelers’ 17-10 win over the Ravens. He had an MRI the following day, leading to his older brother, J.J. Watt, revealing the results on NFL on CBS, citing a Grade 2 sprain that would require only rest and not surgery.
A few weeks later after the Steelers’ season came to an end, Watt appeared on the NBC Sports Pro Football Talk Show with Mike Florio and stated his knee was feeling great.
But now, on the cusp of the start of the preseason as Watt enters his age 30 season, it turns out he received some stem cell treatment to help his knees heal and get him prepared for another monster season, one that he enters with a significant chip on his shoulder after being passed over for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award again, this time for Cleveland’s Myles Garrett.
Hopefully the stem cell treatment worked well for Watt, who looks to add onto his Hall of Fame worthy resume.
