Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days, I’m sure that you know former Texans and current Cardinals DE J.J. Watt has decided to call it a career after 10 seasons in Houston and a pair of seasons in Arizona. The timing of his retirement comes as a bit of a surprise to many, as he is currently having his best season since 2018 when he was still a Texan.
This season so far he has 40 combined tackles, but the stat that stands out is his 9.5 sacks that he has this year. He’s been healthy all season, which is excellent for him as he has battled a bunch of injuries over the last few years. He was a big part of the Cardinals team last year that started the year off undefeated, and was producing at a high level before getting injured in Week 7 and missing the rest of the season.
Look, I can sit here and write all day about how dominant J.J. Watt was when he was in Houston. Everyone watched the same games I did though, and his resume speaks for itself. It’s no surprise that after waiting his 5 years to become Hall-of-Fame eligible he will almost certainly be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer.
Over 141 games in his career between the Texans and Cardinals, he has 514 total tackles and 10.5 total sacks. He also has forced 26 fumbles and 5 fumble recoveries. Some of his more lesser known stats that he has is that he has 2 interceptions and both of the interceptions he took for TDs (one of them being an 80 yard Pick-6 in 2014!!!). He also has 3 catches for 4 yards and 3 TDs, a 100% catch and TD rate which I thought was pretty cool.
Here is a list of all his accolades, which just puts into perspective just how dominant of a player he has been over the years: (via wikipedia)
*3× NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2012, 2014, 2015)
*Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (2017)
*5× First-team All-Pro (2012–2015, 2018)
*2× Second-team All-Pro (2014, 2018)
*5× Pro Bowl (2012–2015, 2018)
*2× NFL sacks leader (2012, 2015)
*NFL forced fumbles co-leader (2018)
*NFL 2010s All-Decade Team
*PFWA All-Rookie Team (2011)
*Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (2017)
*Bert Bell Award (Presented to the best player in the NFL) (2014)
*Lott Trophy (Presented to the defensive college football IMPACT player of the year) (2010)
*First-team All-American (2010)
*First-team All-Big Ten (2010)
He also holds 2 NFL records:
*Seasons with 20+ sacks: 2
*Seasons leading league in sacks: 2
So if someone says that J.J. Watt doesn’t deserve to be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, just show them this article and his accolades and ask them if they still feel the same way.