J.J. on J.J. on NFL 100 list: ‘A joke’
The NFL Network’s mere existence is framed by one fairly large problem: What does it do from mid-February to late July, when the league goes dark except for a few bursts of activity — free agency, the draft, mini-camps, etc.?
One of its main time fillers is its annual Top 100 list, where the league’s players vote on their peers and the network turns that into 10 hours of content.
Coming in at No. 35 ... “JJWatt comes in at number 35 on the #NFLTop100 voted by his peers!” the network tweeted.
That’s a steep one-year drop from No. 3 the previous year, but it’s hardly surprising considering that Watt played in all of three games last season because of a back injury. There’s one person, however, who thinks Watt is ranked far too high, and that’s Watt himself. “I played 3 games ... this list is a joke.” — J.J. Watt.
Watt almost certainly received some votes because of his past accolades, as he’s a threetime National Football League defensive player of the year winner, but he’s right: Players who miss all but three games probably don’t deserve to be on the list of the NFL’s top 100 (unless he’s upset about getting dinged because of the injury, which I guess could be possible).
For its part, the NFL Network acknowledged that putting a player such as Watt on the list is at least somewhat questionable, saying in the Watt clip that his inclusion would “reignite the debate about injured players making the list.” But then the network doesn’t follow up with anything about the actual debate. Maybe they’re saving it for another off-season time filler.
Watt said last week he’s back to his normal training routine and will be ready for 2017.