SMITH: IT WAS TIME TO GO.
No. 99 gave his all on and off field, but in the end, he was too good for floundering franchise
All those J.J. Watt jerseys you see everywhere will never look the same.
They’ll still be proudly worn and displayed. But future glimpses of super-famous No. 99 in red and blue will never feel the same.
And the moment that Watt broke his own news Friday morning we all knew the Texans would never be the same.
“I have sat down with the McNair family and I have asked them for my release,” Watt told Texans fans in a Twitter video posted at 8:49 a.m. “We have mutually agreed to part ways at this time.”
Watt asked the McNairs to release him from the Texans.
The Texans responded by cutting Watt.
Two days after longtime president Jamey Rootes resigned from the organization. At the same time that Deshaun Watson’s trade request shadows everything inside and around NRG Stadium.
Dang, dang, dang.
By 3:30 p.m., the two-minute video — Watt wearing Wisconsin red, looking directly into a camera lens — had been viewed 5 million times and had more than 236,000 likes.
It was time for Watt to leave the Texans.
We knew something like this was coming, and I’d been setting up Watt’s departure for a year in this column.
But the official announcement was still stunning: Houston Texans and DE J.J. Watt Mutually Agree To Part Ways.
The battered Texans — shouldn’t they have received at least a third-round pick for the in-demand defender? — also moved one step closer to deconstruction as an era officially ended on Kirby Drive.
It wasn’t a golden era. Despite everything Watt accomplished inside and outside the lines, the Texans are still dreaming of reaching their first AFC Championship game.
I remember Watt being carried out of the Texans’ stadium in an ambulance. A heroic figure honestly admitting that he had considered retiring during another long rehab.
I also remember all the bonecrushing sacks, pick-six celebrations, fumble recoveries that became sprinting touchdowns and a four-year span from 2012-15 that is cemented as one of the greatest defensive runs in NFL history.
The charity softball tournaments. The cool Rockets and Oilers gear. Taking batting practice inside the Astros’ Minute Maid Park.
My personal favorite: Watt, a receiver, lined up 1-on-1 on the outside against a Browns defender, then brilliantly diving and catching a corner touchdown pass during the first quarter in Ryan Mallett’s first Texans start at Cleveland in 2014.
It was the Watt era.
It still felt like he could do anything and maybe, at some point, the Texans would follow his inspiring lead.
Watt was drafted by the Texans (tip of the cap to Wade Phillips). The self-made No. 99 was developed by the Texans. And for 10 seasons, The Kid From Pewaukee was often the best thing about the Texans.
Heck, sometimes Watt was the only star worth watching when an elite defense carried an absurd quarterback carousel.
Now, No. 99 is gone. Just like DeAndre Hopkins. Jadeveon Clowney. Andre Johnson.
Watt’s instant departure is the biggest blow to date inside shaky NRG Stadium. Especially when you remember that Watson wants out and the Texans are publicly playing chicken with their 25-year-old franchise QB.
The numbers and honors for Watt say it all: 101 sacks, 531 combined tackles, 25 forced fumbles, 16 fumble recoveries, 282 quarterback hits, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, five AllPro selections.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame should eventually call his name on the first ballot.
But Watt’s greatest contribution in this big city will always be attached to 2017. Hurricane Harvey hammered Houston. Watt stepped up and turned an impromptu internet fundraising effort into more than $41 million that helped residents rebuild. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award followed.
Friday’s decision was more than a year in the making. The Texans were a horrible 4-12 last season and Watt, more than Watson, captured the weekly frustration.
“I hope (Texans fans) know how I feel about them and how thankful I am,” Watt said Jan. 3 after the Texans fell 41-38 to Tennessee inside NRG in a last-second heartbreaker. “I’ve tried to do everything I possibly can and give everything I possibly have.”
You could tell, Zoom after Zoom, that the Texans were wearing on the veteran defender. After watching three years cut down by major injuries, Watt knew that his best shot at finally reaching the Super Bowl was as a member of one of the NFL’s 31 other teams.
The red and blue jerseys will remain. The memories will fade but Watt, obviously, will never be forgotten. When he retires and returns to NRG, the roar will be heroic.
But Watt is better off on another team in 2021.
In the end, No. 99 was too good for the Texans.