Any fools who thought J.J. Watt might be losing a little focus — or even just taking a well-deserved deep breath in the offseason — can rest easy. Those pictures of Watt and Katy Perry getting cozy at an ESPN photo shoot are still very much the exception.
J.J. Watt's not going Hollywood. No, this guy is still all about football. One hundred percent. No matter how little the game truly means in the big picture.
For as soon as Watt's back on the field he's dominating the action. This time it's the Pro Bowl, the NFL's version of an all-star game. And of course, Justin James Watt takes it over.
Watt intercepts a pass (with a freakishly athletic play that he makes look routine on the goal line), recovers a fumble with a quick pounce and knocks down four passes. That adds up to the Pro Bowl Defensive MVP Award (even though Watt's Team Carter squad loses 32-28) and the new truck that comes with said honors.
"It ain't patty cake. Let's go!" Watt screams early in the game. "Let's turn it up a little bit."
Not a bad night's work in the Arizona desert.
And that's clearly how Watt approaches it — as work. Oh, the Houston Texans' $100 Million Man still has fun with the fans, running around the stadium and playing catch with kids in the stands in the pregame. But Watt even somehow turns that into a did-you-see-that highlight.
When one of the return throws is a little high — like Yao Ming high — Watt leaps back, skies up and snags the football with one backwards stretched arm. It's reminiscent of the catch of the millennium grab that New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. famously pulled off this season.
For his part Beckham — a fellow Pro Bowler — also showed off his one-handed catch skills repeatedly in pregame warmups. But he didn't produce anything as crazy as Watt's stands grab.
That's how it goes with Watt. He even tries to raise everyone's intensity in the Pro Bowl.
"It ain't patty cake. Let's go!" Watt screams early in the game. "Let's turn it up a little bit."
It turns out that J.J. Watt being mic'd up for sound in the Pro Bowl is an awfully lot like J.J. Watt being mic'd up for a game in the heart of the regular season. Watt isn't good at scaling down the intensity.
J.J. Watt's Crazy Pro Bowl Intensity
No. 99 is shown huffing and puffing in several sequences, his effort on full breathy display. His Pro Bowl coaches quickly learn not to ask J.J. Watt if he needs a rest though.
"I'm not tired," Watt says. "But I'm getting chipped on every play."
Michael Irvin — the leader of Team Irvin — seems to confirm this in his own sideline interview.
Hey, you can't hold a J.J. Watt interception against a quarterback. Watt's just on another level.
"J.J. Watt's an incredible player," Irvin says. "We've been shoving him, grabbing him, trying to get him off our quarterback."
Yes, J.J. Watt even gets double teamed during the Pro Bowl. On the interception, Watt is going against hyped Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas. When he sees the ball's in the air, he breaks contact with Thomas, leaps up, knocks the ball down to himself and catches it on the bobble.
Team Carter coach John Harbaugh and Cris Carter are shown on the sidelines, just grinning at each other in disbelief, marveling at the play.
Watt has a way of doing that to people. That interception is the only mistake Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford makes. Stafford still wins Offensive MVP honors too. Hey, you can't hold a J.J. Watt interception against a quarterback. Watt's just on another level.
Even at the freaking Pro Bowl.
No wonder the ESPN cameras catch a member of the chain gang stopping Watt as he walks off the field at halftime, asking the Texans star to autograph his hat.
It's game night. And no matter the stakes — or how big the stage is — J.J. Watt rules game night.
J.J. Watt dominated the Pro Bowl just like any other game he plays.
