JJ Watt tells inside story of viral tackle at 2015 Zac Brown Band concert

Former NFL defensive lineman JJ Watt has seemed to be enjoying life following his retirement in 2022. From becoming a minority investor of Burnley F.C. with his wife, to joining CBS this football season as a studio analyst, and recently attending a Zach Bryan concert over the weekend at the Super Bowl as a part of the Bud Light Backyard Tour.

Watt is also a regular guest on the ‘Pat McAfee Show’, and on Tuesday’s episode, his recent appearance at Bryan’s concert sparked a conversation surrounding a viral moment when Watt tackled a fan who rushed the stage at a 2015 Zac Brown Band concert.

Watt gave McAfee and the crew a full back story on the incident from the past, pulling back the curtain on what really went behind the iconic tackle.

Nobody messes with @zacbrownband pic.twitter.com/bS3Rat13xP

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) June 29, 2015

“I’ll give you the real story behind it, so that guy is the soundboard operator for Zac Brown Band,” Watt said. “So we were behind the stage and he’s a big Alabama fan and I was a Wisconsin fan and we were playing Alabama that year in the first game of the season I believe it was. And we were just messing around backstage, having some drinks, Zac was playing some music and we were like why don’t we do something fun here? Because it was in Wisconsin.”

The question ended up leading to the tackle heard around the world, with Bryan’s soundboard operator making a bold proposition to get tackled on stage by Watt in the prime of his career. With Watt securing his third NFL Defensive Player of the Year award following the 2015 season.

“So the guy was like why don’t I pretend to be a fan and storm the stage, and you’re Zac’s security and you tackle me? So we took a video and I still have the video, I don’t know where it is, but I have the video on one of my phones,” Watt explained. “And I took a video with him and said I am going to tackle you on stage, you will not hold me liable for anything that happens with this tackling. He said on the video I will not hold JJ Watt liable for anything that happens on the stage.”

Alabama did beat Wisconsin in the opening game of the 2015 season. But Watt got the last laugh in his role as ZBB’s security guard, with his prior agreement with the soundboard operator paying off as his tackle resulted in injury just as he anticipated.

“So we do it, the crowd goes nuts, it was bananas. Nobody knows is it real is it fake. Turns out he broke a rib,” Watt said.

The truth behind Watt’s viral tackle is finally revealed years later, with the staged incident leading to very real consequences for a member of the Zach Brown Band team.