How J.J. got his mojo back
It takes a village — girlfriend, Watson, trainers, fans— to get Watt back on top
As the Texans go for their seventh consecutive win today, one of the primary reasons is the return to form of J.J. Watt.
Defensive end's return to top of his game from serious injuries has been a team effort
Trade him. • Cut him. • His career is over and it’s time for the Texans to move on. • J.J. Watt heard, read and saw it all. And there was a time when there was nothing the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year — a Houston hero during Hurricane Harvey; once on a historic Hall-of-Fame pace — could do.
“It cuts a little deeper when you’re sitting on your couch with a brace on your leg,” Watt said last week, standing in an NRG Stadium hallway.
He also joked: “You hear tons and tons of things. But I heard those when I was healthy, too.”
Somehow, we are underrating all of this.
A “washed up” Watt recovering from two back surgeries, a broken leg and 24 missed games the previous two seasons, then propelling the Texans to six consecutive victories in 2018. The most-popular player in franchise history overcoming potential career-ending injuries to rack up nine sacks, four forced fumbles, 16 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss and 32 total takedowns (25 solo) at the same time that Bill O’Brien’s Texans resurrected their season.
The NFL’s reigning Walter Payton Man of the Year is a leading candidate for Defensive and Comeback Player of the Year during the same season. And for the first time since Watt-mania threatened to drown out the flesh-and-bones side of overwhelmingly famous No. 99, there’s a calm reality to it all.
National awards, pro football records, chasing the legend of Reggie White before he even turns 30 — it’s Watt, so all the old heroic goals still remain. But the man is now more human, less of a modern athletic myth.
We can analyze all the accolades. Watt just wants to play a full season for the first time in three years.
“It’s not easy to love rehab. It’s not easy to love breaking your leg,” he said. “So I’m just in a really good place. I’m happy about it and I’m hoping to keep that going and enjoy it.”
A workout partner
How did the Texans do this? Winless and backward through three games. Now 6-3 and leading the AFC South, with another division title and the playoffs in sight.
How did Watt rise from helplessness and private thoughts of early retirement to a fourthplace tie in the NFL in sacks, the season after he was carried out of NRG in the back of an ambulance on national TV?
The recoveries are intertwined.
Deshaun Watson, Whitney Mercilus, Nick Martin, Will Fuller, D’Onta Foreman … the 2017 Texans won just four games and were defined by injuries. As the front office changed and new names arrived, the franchise’s two biggest stars bonded inside the team’s private training and weight rooms, and on nearempty practice fields.
Watson spent months recovering from a torn ACL, which limited his brilliant rookie beginning to seven games. Watt carried even more weight, as local fans and national experts continually questioned whether he would ever be able to play the game the same way.
Turning 0-3 into 6-3 is nothing compared to endless days on the slow road back to normalcy.
“Just being in there and seeing somebody else go through it, and having somebody to lean on on a daily basis,” said Watt, referring to his rehab partnership with the Texans’ young franchise quarterback. “And stupid little competitions, whether it was literally the first thing out and all you could do was squeeze your quad and seeing who could squeeze their quad and do it right more.
“Just little stuff that gets you through the day, because sometimes it’s all about just getting through the day.”
They arrived at the stadium at the same time. They ate lunch together, then left the stadium at the same time. Nos. 4 and 99 became “real close” and “best friends,” Watson said. And like so many Texans since 2011, the team’s primary offensive weapon was inspired by Watt’s intense dedication.
“Asking questions but also just kind of observing his preparation, his work,” Watson said. “He’s been through injuries before, but he’s also been as healthy as he can. And being at the top of his game like he is now, and I just kind of watch him and how he goes about his business. Very, very detailed in everything he does — takes every rep, every second of the day, and he maximizes that opportunity. … I always had that mindset.
“But even taking it to another level, in just his energy and what he really emphasizes in his work, is top-notch.”
Days before the Texans flew to the nation’s capital, Watt credited Dr. Walter Lowe, the team’s medical director and head physician. He thanked the doctors who performed his surgeries. Then he specifically mentioned the names of two trainers, Geoff Kaplan and Roland Ramirez.
Kap, Roland and Watt. Every day, for a long time.
“The one thing they’re incredible at is working with the delicacy of the mind during such a difficult time,” Watt said. “They know when to push you farther than you think you can go. Because you need to do it and you’ve never been through it, and you think you can’t.
“But they also know when to tell you you’re doing great when you’re having a rough day, and they know how to pick you up. Even if you don’t know for a fact that you’re going to be back, they always make you believe you’re going to be back to where you need to be.”
A special thanks
Torn abs and adductor muscles.
A broken hand and herniated disc (twice). Staph infection. And that was all before Watt suffered a season-ending fracture of the tibial plateau in his left leg during the 2017 Week 5 episode of “Sunday Night Football.”
David Quessenberry and Andre Hal, both diagnosed with cancer, inspired Watt. Family, friends and all the hard-working 9-to-5ers who love to wear his jersey kept him going. But mention Kealia Ohai and Watt immediately nods his head.
When he couldn’t walk, his girlfriend — a Dash forward, who suffered an ACL sprain and medial meniscus tear in her left knee in 2017 — did the simple things we all take for granted. When his body slowly began to regain its form, Watt still needed someone he trusted who fully believed in him.
“Mentally, going through injuries is extremely difficult. Going through them alone is way more difficult,” Watt said. “For her to be there every day — having been through something like that herself — being able to lift me up and lift my confidence up.
“If I’m in a bad mood, being able to help pick that up. I can’t say enough about everything that she’s meant to me. … She’s possibly, more than anybody, the one who helped build my confidence back up and remind me who I am and what I’m capable of, when there were days I wondered if I could ever be that person again. She really helped build that person back up, and I’m really thankful.”
Taking some ‘me’ time
When Watt played his first game in almost a year, he also was a changed man outside the lines.
The Texans are still trying to return to their 2012 peak, when a franchise-best 12-4 season was capped by Watt winning his first NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. Cue Watt-mania, with the Kid From Pewaukee, Wis., becoming one of the best-known athletes in the country.
Just before Halloween this year, Watt recalled a time when he literally was on top of the world — but the peak was a little frightening.
“I drove home and there were literally cars for like two miles and I was like, ‘What is going on?’ ” said Watt, referring to fans who lined up to receive candy from the Texans’ defensive end. “There was a stack outside my door of letters and notes, stuff people left. I’ll never forget: One person had written a note on the back of a piece of paper and I flipped it over and it was MapQuest directions from Dallas to my house in Houston. I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ So I moved. Now I have a gate.”
Playing just eight games in 2016-17 brought No. 99 back to football earth. This is his true comeback season, and he’s again one of the elite defenders in the NFL.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” O’Brien said. “To come back from what he’s been able to come back from … and to be able to play at the level that he’s playing at, it just says all you need to know about him and how much he cares about the team, and how much he wants to help this organization win.”
Watt acknowledged he still can’t go to the grocery store or eat dinner in public like a normal person. But life has become easier for him, while the rise of other young, charismatic Texans — DeAndre Hopkins, Jadeveon Clowney, Watson — has dialed back the overloaded Watt meter from 15 to 10.
“The biggest thing is I do less. And I’m very comfortable doing less,” he said. “Part of that is having Kea and having somebody to sit at my house with and just relax. But I’ve learned how to say no. I’ve learned how sometimes it’s OK to just be selfish a little bit and want some relaxation time.”
Houston strong
The Texans are a very Texans 61-60 since Watt became the No. 11 overall pick in 2011.
All those injuries. Two seasons almost wiped out. A painful comeback followed by another long, painful comeback. Starting 0-3 felt like … ? “It was very frustrating. It’s a terrible place to be. You never want to be there,” Watt said. “But you also knew that this team wasn’t going to let that continue. And you could tell with the guys we have and the chemistry … and the quality of the players and talent, we were going to find a way.”
Retire one day with the only NFL team he has played for?
“It would be great, of course,” Watt said. “But there’s a business side of it — there’s plenty of different sides to it. I just want to finish out the year. I just want to play football for a full year.”
That’s all it comes down to right now for No. 99.
The Texans are winning again and he has nine sacks in as many games.
You would be laughed at and ridiculed if you said trade him. Washed up? No way. Watt is back. “This place — the city, the people, the franchise — I mean, they’ve been incredible to me,” he said. “Besides booing me on day one, I think everything’s been all right. I couldn’t ask for better people to play for, a better fan base. The connection that I feel and have with the city, I’m so thankful for. I never would have expected it. But I’m forever grateful for it, and I’ll forever be grateful to these people for the way they’ve treated me here.”