WATT?! YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH BURNLEY?
EX-NFL star has fallen for the Clarets so much he can hardly believe it himself
NFL legend JJ Watt has fallen in love with Burnley so much that his son has watched him throw a coffee mug across the room in frustration 5,000 miles away if they lose.
Watt bought into Burnley a year ago because he was desperate to find a club that wanted his input as well as his name.
The 6ft 5in 21-stone wrecking ball of a defensive end spent 10 years with the Houston Texans and a final two with the Arizona Cardinals (right) in a stellar NFL career.
When age and wear and tear took their toll, he was not ready to quit the daily hustle of being involved in professional sport and made it known he was looking for an opportunity.
But rather than the glitz and glamour of the NFL, he fell in love with the muck and brass of Lancashire when Burnley showed him they were serious about bringing him on board.
Speaking to the Stick To Football podcast, Watt said of his role at Turf Moor: “I can’t explain how deeply passionate I am about it. I knew I was going to be, but I did not realise to this level, how much I would care and love interacting with these people.
“Even when I’m not here, and I’m in Arizona, waking up at four o’clock in the morning for a match, it really is all out. My son is only 18 months old, but he will yell at the TV because his dad threw a coffee mug across the living room.
“Other people look at it as a business endeavor, but I think you have to look at it as a competitor – from a passion standpoint and from being able to handle situations like we’re in.
“If I was looking at it purely as a financial play, I’m looking at the end of this season and like, ‘oh my gosh £150million for staying up or £40/50m for [going down], or something like that – and you’re like ‘oh my god’. But no, I’m looking at this as a competitor.”
Despite his connections in the NFL, where he is revered not only as one of the best to play his position but also as a great humanitarian, Watt found what he was looking for in England rather than
America when it came to life after football.
“People say whether I wanted to invest in an NFL team but they’re $7billion and you’re given 0.01percent, so why would the owner ever listen to you?
“I wanted to come to a club and find an ownership group that would allow me to learn about the process and have a bit of say in it, to feel like I was a part of it.
“I met with a few [clubs], who said,
‘Sure, you can put money in,’ but Burnley said they’d love to have me as a part of it and to have me integrated into it – and that’s why it was such a good fit.”