Watt will be remembered for being one of the best defensive players to ever play the game. But he also put points on the board while playing on offense.
HOUSTON — It’s the end of an era in the NFL as J.J. Watt announced his retirement Tuesday via social media. Watt was a key figure both on and off the field, with most of his career taking place in Houston.
While Watt will be remembered for stopping other teams score touchdowns, the future Hall-of-Famer scored plenty of them, too, during his career.
We’re looking back at the times Watt put points on the board, some while playing defense and some on offense.
We’ll start with Watt’s first pick-six – a playoff game in January 2012 against Andy Dalton and the Bengals. Watt’s touchdown broke a 10-10 tie, giving Houston the lead. They would go on to rout Cincinnati, 31-10.
But it was in 2014 that Watt really became a scoring machine. Watt found the end zone five times that season. Two came on the defensive side of the ball. He had an amazing 80-yard pick-six against the Colts that season and also returned a fumble 45 yards against Indianapolis.
The other three touchdowns that season happened when Watt lined up as a receiver. The Raiders, Browns and Titans couldn’t stop No. 99 from finding the end zone.
That season, Watt won Defensive Player of the Year and finished second in MVP voting.
Watt also found the end zone again in a Thanksgiving Day game in 2020 when he picked off the Lions’ Matthew Stafford and rumbled 19 yards for the score.
Watt and Kealia Ohai announced the birth of their first child, Koa James Watt, on Oct. 23, 2022.