T.J. Watt just turned the big 3-0, presumably the start of the final decade of his NFL career. But Watt isn’t planning on hanging up his cleats anytime soon. Asked about the prospects of how much longer he’ll play for via the team website, Watt says it’s not something he thinks about often but a topic he doesn’t plan to seriously consider for years.
“My wife probably wouldn’t like that,” Watt told reporters with a laugh when asked if he’d play until he was 40. “But I love football. I love it right now. I see myself loving it for a long time and as long as my body holds up, I want to play as long as I can.”
Watt turned 30 on Oct. 11, squeezing in his 100th sack just before his birthday. He’s already in rare territory, the Steelers’ all-time sack leader and the second-fastest player ever to 100 career takedowns.
Longevity could give him a chance to challenge Bruce Smith’s all-time NFL sack record of 200. Since breaking Reggie White’s mark in 2003, Smith’s age-40 season, no player has seriously given it a run for its money. Julius Peppers came “closest” when his career wrapped up in 2017 with 159.5 sacks but even then, Smith’s record was comfortably safe.
The NFL’s active sack leader is Von Miller with 126. But he’s in the final years of his career and won’t come close to threatening Smith’s mark. Nor will Cameron Jordan’s 117.5, Chandler Jones’ 112, Calais Campbell’s 107.5, or Khalil Mack’s 104, the next active sacks leaders on the list.
Instead, it’ll be the new wave of pass rushers who could give it a whirl. Starting with Watt and the 101 he has through his first eight seasons. The Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett is more than a year younger and has 92 under his belt and will soon enough join the 100-sack club.
Watt’s future is worth pondering. He suffered repeated knee injuries in college to the point that he nearly medically retired. While they largely haven’t followed him to the NFL level, it’s fair to question if those injuries will eventually catch up to him. Big brother J.J. retired despite still proving he could play, moving on with life’s work after his age-33 season following a 12.5-sack campaign with the Arizona Cardinals.
But most of this is academic. Watt is spending very few mental calories on how many years he’s got left. After going two games without a sack, a rare “drought” for him, Watt will look for sack No. 102 and beyond Monday night.
“I don’t want to get caught looking in the future,” he said. “I just wanna focus on today.”
There’s no “FIRE Movement” for guys like Watt. Unless it stands for Fumbles-Interceptions-Run (Stuffs)-Engulfing QBs.
