It's November, and J.J. Watt is visiting a mother dying of cancer and her children. This is typical Watt. A genuine act of kindness wrapped inside an attempt to perform that act anonymously. Except nurses and others had heard of Watt's appearance and are swarming the area of the hospital he's visiting. Soon, the crush of people becomes so large Watt has to leave to prevent the scene from becoming unsafe.
His story is that Watt is Elvis in this city. He is Elvis almost everywhere. He can date, but it has to be clandestine. "There's a lot of cloak-and-dagger," Watt said. "Security, back entrances, roped off parts of a restaurant."
On Halloween, neighbors asked him not to hand out candy at his moderate four-bedroom house in suburban Pearland, afraid traffic would flood their block. Because he didn't want to be rude, Watt obliged.
"J.J. loves Halloween because of the kids," said Watt's mother, Connie. "But if he handed out candy, it would be mayhem."
His story is about refurbishing the barbarism of football into a tradable commodity that can change the lives of the less fortunate—doing all of this while navigating the thorny waters of celebrity.
At a time in the NFL's history when the public trust in players and the league might be at an all-time low, there is an antidote, and it comes in the form of a 25-year-old, 6'5" defensive end from Wisconsin.
His story is pure dominance. The obliteration of offensive lines. The strip-sacks. The speed. The aggression. The touchdown catches. Watt is a basketball player in a football player's body who sees every play as an opportunity to dunk.
"He's a crazy good athlete," said Bengals offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse, who played against Watt this season. "For that position, there (aren't) a lot of guys who are as good of an athlete." There are none. And what Watt's athleticism and drive does, as Newhouse explained, is "makes you honest and makes you play every snap with great technique."
His story is against Cleveland, where in a game on Nov. 16, Watt shifted up and down the defensive line, beating every single Browns lineman at least once. In that game, Watt scored a touchdown, had a strip-sack, made five tackles (three for a loss), recovered a fumble and hurried Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer into several bad throws. On the year, he has 54 tackles, 11.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and five recovered fumbles. And three receiving touchdowns.
His story is Houston lore. In January 2012, he intercepted Andy Dalton and returned the pass for a touchdown, helping to give the franchise its first-ever playoff win. Watt was a rookie.
"One of the best moments of my life," he says now.
His story is historic. Watt is the first player in league history with three TD catches, an interception return for a score and a fumble return for a score in a single season. The only player to come within one TD catch of that combo was Jay Arnold 76 years ago, according to ESPN's statistical arm.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2288335-france-should-grant-legend-thierry-henry-a-farewell-appearance
No comments:
Post a Comment