Last week, Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt announced via his social media that he asked to be released from the team and has become a free agent. Watt has been with Houston since his rookie year, when he was drafted with the standard four-year deal. The 2021 season was supposed to be the final year of the extension contract he signed in 2014, but he was granted an early release.
After breaking the news to Houston, he made a little joke about being booed when he was drafted in the first round (11th overall pick) in 2011, but went on to say how grateful he is to the city for the last 10 years. He met his wife, Kealia Ohai, in Houston, and honestly...that's enough.
Now, JJ may be a free agent, but his, well, agency is being tested by baby brother TJ. You see, both linebacker TJ and the other Watt brother, fullback middle kid Derek, play for the Pittsburgh Steelers; TJ was drafted by the team in 2017, and Pittsburgh exercised their fifth-year option (a clause that automatically gets added to each first-round drafted player's contract) last season, while Derek signed a three-year contract in March 2020.
So, now that JJ is looking for a new team, the choice should be obvious -- and TJ is trying his damndest to bring big bro to the Black and Gold.
Upon JJ's announcement, TJ turned to Twitter to make some references to his very obvious desire to get his brother on the team.
More recently, JJ posted a video of his brother shoveling the snow off his front walkway -- we assume he's still living in Texas while he figures out his next move, which, if you don't know, was blanketed in snow this week.
He captioned it simply, "What a guy," which could just be a funny, teasing sibling thing, but given the current circumstances, everyone on Twitter saw it as a bribe.
Of course, everyone else was trying to figure out why TJ, who was born and raised in Wisconsin, was out there shoveling with a light, unzipped jacket, Crocs (???) and no gloves.
We'll have to wait and see where JJ lands next season, but, honestly, TJ has a case.