J.J. Watt leads by example.
On the field, the Houston Texans star is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner. Off the field, he’s a thoughtful champion for charities and a candid interviewee.
But he’s just about had it with his team, saying after Sunday’s loss that if his teammates don’t “want to go out there and win, you shouldn’t be here.”
After Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, Watt, a veteran of 10 NFL seasons, shed his emotional armor and spoke eloquently during an almost-two-minute monologue.
On teammates: “We’re professional athletes getting paid a whole lot of money. If you can’t come in and put work in in the building, go out to the practice field and work hard, do your lifts and do what you’re supposed to do, you should not be here.”
On Texans fans: “There are a lot of people that watch us and invest their time and their money … There are people every week that still tweet you, that still come up to you and say, ‘Hey, we’re still rooting for you; we’re still behind you.’ They have no reason whatsoever to. We stink. But they care and they still want to win and they still want you to be great.”
On the profession: “Because this is a privilege. It’s the greatest job in the world. You get to go out and play a game. And if you can’t care enough, even in Week 17, even when you’re trash, when you’re 4-11.
“If you can’t care enough to go out there and give everything you’ve got and try your hardest, that’s bulls—.”
The Texans are especially frustrated because they made the playoffs in 2019. They traded star DeAndre Hopkins this summer, then fired coach/GM Bill O’Brien after week four.
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