A brand new contract that – again – made T.J. Watt the highest-paid non-quarterback in football and comes with plenty of responsibility. Sacks, wins, and plopping down your card when the dinner bill comes due. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, QB Aaron Rodgers said Watt picked up the tab during a recent team dinner.
“We had a big group that ate in Jacksonville together. It was like 37 of us. Shout out to TJ [Watt] for picking up the tab, I believe. That was a nice gesture by him. But that was fun,” Rodgers told the media Tuesday via a team-issued transcript. “We had four different tables, but there’s like 12 or 13 guys at our table.”
That came ahead of Pittsburgh’s preseason opener against the Jaguars. Teams fly in the night before, have dinner and a walkthrough (often in a hotel conference or ballroom), and head to the stadium for the game. Watt’s $123 million contract, $108 million of which was guaranteed, made him the man to pay the bill.
Though the tab probably didn’t even take the sweat off Watt’s interest payment, it’s still a classy gesture to pay for nearly half the team. Watt is a leader and one of the faces of the franchise. That’s reflected not just in his on-field work and time he spends improving, but also in his off-field actions. He’s become an active community member with he and wife Dani working closely with UPMC Children’s Hospital. At training camp, he regularly signed autographs, especially for the daily community groups like local Boys and Girls clubs, invited as VIPs for each practice.
Rodgers’ comments came in reflection of team-bonding post-training camp. Travelling to Latrobe offered the team the unique chance to spend three weeks together instead of going home each night like most teams do. Pittsburgh is now in that same routine, but Rodgers cited the smaller moments as ways to build chemistry, especially for a new-look roster with plenty of moving pieces.
“You lay the foundation at Latrobe and then just build on it,” he said. “The road games are a really good opportunities to connect with the guys.”
Pittsburgh hits the road one more time this preseason, flying out Wednesday for the finale against the Carolina Panthers. Another road trip awaits when the Steelers make the trek to East Rutherford to play the New York Jets in Week One.
