The Watt brothers are full of great athletic talent and supported by a father who is a former sportsman, they have no option than to succeed and create a dynasty in American football. Born and raised in Pewaukee Wisconsin, a community that boasts of about 13,000 inhabitants, the brothers grew up playing the game they love and have inevitably landed in the NFL. Interestingly, football was a second alternative to Watt’s sports clan. They started off as hockey players but couldn’t forge ahead because of the cost of equipment and travel, however, the brothers have fared even better with football as they are exemplary in their different playing positions.
How many are the Watt Brothers
The Watt Brothers consist of three brothers playing actively in the National Football League. They are Justin James Watt (J.J), Trent Jordan Watt (T.J), and Derek Watt, sons of Connie, who was a building operation vice president and John Watt, who was a firefighter for 25 years.
Beyond family, football has United the brothers even more as all of them played college football at the University of Wisconsin. A notable event occurred in 2015 when Derek joined T. J in his club, The Steelers. But this wasn’t the first time the brothers have each other’s back in the same team, as J.J had earlier played with Derek for the Badgers.
Later, an envious J.J was seen wearing a Steelers hat around the house and he was captured on camera by T.J, who promised not to leak the photo to the media. It’s obvious that he also wanted to be on the same team with his brothers although it’s highly unlikely that the Texans will be letting him go anytime soon. It would be interesting to watch them compete against each other as opposing teams because it would surely be a memorable game.
JJ Watt
Meanwhile, J.J is the oldest of the brothers and is undoubtedly the most prominent of the trio. Born on March 22, 1989, J.J is an all-round sportsman and has played several sports at the Pewaukee High school, including hockey, baseball and other track and field events. The Watt family is legendary in the shot put game at Pewaukee High school. J.J broke a previous record held by his father John, with a throw of 59ft 11.5 inches during the WIAA Division II Championship held in 2007. He has earned several accolades in football in his senior years such as the Woodlands Conference player of the year award, and the most valuable player title after pulling a total of 399 receiving yards, 26 catches and 5 touchdowns.
Afterwards, J.J was given a scholarship at the Central Michigan University where he played tight end under coach Butch Jones. Not satisfied with his playing position, J.J moved to the University of Wisconsin where he played the defensive end and was named Wisconsin’s Scout Team Player of the Year in the 2008 season. In 2010, AP and Sports Illustrated named him the MVP and voted him into the Second Team All American, All-Big Ten first-team, and Academic All-Big Ten.
The oldest among the Watt brothers chose to forgo his senior year and entered the 2011 NFL Draft. He was picked by the Texans in the 11th overall pick and soon proved to be a valuable defensive player to the team, finishing his rookie year with 48 solo tackles, eight assisted tackles and 5.5 sacks.
Derek Watt
Derek is the middle sibling of the three brothers and with no less an impressive play as any of his brothers. He was born on November 7, 1992, and is the football fullback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Derek was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the sixth round of the 2016 draft of the NFL. His football career started from High school when he played football for the Pewaukee High school.
Furthermore, he was part of the football team at the University of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2015. After playing for the Chargers, Derek signed up with the Pittsburgh Steelers in March 2020 which means that he and his brother T.J are now on the same team. As expected, the development left a nostalgic feeling with J.J, who considers it a disadvantage in a siblings-rivalry kind of way. “Well this is very unfortunate in regards to the race for “favorite uncle” for Derek’s son Logan…” he said, “Also seems to put me at a severe disadvantage in the “Mom & Dad’s favorite team” category”.
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TJ Watt
Last but not least is T.J, the last of the Watt Brothers, who also made a career kick-start with the Pewaukee High school and the University of Wisconsin football teams. Born on October 11, 1994, T. J was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, 30th overall. He is an outside linebacker for the team although he played college football as a tight end player for the Wisconsin Badgers.
Moreover, T. J suffered a knee injury which kept him off the field for a long while but he later recovered and returned to his game. Regarded as one of the best pass rushers in the NFL with an AFC high tally of 14.5 sacks and a League-high 8 forced tumbles, and ranked #25 on the NFL top 100 players of 2020, T. J has been an exceptional player and has recorded various achievements with the club in his three seasons with them.
Interesting Facts about the Watt Brothers
1. All of the Watt Brothers played football for the Pewaukee high school and college football for the University of Wisconsin.
2. Their first love was hockey but they switched over to football because of lack of funds.
3. J. J is a well-known philanthropist. He helped to raise $37 million to assist the city of Houston recovery from the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey.
4. Both T. J and Derek now play for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL after Derek signed a three year $9.57 million contract with the club.
5. Derek’s full name is Derek John Watt, but he would rather not be called his initials ( D. J) because he doesn’t like it.
6. Back in his undergraduate days, J.J took a pizza delivery job with Pizza Hut in order to raise some money.
7. Their father, John Watt’s record shot of 54ft 5 ½ was unmatched at Pewaukee, but it was later shattered by J.J with a throw of 59ft 11.5 inches. Six years later, T.J claimed the record with a 60 ½ throw.
8. J.J Watt is married to professional soccer player Kealia Ohia, the couple got engaged in 2019 and tied the knot on February 15, 2020, in the Bahamas.