JJ Watt has been retired for a year now, though he admitted that he had thoughts of coming back during the 2023 season.
More interestingly, there were actually two teams that Watt considered joining when he was contemplating unretirement: the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans.
During his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday ahead of Super Bowl 58, McAfee wanted to clarify if Watt is really retired. The former Texans and Arizona Cardinals defensive end confirmed that he is “1,000 percent” done from the game, but he did think about potentially coming back.
Watt revealed in the show that he was “monitoring” the Texans and Steelers during the 2023 season.
Of course it’s not a surprise why Watt would look at Houston. With the team thriving with CJ Stroud at quarterback, there was reason to believe that they could contend. Watt, given his history with the team and experience, could be a huge addition to the defense.
As for the Steelers, the allure of playing alongside his brother TJ Watt was really tempting for JJ. In fact, when he visited Pittsburgh and watched his brother get ready for the game, the elder Watt really had the itch to play again. Fortunately for him, that desire soon subsided.
“When I went to Pittsburgh and visited T.J. and watched him get ready for the game, that was hands down the moment where I was like, ‘This is the first time I definitely miss playing,’” Watt revealed
“I felt all those emotions before the game, and then the next morning [T.J.] woke up all sore and bruised up, has to get treatment. And I popped up, went for a nice walk, and got a coffee.”
