“Last ever NFL home game,” JJ Watt calls it a career, to retire at the end of the 2022 season
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JJ Watt has announced he will be retiring following the 2022 NFL season.
JJ Watt has officially announced his intention to retire following the 2022 NFL season. He conveyed his intentions to do so via a post on his social media handles. The Arizona Cardinals‘ defensive end has had an illustrious career and was arguably one of the most feared defensive players. In his prime, JJ Watt was a different beast that sent shivers down the spine of quarterbacks across the league.
Drafted in 2011 to the Houston Texans with the 11th overall pick, JJ Watt has been nothing short of remarkable. Fans got to see the best version of Watt in his days in Houston, where he won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors thrice. He also holds the record of having the most 20+ sack seasons in league history. Watt has made the Pro Bowl 7-times.
Due to his talent and skillset, the defensive end made it to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team. With a stacked resume, he is bound to be a First Ballot Hall of Famer. Over the years, however, Watt’s career has been plagued by injuries. The stretch between 2011-2015 was when the defensive end peaked. He was as dominant a player as fans had witnessed in a long time.
JJ Watt has had a rough time staying healthy over the past few years:
Watt started every game from 2011-15. However, since that point forward, he missed nearly 42 games in the following six seasons. His body has taken a beating and his injuries have been diverse, ranging from back surgery, fractured tibia, pectoral muscle, and shoulder surgery. Earlier this season, Watt went into atrial fibrillation, a common type of treated heart arrhythmia. His heart had stopped beating and it had to be shocked in order to start back up.
JJ Watt will be missed in the NFL. He is not just a great athlete whose fans could have strongly made a case for being one of the greatest defensive players if he had remained healthy throughout. Watt also happens to be one of the most philanthropic players in the league. In 2017, he won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his efforts to help the community of Houston, Texas to stand back up following the devastating hurricane Harvey.
Watt was able to raise $37 million in just 19 days for the relief efforts. He has always given back to the community of Houston. Even after he signed with the Arizona Cardinals, Watt continues to give back to the community of his former team. While the JJ Watt fans witnessed play for the Arizona Cardinals was not his prime version, one cannot deny that he has given nothing but his best every time he stepped on the field. The defensive end has been a great leader and a vocal presence in the locker room.
The game will miss JJ Watt but what a career it has been. The defensive end is now a husband and a father. Fans are grateful for his contributions to the game and wish nothing but the best for his future. That is one less Watt brother that quarterbacks in the NFL will need to worry about following his departure! Congratulations on a legendary career JJ!
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Sumedh Joshi
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