J.J. Watt is just 27 years old and coming off of a season in which he won Defensive Player of the Year honors for the third time in four years. But he made a surprising revelation Wednesday in an interview with Houston's SportsRadio 610, when he said he doesn't intend to play in the NFL much longer.
J.J. Watt says he won’t play in NFL ‘terribly longer’
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year is thinking toward life after football.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
“It’s not going to be terribly longer,” Watt said, “but I am going to play as long as I can enjoy it and have fun.”
But Watt has made his commitment to being the best he can be on the field public knowledge. During the offseason, he lives in a log cabin in Wisconsin and devotes himself to training. The underlying sentiment of Watt's comments Wednesday surrounded his commitment to playing his best and enjoying his time on the field.
“I want to go out there, I want to play at an extremely high level,” Watt said. “I want to help my team out and I want to love playing the game and I want to have fun playing the game.”
Watt said that he won't be one of those players who sticks around until he physically is unable to play any longer. But Watt still managed to play at a high level during the 2015 season when he was fighting through a broken hand, torn abdominal muscles and what the Houston Texans called a "significant groin injury" down the stretch. Despite those myriad injuries, Watt led all defensive linemen with 17.5 sacks, 50 quarterback hits and 29 tackles for loss.
Just this offseason, several big names retired from the NFL and former linebacker Chris Borland said he expects more players to retire early. Calvin Johnson called it quits after a nine-year career with the Detroit Lions. While Johnson wasn’t necessarily still in his prime, he had 1,214 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 2015. Marshawn Lynch broke the news about his retirement via his Twitter account during Super Bowl 50. Injuries sidelined Lynch quite a bit during the 2015 season, but his retirement at age 29 wasn’t necessarily expected.
Watt's playing days are probably not coming to an imminent end, though. He signed a six-year, $100 million contract extension with the Texans prior to the 2015 season and is currently locked in through the 2021 season. That fact, coupled with his continued impact on the field, means Watt is likely to remain in the league for the foreseeable future.
When Watt does decide to call it a career, the Face of the NFL said he’d like to be a high school football coach or maybe pursue a career in movies.
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J.J. Dancing: Let’s judge Watt when he celebrates on the field
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