One Houston Texans legend would've loved to play for his hometown team

Few players in the NFL have the same heft to their name the way J.J. Watt does. A first-ballot Hall of Famer in the making, Watt has proven time and time again on the field that he was one of the best to ever do it. Playing defensive line for the Texans for years, he proved time and time again that he was committed to the franchise. He adores the Texans and still, despite being in retirement, remains a big proponent of who they are and where they're going.

That doesn't mean he doesn't wonder. Born in Pewaukee, WI, Watt grew up a fan of the Green Bay Packers. It was the team he dreamt about playing for as a kid and his love of the area he grew up in helped make his decision to go play for the Wisconsin Badgers all the easier.

He didn't get drafted by the Packers, however. When the time came for him to enter the NFL Draft, it was the Texans who took him 11th overall, not the Packers. The Packers were coming off of a 15-1 record and picked last in the NFL Draft that year, so the Packers never had a real shot of landing Watt.

So to Houston he went. Speaking to the Stick to Football Podcast (via Sports Illustrated), Watt revealed that there was a part of him that wished he could've played for the Packers, saying;

""I loved being in Houston. The people were unbelievable to me, it was great. I grew up in Wisconsin and I grew up in Green Bay. The Packers, have a little bit of a different relationship with their fans... (The Packers are) a community-owned team, it's a small town, so that's one that always would have been really cool.""

Frankly, who can blame him? This isn't a Texans are better than Packers or vice versa statement, this is Watt just admitting that he wanted to play for the team that got him into the sport. Who among us wouldn't have loved to do that? It's a very relatable thing to admit. Watt remains one of the biggest supporters of the Texans in retirement, and even a brief stint with the Arizona Cardinals hasn't dampened how the fans feel about Watt.

And this won't either. Watt is a Texans icon for a reason.