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JJ Watt explains why he wrote letters to himself during final season as he eyed retirement

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby:Grant Grubbs•06/27/23•

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JJ Watt Hip-drop tackle
J.J. Watt #99 of the Arizona Cardinals looks on during player introduction prior to the start of the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on January 08, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. - Thearon W. Henderson | Getty Images

It’s not easy to keep a guy like JJ Watt off the field. Thus, the five-time Pro Bowler created a plan to convince himself to remain retired.

After retiring following the 2022 season, Watt holds the records for most tackles for loss (172), sacks (101), and forced fumbles (25) in Houston Texans’ history. Nonetheless, at times, Watt considered adding to those numbers in another season. To control the urge, Watt wrote letters to himself throughout his final season in the NFL.

“I know how everybody feels once a season rolls around everybody wants to play football again like you see the games on TV you start watching you’re like I can I can do this,” Watt said on a recent episode of “Green Light with Chris Long.”

“I knew that was gonna come around. So, like in the offseason, I started doing that and writing things down to remind myself like, ‘Hey, this is what you felt like, in the middle of June, when you’re training and you had to use a squat workout followed by a sprint workout and your knees feel like s***. You’re not gonna want to do this again.”

All those squat workouts weren’t enough to push Watt toward the final season he was hoping for. The Arizona Cardinals finished the season 4-13 and in last place in the NFC West Division. Luckily for Watt, he won’t be remembered as a Cardinal.

The Houston Texans selected the Wisconsin native with 11th overall pick in the 2011 Draft. The 6-foot-5 defensive end won the Defensive Player of the Year Award three times in his first five NFL seasons. Watt’s failure to reach these heights with the Cardinals actually made the retirement process easier.

“We had a rough season, obviously. You go like whatever it was, 1-4 or something and you’re like, ‘I just got the s*** beat out of me for 60 minutes straight. We’re 1-4. Morale is low. Remember this,'” Watt recalled. “I just wrote a lot of stuff like that down but I also captured a ton actually helped.”

Watt has no shortage of fun times to reflect on. The Badgers legend was recently inducted into the Wisconsin Hall of Fame. Yet, Watt hardly has time to look back on the past. Earlier this year, Watt and his wife became significant investors in the Burnley Football Club, a team in the Championship division in English football.