J.J. Watt opens up on the biggest regret of his NFL career post retirement - “I thought I was Superman”
Defensive end J.J. Watt retired from the NFL after announcing his retirement on December 27, 2022, right before the conclusion of the 2022 season.
Watt played a total of 12 seasons and became one of the best defensive players of all-time.
He won Defensive Player of the Year three times, is the only player in NFL history with multiple seasons of 20+ sacks, and is the only player to lead the league in sacks twice. He retired with 114.5 sacks, 586 tackles, 27 forced fumbles, 17 fumble recoveries, two interceptions, 70 pass defelctions, and four career touchdowns.
Despite having a successful NFL career, Watt opened up and admitted that he wished he handled his injuries differently during his NFL career. Watt said via "First Take:"
"My biggest regret would be how I handled my injuries. I tried to come back too fast, especially early on. I thought I was Superman and so it probably led to more injuries as I went throughout my career. And the mental aspect of how I handled those. I do wish that I had the perspective and knowledge to not be so mentally tough in myself."
J.J. Watt then went on to explain his decision to return to the field prematurely after injuries because he felt like he was letting fans and teammates down:
"When you get injured, all you can think about is I'm letting down my teammates, I'm letting down the fans. They're paying me a lot of money to play this game and I have to get back out there. And I really let that weigh extremely heavily on me and I do think that it contributed."
J.J. Watt is content on retirement with no intention of returning to the NFL
While some players fight the idea of a comeback after retiring, J.J. Watt seems set on walking away from the game. Watt made an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio and made it clear that he has no regrets about retiring and walking away from the game:
“I sit here, and I watch these [offseason] practices that these guys are going back to and I see the Instagram posts that these teams are putting out of them running through the bags and them doing the drills, and all I think to myself is, ‘I’m so glad I don’t have to be out there chasing those guys around and catch them.'
“I’m very at peace with my decision. I’m very at peace with how it all went down and how it all ended, and I don’t think I’m going to have any because I physically won’t be able to."
J.J. Watt at peace with his decision to retire and has no intention of returning. profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/05/03/j-j…
Though we seem to have seen the last of J.J. Watt in the NFL, we will at least see more of him off the field, now that he's retired.