The NFL will be losing one of its most legendary players of the modern era in a couple of weeks after J.J. Watt announced today that he will retire at the end of the season.
Watt, 33, is wrapping up his 12th and now final NFL season with the Arizona Cardinals and took to social media to announce that the Cardinals Sunday night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was his last home game in the NFL.
Watt was a force during his decade-plus NFL career and one of the most talented and feared defensive linemen of all time. Watt is one of only three players in NFL history to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award (2012, 2014, 2015), along with Lawrence Taylor and Aaron Donald.
Watt retires with a lengthy list of accomplishments including his three Defensive Player of the Year awards, seven All-Pro selections, five Pro Bowl selections, and his 2017 Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
During his incredible 2014 season with the Houston Texans, Watt recorded 20.5 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, and scored five touchdowns for the Texans while recording a career-high 78 tackles in 16 games.
Aside from being other-worldly on the football field, Watt has accomplished just as much, if not more, philanthropically during his playing days.
According to the Justin J. Watt Foundation’s website, Watt’s namesake foundation has funded over 770 schools in 39 states and D.C. to $6,600,000. In addition, when the Houston area was devastated by Hurricane Harvey, Watt and his foundation helped clean up, repair, and rebuild over 600 homes, 420 child care centers, and after-school programs, distributed 26,000,000 meals, and provided physical and mental health services to over 6,500 affected individuals. All told, Watt’s fundraising efforts for the Hurrican Harvey relief efforts totaled north of $40 million in the first year.
A first ballot Hall of Famer on and off the field in my book. Congratulations to Watt and his family on their retirement and the next chapter of their lives.