J.J. Watt: Future Hall of Fame Defensive Lineman

25:12And that's when you're really doing something special. Growing up in family, what makes Pewaukee special? Everybody knows everybody. It's a tight-knit community. It's a small town. When I was in high school anyway, everybody came out to the football games. the football players went to the soccer games, we went to the volleyball games, we went to wrestling matches. We would all support each other. And to me, that was the coolest part of it all, was that we all knew each other, we all knew each other's families, and we all supported each other. And it honestly was a community. I think that that was one of the coolest parts of being from Pewaukee, and that's why I love, that's why my best friends today are still my high school friends, because of that community aspect.

25:53I was talking to your mom about this a little bit ago. So when she was pregnant with you, people thought she was pregnant with twins. What do you know about that? I just know I was a fatty coming out. So I was... They had to break your collarbone. Yeah. No, they had to break my collarbone. I was a chunky baby. I had pigeon toes, so they had to correct my feet or my legs. And I mean, I guess it all worked out okay because I'm here. But yeah, I was always a big... I know I was a big baby. Your dad played high school football. He was an all-conference wrestler. He and your uncle were firefighters or were firefighters.

26:37What do you remember from growing up being at the fire station? I remember not liking the fire station. No? No, I didn't like it because in my mind it always reminded me that my dad, you could lose your dad any day because he's putting himself in that line of fire every single day. He has to go into burning buildings. He has to go save people. And that always resonated with me as, you know, my dad could be gone any day. And so for me, I hated going there. I hated seeing the ambulance. I didn't want to go on the trucks. I didn't want to see any of it because I guess I had blocked it out of my mind.

27:14You know, it was just dad goes to work, dad comes home. You don't think about what actually happens on a day-to-day basis. And the older I got, the more I realized the risks and, you know, what he was doing. Did you ever say that to him or your mom? They knew I didn't like it. How did they know? Because we would usually want to take a picture in the fire truck or in the ambulance. The fire truck was cool. I was fine with the fire truck. The ambulance, I just never liked the ambulance. I still, to this day, hate ambulances. I don't want to be near one. I don't want to see one. I don't like it. It's just something that I've never liked from a young age because I always associate it with either death or injury or always negative thoughts, so I never wanted to be around it.

27:58So you were good at a variety of different sports. You played basketball, baseball, great at hockey until you were 13 years old. And then your dad said you picked up shot put. And eight weeks later, you win the high school state title championship. My dad, my senior year of high school, you know, my dad had held the shot put record at our high school since 1980. You know, I always saw it on the wall, you know, you'd walk past it. In my senior year, I was kind of like, let's see what I can do. Like, let's see if I can, how close I can get to my dad's record. So I literally, the first track practice of the year was my first time throwing a shot put.

28:39I was like, all right, let's see what happens. And I was average, you know, nothing great. But by the end of the year, I had made it to state and ended up winning state and crushing my dad's record. So it was good. What did your dad say? He was proud. He was excited. I think that by the end of the season, by how much I had beat his record by, I think the sting had worn off a little bit. But then my brothers came up behind me, and they were pushing the record. You know, Derek claims to have beat it, but he never did. And TJ threw it. I'm pretty sure he beat it. But it was fun. It created a fun little competition with our family.

29:15And Derek and TJ both had four years of doing it in high school. I only had eight weeks. So let's make sure we get that on the record. So you set the record with only eight weeks of experience. They did it all along. Yeah, they had technique. Yeah. Okay. But no, it was fun. I think it created a cool little family rivalry. And for me, it was a blast to do because track season is so fun and you get to interact with it. That was my favorite part about high school was just interacting with everybody else, whether it was at a track meet and you get to hang out and just enjoy each other's company with all the other athletes, or it's after a football game you go to the local diner at night and grab food, or after a Saturday morning practice you go get brunch with the guys.

29:52That was the best part to me. It's always the relationships and the fun. So there are three brothers, you, Derek, TJ. Derek's now in the NFL. TJ's will be in the NFL soon enough playing college football. right now. I mean, it had to be crazy when you guys were growing up, the three of you in your parents' house, wasn't it? Strong competition. There was always strong competition. It was, there was always fun because there was always somebody to play with, you know, whether it was mini sticks in the basement playing mini hockey or it was out in the front yard playing football or whatever it was, you always had somebody to compete with.

30:32And we were never really, I mean, of course, you have, you know, the brother moments where you beat up on each other and all that, But I think we were more loving and caring brothers than anything else. Nobody was going to mess with the three of us, and if anybody messed with one, they messed with all three. I think to this day that's why our bond is so strong is because we've always supported each other, and we all knew what each other's goals were. And so TJ will call me on any given day and ask, hey, I'm going to eat this. How can I make salmon because I want clean protein? I was thinking about this pass rush move.

31:04Can you help me with this pass rush move? or Derek will call him right before he got to San Diego. He's like, hey, what's rookie minicamp going to be like? How can I make the best impression? All these different things, and I think that's the coolest thing when I can talk to them and we can get each other's opinion on something. I think that's very rare. I hear there were pretty awesome backyard football games too because your backyard backed up to a couple others. Yeah, so we had plenty of kids in the neighborhood, and the backyards were set up perfectly for the distance and the width you needed.

31:36and there were some epic backyard battles, and I think those are some of the best memories. I mean, what could be so cool, too, is November 27, 2016, when the Chargers and Texans play. It's just like backyard football, except for, yeah. You're on defense, you're brothers on offense. It hasn't happened. That could be pretty crazy. It hasn't happened yet. Derek's gotten to play with TJ in high school and college. I never got to play with either of them, so it's going to be a lot of fun. Going into, I guess, your senior year of high school, you get mono. How does that affect your college stock? And then explain kind of the back and forth you went through with your college decision because of coaches leaving or getting fired.

32:19Well, I mean, obviously when you have mono, I couldn't participate in any camps. And, you know, at that time with recruiting, it was all about what you did in camp. And since I couldn't go to any camps, I didn't get a chance to prove myself to any coaches, didn't get a chance to go face to face with coaches. So that was tough. And it definitely put a damper on my recruiting process. And obviously you send out your game film, and I still was fortunate to get offers. But I feel like there could have been more. So I ended up committing to Central Michigan and Brian Kelly, sitting in his office, talking to him.

32:52And then I go home, and as soon as I land back in Wisconsin, I see Brian Kelly's going to Cincinnati. And I was like, whoa, man, that sucks. So I reopened up my commitment. That'd be crazy. I mean, literally. It's crazy, yeah. Literally, yeah, you're sitting in his office talking about, you know, big things and all these great things you want to accomplish. And then the next minute you're like, well, I guess those things are out the window. That was kind of my first real taste of college recruiting where, okay, this is a business. It's not. They're not buddy-buddy. It's not your family. This is a business.

33:26And so then I reopened my commitment. I visited a whole bunch of schools, ended up coming to Minnesota, Glen Mason. And they played Texas Tech in the bowl game, and they gave up like a 40-point comeback, and they ended up losing in overtime, like 44-41. And he got fired. So I'm sitting there like, man, this sucks. Both the coaches I was going to play for are leaving, so I go up and visit Minnesota. New coach there, I went up to the offices, and nobody really said hi or anything. Nobody really knew who I was. Nobody seemed to care who I was. So I was kind of like, oh, I don't think I'm going to fit in very well here because, you know, they don't even seem to care that I'm a commit or anything.

34:10So I reopened my commitment. And by that time, it was late in the process. I had already had relationships with some of the players at Central Michigan from committing previously. And so I recommitted to Central Michigan and back to Butch Jones because I wanted to start as a tight end as a freshman. That was my goal. And I did that. we won the MAAC championship I was a starting tight end it was cool like that's that was the dream but it was it wasn't exactly how I had the dream in my head because I was playing tight end in a spread offense and that's not exactly the ideal situation what if you could have the most reliable wi-fi at the same price for five years that's the Xfinity five-year price guarantee no annual contracts no hidden fees and our best equipment included plus get online in minutes with same-day Wi-Fi.

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35:33Unleash White Claw Surge. Please drink responsibly. Hard seltzer with flavors. 8 % alcohol by volume. White Claw Seltzer Works. Chicago, Illinois. Here's what's amazing to me. And I think it was even after your first game that you were playing tight end for Central Michigan that you knew it just wasn't the right fit. So you're willing to give up the scholarship at Central Michigan to, per NCAA rules, have to sit out a year only to then go to Wisconsin, to pay to go to college, and to not even be guaranteed a spot on the football team, have to walk on. So why take the risk? I mean, there's many reasons.

36:15I remember I came out of that first game. I was at Kansas when I was at Central Michigan. I came out of the stadium, my parents were outside the buses, and I looked them right and I said, can I transfer? And they said, what do you mean? I said, this isn't going to work. This isn't what I envisioned. This is not how I wanted my college career to go. I want bigger. I want better. And right there, we talked about transferring to Wisconsin and the fact that I would be giving up a full scholarship, giving up a starting position. I'd have to walk on, sit out a year. and they told me that they could afford to pay for one year.

36:51And they said if I was willing to do everything possible in my power to get a scholarship at Wisconsin, if I was willing to treat every single day like my Super Bowl, that they would fully support it. And I think that anybody else looking in that situation would be like, man, you're crazy. You're a starter on a MAAC championship team. You have a full scholarship. Why would you give that up? But in my head, it was a gamble on myself. I was willing to put all the chips in. I was willing to gamble everything I had on myself, knowing that nobody was going to stop me from accomplishing my goal. What would have happened if you didn't get a scholarship after that first year there?

37:28I would have had to drop out. I would have had to go get a job to either pay for college or get a job just to get a job. You know, like I said, we were a middle-class family. My parents couldn't pay for my whole college, especially a school like Wisconsin. So we would have had to figure out something else and I wouldn't have been able to play football. So that's I think that back to the wall mentality is really what makes me who I am. I love having my back to the wall. And even if my back's not against the wall, I think I find ways to make my back against the wall in my own head. I think that's one of my like, I don't know if it's a good quality or bad quality, but I find a way to put a chip on my shoulder.

38:04I know this has since become a famous story, but you did have to have a job during that time. And talk about the six months you spent as pizza delivery guy, and then when you delivered the pizza to a young kid who happened to know you as a football player. I did. I delivered pizzas for six months during that time. Not the worst job in the world. You know, you get to deliver pizzas, you get to drive around in your car listening to music. It's not that bad. And you make okay money. Yeah, you're making all right money. So it was pretty cool, and I had to gain weight at the time, so I was eating pizza on my break.

38:39It was great. That's just the way it went. But yeah, there was the moment where I did deliver to a family, and the little boy answered the door, and he looked up at me and was like, Mom, J.J. Watt's here. And I had to tell him, I have your pizza. And he just looked at his mom like, you know, why is J.J. Watt delivering our pizza, you know? And for me, it was one of those moments where I just was like, that kid's not supposed to look at me and think, how did this football player fall from grace? He's supposed to look at me like, that's J.J. Watt. Like, that's my idol. like he did look at me at first.

39:13And so I wanted that feeling back. And it was just kind of a reaffirming that what I was doing and the process I was going about was right and that everything that I was going to go through over the next year to get a scholarship, to play on the scout team, to work every single day, to sacrifice everything I had to sacrifice, that moment kind of said it's all going to be worth it. And the rest is obviously history. You end up getting drafted 11th overall by the Texans and on and on. I want to run through a few notable moments, some positive, some negative, and get you to recall the story. The first one being high school sophomore, your quarterback, and on the one-yard line.

39:53Yeah, I was homecoming, too. Yeah, I was playing quarterback for the homecoming game, one-yard line. One of my best friends to this day was the fullback. We called a rollout pass to the fullback in the flat. I faked the handoff, rolled out. Literally nobody within 10 yards of me, 10 yards of the fullback. He's standing in the end zone wide open. And I chucked it probably 10 yards over his head, like not even remotely close. And the guy is like, I don't know, maybe like 5 '8", so he wasn't going to jump and catch anything. And I launched it as far as you could launch it over his head, which was always my problem as a quarterback.

40:26I could make the deep throw all day. I could throw the ball down the field all day, but I couldn't throw a bubble screen. I couldn't throw a short little pass. So that was a terrible moment. and I think we all kind of said, okay, we should probably think about a new position here quickly. And I lost the quarterback battle next year and ended up playing tight end, defensive end. Six years from when you could play your brother in late November, Texans and Chargers, was November 27, 2010, Wisconsin's final home game. And the crowd starts chanting your name. That was one of the coolest experiences ever.

41:04You know, as a kid growing up in the state of Wisconsin, watching Badger games as a kid, you know, knowing how huge the Badgers are in Wisconsin. And then for my final game at Camp Randall Stadium, my last play, they weren't going to let me go out there because we were already winning big. And I said, just give me one more play. It was a new series and they were going to put all the back. I said, I just want one more play. Just please give me one more play. Because in the back of my mind, I kind of knew that it could be my last game. And I went out there. I got a tackle for loss. I came off the field and the whole place just started chanting my name.

41:38And to hear 83 ,000 people in your home state in a stadium that you've been in to watch other people before you and you've idolized some of the players that have gone before you, to hear the entire stadium chanting your name and to just kind of look around and be like, this is the most absurd thing I've ever seen. And, you know, it brings you to tears. It's emotional. You know, it was one of the coolest moments of my life because it was, when you look back at the transfer process or high school or anything, you just, that was, it made everything worth it. It made my whole life, my whole work, every ounce of sweat, every single, you know, piece of adversity that you had to go through to get there, it made everything worth it.

42:27Have you had a more emotional moment on the football field than that? There have been a few. You know, after that game, the crowd, they rushed the field. So the whole field was covered in people, all 80 ,000 people out on the field. And still have no clue how it happened, but I found my mom in the middle of the whole crowd. And we hugged and just hugged for, it felt like eternity. And just emotions pouring out, just, it was the coolest feeling ever. We won the Big Ten. We were going to the Rose Bowl. The whole crowd was chanting my name. It was just like, we made it. Thank you so much for believing in me when I left Central Michigan.

43:12Thank you so much for allowing me to chase my dreams. Thank you so much for making this possible. That moment was just like, everything we went through was worth it. So it's before the NFL draft. you're at an Indianapolis train station and run into the then Texans D-line coach? Bill Kolar. As soon as I left my meeting with Bill, I was like, well, I'm not going to get drafted by the Texans. Bill is a guy who, he tells it like it is. He tries to get underneath your skin a little bit, and he just wants to see how you react to things. So Bill came up to me in that train station at the combine. He was like, hey, you think you play hard?

43:56And I was like, yeah, I play hard. He was like, like, you think you really give it everything you have on the field? I was like, yeah, I give, I give everything I have on the field. He goes, you're a liar. And I'm like, what do you mean? It's like, I give everything I have on the field. He goes, bulls**t. He goes, I've watched your film. He goes, I guarantee you can play harder than that. You can try harder than that. And I was like, God, like I'm, I give everything I have. It's like, that's kind of like my thing. Like I give everything I have on the field. And he was like, if you come play for me, you're going to give every single thing that you have.

44:31And I was like, yeah, that's what I do. He's like, not that Wisconsin bullsh**. He's like, you're going to give me everything you have. I was like, all right. And we went our separate ways, and I was like, well, probably check the Texans off because that guy doesn't seem to like me at all. And then I obviously ended up getting drafted, and I kind of found out that was his thing he did with everybody just to see how you handle it. Hated him for the first year I was ever with the Texans. Like, I hated him because he's hard on rookies. That's just what he does. He's very hard on rookies. He wants to get the absolute most out of you that he can.

45:03But now I love the guy. I mean, he's one of my closest friends. I love him to death because he pushes you beyond where you think you can go, and he does truly get the best out of you. So I do love him to this day. How true is it that you still keep a video file of the Texans fans booing the team? after they draft you? Yeah, I have it on my phone. I have it on my computer. I have that because I remember. You remember how quickly things can turn in this league. You remember how fragile fame and success is. When they drafted me, the whole place booted. The whole city kind of wondered who I was. They wanted somebody else.

45:46They booted. And I remember when I got to the airport in Houston And the guy at the airport line when I was going through security saw I was wearing a Texans shirt and he was like, he was like, hey, you see, you Texans fan? I said, yeah. He said, I hope that big white guy that they drafted is good. And I kind of looked at him. I couldn't tell if he was serious. And he literally had no clue who I was. And I was like, yeah, I hope so too. And he just went on my way. And so, like, I'll always remember that. I'll always remember the fans booing me. I'll always remember people wondering if I'd be good.

46:19And my whole goal when I saw that for the first time was, I'm going to change this city's mind. I'm going to do everything I can to take this city from hating the draft pick to hopefully loving me. How much did it bother you at the time? It didn't really bother me because I understood where they were coming from. I mean, I was. I was a big white kid from Wisconsin that they didn't know a lot about. That was considered a safe draft pick and a draft full of studs. I mean, there were a lot of big names in our draft. I left a lot of guys from big schools that had a lot of credentials that were a lot flashier names than I was.

46:52And so I understood. I wasn't going to get mad at them for wanting somebody else. So prior to the start of the 2014 season, you signed a$100 million contract. Why did you take to Google? To figure out what to do with that. It was me and Taylor, who you know. He was down here when I signed the contract. and I came home from work that day and he was hanging out of my house and I told him I was like we did it like we got a deal done and he was like what'd you get I was like a hundred million dollars what did he say and we both just looked at like he's from Pewaukee I'm from Pewaukee we've been friends forever and we both just kind of like looked at each other like we got like I got a hundred million dollars.

47:38It was just the craziest, stupidest grin, like, just like, this is the most absurd thing ever. And we were like, what do you do with that? And so we went online. We literally went to Google and we're like, what do rich people buy? And, you know, we came across the yachts and jets and cars. And I was like, I gotta buy something. I was like, you almost have to buy something. And we literally went through lists and lists and we're like, nah, there's nothing, nothing I need. And now, obviously, I'm fortunate enough to have some cool things, but still, I don't know if I've really done anything terribly outlandish.

48:16I know your mom's very involved in your finances and accounting. Why was that important to you? Because she'll always keep me grounded. She'll always make sure I'm not doing anything stupid. She is the, you know, she worked her way up from being a secretary at her company to being the vice president of her company. She is so organized, she's so smart, she's so well versed in so many different aspects of life. For her to be looking over me, nobody else has my best interests in mind the way that a mom does. So she is the number one person I always go to for anything because she wants what's best for me first.

48:56In a world where everybody wants a piece of you, everybody wants your money, everybody wants your name, everybody wants to use you, So there's really only two people that truly have the best interest for me at heart out there, and that's my mom and dad. So that's why I go to them for everything. What do you think they taught you about money growing up? Be smart with it because it doesn't last forever. You know, I think as we went along throughout this process and as we kind of started to realize that I may have a chance to make a lot of money, they kind of taught me what's important in life and what matters and what doesn't matter.

49:33You know, I think we kind of realized that I want to make sure I took care of myself, my family, and then set myself up for success in the future because we know the stats. Like, we know that whatever it is, 87 % of NFL players are divorced or broke within three years. So I want to make sure I set myself up and my future kids up for success, and that's what we're doing now. Present day, how difficult is it to have privacy? Very difficult. It's extremely difficult. And I'm doing everything I can to try and keep that privacy. What are some of the things you have to do now? I mean, it's a gate on the house to having your address under a different name, to having to go in back doors of restaurants, to having to put your, you know, to fly privately, to have everything you do, you have to try and be conscious of it.

50:25Because you don't want to, it's not that I don't want to see fans. I love fans. Like, it's my favorite thing. But there's just things when you have to get something done, you literally can't take the time because you have to get somewhere, you have to be somewhere, you have to do something. So there's nothing better to me than when I get to interact with fans. But there are a few times where I just need that time where I'm supposed to accomplish something. So you have to find ways to do it. The strangest fan interaction you've ever had would be what? It was actually the charity softball game. One year, this woman had me sign her pregnant belly.

50:58She was pregnant, and she was like, sign my belly. And I was like, that's probably one of the weirdest things I've ever signed. So I signed her belly, and then the next year at the charity softball game, I took a picture with the kid. That's kind of cool. Yeah, so that was pretty cool. I liked that one. I thought that was really neat. But there's been a lot of weird stuff. It's pretty crazy. Did the post office once reach out to you out of concern for some package they delivered? Yeah, the post office reached out, talked about basically making sure that it was safe and everything. I mean, the fan mail between the stadium, my house, the foundations, P.O.

51:34box, everything. You literally try and keep up with it as best you can, but you can't. it'd be, you'd have to work 24 hours a day just to sign and send everything back. So then social media. Yeah. I mean, all, everything. And so I'm very fortunate to have a great team between, you know, my agent, my mom, um, the people in my life, they really helped me out so much in making sure that I let those fans know that I care and that I appreciate them and not like I'm abandoning them because, uh, I try and do everything that I can. I try and accomplish everything that I can for the fans because I know that the reason I have a job is because of those fans.

52:09That's why I get a contract to play football. If there were no fans, I wouldn't have a job. So I'm very thankful for that. How often would fans show up at your old house? A couple times a week. They'd show up a couple times a week. Now people drive by my house a couple times a week and they take photos outside the gate and they stop and they look in. And so even when you're private, it's not private. But you know, you just do the best you can. Tell about the what turned into an annual Halloween you know the thing that you had and then the last year when the neighbors asked you to shut it down.

52:45Well I love giving out candy and my first year in the NFL I was so excited because you know you have a contract and you're making a lot of money so you can hand out like lots of candy to the kids and I you know you wouldn't just give like little pieces of candy you give like you always remember the house on the Like when I was a kid, you always remember which house gives out the best candy. The biggest candy bar is the king size. So what I did, I went to the store and I bought, you know how they have like the sleeve of fun size, like eight in one pack. So I bought the whole box of each type of candy and I just gave out the whole sleeve.

53:16I was like, here, just take it all. Maybe a bad move looking back. Yeah, looking back, it was awful because all of a sudden, like the second half of the night, I saw the same kids in different costumes. I saw people driving in from out. So my first year was the best because I could keep it kind of low key. And then the second year got crazy and by the third year, my neighbors came to me and they were like, hey, I think we should talk about Halloween. I was like, oh boy. And they didn't want me to do it. So one, they, it's absurd. So I agreed, I was like, I won't hand out candy. And it sucked. I really wanted to, but, you know, I had my entire neighborhood was like, hey, man, like, you probably shouldn't do it.

53:59Like, all right. So they literally, my neighborhood has two entrants, one entrance, one exit. They set up cars to block the entrance to my neighborhood and to block the exit. So nobody was allowed in. Nobody was allowed out in my neighborhood. So I told them, all right, I'll leave from 6 o 'clock till 9 o 'clock. So I left. Whatever is fine. I come back at 9 o 'clock when I said I was going to come back. and I pull into my neighborhood. I'm probably a mile away from my house at least and I see all these cars lined up on the side of the road. I'm like, what? Is somebody having a party or something?

54:33And they just keep going. And I pull up and literally people parked their cars for over a mile outside of my neighborhood and walked in and there was just loads of people outside of my house taking pictures of my truck, taking pictures outside. I got to my front door and there was probably a four-foot-high stack of things that people left, whether it was books or notes. Somebody left a note on the door, and on the back of it was their MapQuest directions from five hours away, from north of Dallas. They drove all the way down to get candy at my house. So it's pretty crazy. But that's why, I mean, I have the best fans in the world.

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56:01So go on. Make it melt. Make it craveable. Make it indulgent. Velveeta. Respect the drip. Visit Velveeta.com slash Easter for some recipe inspiration. So you said not too long ago, and this is a quote, you're, quote, actually focusing on working hard at having more fun. Yeah. Why? I'm trying to enjoy everything that comes with being in the NFL and being who I am, you know. Like I talked about with Taylor, you know, there's no point in getting to the top if you don't enjoy the view. why put in all the work, why put in all the time if you're not going to actually enjoy and reap the benefits of it.

56:42So I do have to remind myself sometimes, like, let's, you know, let's have some fun. Let's relax for a second. Let's enjoy ourselves. So I think I've gotten a whole lot better at balancing work and fun. And I think that's the one thing. Just from having a a better routine, tweaking my routine to working out, figuring out how to work out around an event as opposed to not doing an event or something fun. Just so many different ways where I let myself have a little bit more fun. So before, if you needed to work out, you just wouldn't go to the fun event, whereas now you... Right, so my buddy just had a wedding in Philadelphia, and I was the best man at his wedding.

57:28And whether, you know, two days in a row we ran the Rocky stairs or you're doing work out of local high school, you're doing something like that. Whereas before it might have been just like, no, I can't I can't make it because I got this going on or that going on. Now I'm trying to like, OK, let's let's do this. Let's have some fun. But I'll still get my work in. What do you think you've had to sacrifice in your personal life for your career? In-depth relationships. I think that I wish I got more time to spend with my family and my friends. I wish I could make everybody's birthday party and having a kid and everything, graduations and marriages and weddings.

58:10I wish I could do everything, but I can't. And I think that's probably the number one thing that I do miss out on is missing big moments in people's lives because of my life. But I look at the flip side of that and all the cool things that we've gotten to do because of this life and all the trips to Ireland that I get to take with my buddies because of this life. So one thing I'll always say is the pros will outweigh the cons 100 times out of the 100 in my life. To what extent, though, does it feel like to you you've missed out on some of that social stuff? You know, it doesn't feel... This has always been my goal.

58:46Everybody who's known me since high school has known this has been my goal. So I don't feel like I've missed out on that much because I've done everything to accomplish my goals. This is what I committed to doing. This is the life that I chose. So I'm not going to sit here and say, you know, if I could do it all over again, I would do it differently, because I wouldn't. I want to be here. I want to be in the position I'm in, and it's worked. How hard does it make dating? Very hard. I don't think it's just my work schedule that makes it hard. I think it's having your salary printed on the front page of the newspaper.

59:18I think it's having the whole world watch your every move and any female you're ever seen with is automatically your girlfriend. I think anything, you know, bringing a girl into this life and the scrutiny and the criticism that comes with it, no matter how perfect the girl is, people are going to rip her to shreds because that's the social media world we live in today. I think that you have to be so careful about that. So it's not just on my end. It's about bringing somebody in that can handle that as well. What does J.J. Watt look for in women? Personality. I think for me, the biggest thing is football is going to end someday for me.

59:56It won't last forever, and the fame and the fortune and everything kind of goes away. So for me, it's about somebody that I can sit on the couch with on a Saturday night, order a pizza with, and just we can make each other laugh. I think the coolest thing about a relationship when it's truly special is you don't need anybody else to have fun. You can find something in each other. You can find whether it's deep conversation with each other about serious topics or it's just completely messing around and having a laugh with each other. I think that's so important. It has to be somebody that you, when those two people make each other better, like I want to help enhance her life and I want her to help enhance my life.

1:00:33And I think when I find that, that's when I really know that I have found the one is somebody that I truly want to spend every single day with and I can't wait to get home and talk to. The best female celebrity that because of your success you've gotten to meet would be who? Jennifer Aniston, yeah, hands down. She's been my only, she was always my only celebrity crush. She was my, you know, I don't get starstruck. I don't get, I'm just not that guy. Like, I don't get that excited about celebrities because I realize they're regular people. But she was always the one that I was like, she'd be cool to meet.

1:01:06So take me through it from when you first run into her. We were at CAA at the offices and they said she was in the building. Your agency. Yeah, my agency. And they said she was in the building. So I immediately started sweating. And... Like legitimately sweating? I mean, it was one of those moments where like, it's basically be like in high school when like, they say your crush is in your class and you're like, oh, I better look good. And so you immediately like, how do I look? Like, do I wear what? You didn't get to pick an outfit or anything. Like, do I look good? Do I not look good? Do I need to do my hair?

1:01:37Like, what do I need to do? and they were like yeah we're gonna you're gonna go meet her in a little bit so then you start freaking out what do I say like do I hug her do I shake her hand what like how does this go what what happens here and we went in I met she was so incredibly nice she was sweet we took a photo together we talked a little bit chatted and it was awesome how'd you do I did okay I didn't do great. Did you feel like your nerves were showing? I felt like a fan. I felt like a fan. Okay. Yeah. Which I've always, like I've never, I've never really felt like that before, but I felt like a fan and I kept it together.

1:02:18I didn't, I don't think I was shaking or anything, so I think it was okay. Speaking of celebrities, dinner with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yeah. Tell about that. No, he's, he's become a good friend. It's kind of crazy how it all happened, you know, he. How did it come about? We met at the CMT Awards just kind of on a whim. We happened to be in the same vicinity at the awards we met. And now we've hung out probably four or five times over the last year. And he's become a good friend. And it's just a fun, for me, I bounce all different things off of him, whether it's weightlifting tips or business. And we just shoot the breeze.

1:02:54And it's kind of cool. As a kid growing up, you know Arnold Schwarzenegger. So it's kind of neat. What was the first dinner like with him? The first dinner, when we actually had dinner, was at his house. It was cool. We talked about just everything, just random stuff. We talked about, you know, he has a lot of pets, like animals. We talked about everything from his time in office as governor to his weightlifting career to football to all different things. So it was really cool. What's the best advice he's given you? We just talk about, like, just silly stuff. Like, as far as advice goes, we talk about...

1:03:28What was the most interesting conversation? The most interesting conversation was definitely we were talking about his, he's a pet pig, a pot-bellied pig and a pet donkey. And they teamed up together to figure out how to open up their five gallon bucket of food. So like the donkey knocked it off the shelf and then the pig, or the donkey, and then the donkey backed it up into a corner and then the pig used his snout to twist off the top. And then all the food came out and they would eat the food together. So that was mind blowing to me, it was pretty funny. So speaking of food, your workouts and diet, how's your diet evolved over the years?

1:04:03It's gotten a lot better. I think that's the best part about going from college to the NFL. In college, you're on a scholarship check. You're on kind of that limited amount of money to spend. So you have to make sure you get your rent paid. You have to make sure you have, you know, your utilities and everything. And then you have whatever's left is for food. So you just eat whatever you can afford in college. And then once you get to the NFL, your finances obviously change and you're able to afford to eat properly, to eat the nutrition that you need as an athlete. So over the course of my NFL career, I've learned a lot.

1:04:33I've changed my diet a lot. And I think that's why I've leaned out so much. I'm the same weight as I was when I came into the league, but I'm a lot leaner now because I can eat properly. Your buddy was telling me that when you lived with him for a while not too long ago, the grocery bills would be$300,$400 a week. He's like, this is absurd. How often do you eat? I eat probably, I mean, honestly, I eat probably seven to eight times a day. It's about every, I don't know, maybe hour and a half, two hours, depending on the schedule. But I'm always eating. Like, whether it's in between a meeting, in a meeting, immediately before practice, after practice, I'm always eating.

1:05:11He was telling me for breakfast you would have every morning half a dozen over-easy eggs, oatmeal, and yogurt? Yeah, my breakfast, I eat two breakfasts every morning. I eat probably, on average, about 10, 12 eggs a day. But yeah, for my normal first breakfast in the morning, it's five eggs over medium, not over easy. So he got that wrong. Two pieces of wheat toast, whole wheat toast, oatmeal. I just found this new oatmeal that I really liked. It's a lot healthier than some of the other oatmeal. yogurt and then milk water and orange juice and then apple banana that's that I mean that's your machine yeah you got to fuel the machine you know I think that's a big miss misconception is you know you can't you can't go on and do a full day of activities without with an empty stomach you have to have you have to be able to fuel what you're trying to do what's the off-season workout schedule entail?

1:06:14Well this season's been a bit different because I had surgery. So normally in an off-season workout schedule I'll work out six days a week with four of them being two days. So this year I've transitioned it a little bit. I work out six days a week with three of them being two days because my trainers and everybody told me I need to back it off. So I took one one second workout off. Okay. Just so I could tell them I was backing it off but that's like their big thing right now is everybody's trying to tell me to take it a little bit easier on the workouts slow down a little bit and your body's trying to tell you you need a little bit more rest but i only know one way i got here by working hard and i'm going to ask you about the injury and the remaining moments we have but just to close the loop on the workouts uh tell a little bit about this what's since become famous box jump and how high you got Yeah, you know, the first time we ever did the box jump was my rookie, before my rookie year in the league.

1:07:09I think it was, I was going into the draft and we were training and doing box jumps and I did 55 and a half inches my first time. And that was crazy. Like the whole gym, we all went nuts because that was wild. And then every year that kind of just became the phenomenon. I was like, let's see how high we can get. And I think it went to 57 and 59 and then finally I hit 61 inches, which is five feet, one inches. and I mean it's crazy. The box jump as an actual workout you really don't need to go any higher than you know maybe 42 inches just to get the explosive aspect of it. You don't need the extra height because you're just it's the explosion off the ground but it became something that I could you know physically see how high I could get and you had a quantifiable number to attain.

1:07:55Right and this isn't like a running jump this is you're right in front of the box. Yeah, and I think that's, you know, you get a lot of people now to try and send me videos like, look, I beat you. I'm like, no, you didn't. You ran or you took a step. Like, you have to literally be standing completely still and just jump straight up. What do you remember from when some other random trainer was bragging to you about how he flipped the 1 ,100-pound tire more times than you did? I remember I've known the trainer for a long time, so we were, you know, we always bust each other a little bit. And he was telling me, I think he said he did it nine times, I want to say.

1:08:32And I was like, oh, nine times. That's impressive. That's a big tire. Congratulations. But you aren't really thinking that at the time. And then I'm thinking, okay, I can do it more than nine times. And I wanted to outdo him. So I outdid him. And then it became a thing like, okay, let's see how many I can get. And 65 ended up being the number. And that was because Brad wouldn't let me go anymore. Brad being your longtime trainer. Yeah, my trainer, yeah. based in Wisconsin. But I firmly believe I could have done 100 that day. What role has Brad Arnett played in your life? He's, besides my appearance, I think that Brad has played probably the biggest role.

1:09:09He took a skinny 15-year-old high school sophomore who was a quarterback, and he taught me mentally. He taught me physically. He mentored me. He was like a brother, a friend, a trainer, a father all wrapped into one. And he helped transform me into what I am today. And that's why I still work with him today after 10 years. And that's why I'll always work with him, because he knows me better than I know myself sometimes. And I can go to him with anything, and he is just an absolute master at what he does. It took a long time for him to attend one of your NFL games, And I think he was telling me the reasoning was because he just didn't want to get in the way.

1:10:00I'm unsure if you're aware of this, but, you know, I was talking to him yesterday, and he got really choked up when telling about how special that moment was for him, the first game, attending, and how, you know, you went out of your way to be great to him. How much of it all does that surprise you? Well, he's always been like a closet emotional guy. He's so passionate and he's so committed to what he does. So that's why the emotions run so deep. And that's why people love him. That's why everybody who trains there loves him, because he cares so much. And he doesn't care about anything. He doesn't care about marketing his business.

1:10:48He doesn't care about any of that. He just cares about the people that are there and making them the best they can possibly be. and that's why our relationship runs so deep and I think that's why that moment was so special because that was I mean he sees me in the gym every day and we we joke around we mess around with each other but when you actually go to a stadium and you see it what your work did I think it was pretty special. The injury I understand I mean you went through some pretty dark times in the off season and even question if you were done why this episode is brought to you by state farm listening to this podcast smart move being financially savvy smart move another smart move having state farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling just another way to save with a personal price plan like a good neighbor state Farm is there.

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1:12:06And some of us will stop at nothing to get it. Ready? The Countdown is complete. There's no going back. Dr. Rectiv is clear. Hang on! Tron Aries, now streaming on Disney+. Rated PG-13. I think when you're an athlete, and you're an elite athlete, and you have been able to do whatever you want with your body throughout your whole career, you know, if you want to make a cut, you make a cut. If you want to jump, you jump. If you want to run fast, you run fast. When you've been able to do anything you want and then that's taken away from you. It makes you question everything. You know when you have to learn how to walk like walk properly again when you have to learn how to run again when you have to learn how to cut again that makes you question everything about you as a person everything about you as an athlete and there were moments where I legitimately did not know if I would physically be able to play football again and then there were moments where I didn't know if I wanted to play again because of everything that came along with it.

1:13:12But what it gave me was a fresh mindset and a fresh perspective because every year, you know, I was climbing a mountain and, you know, whether it's winning defensive player of the year, whatever it is, you're at the top of that mountain. So the offseason, you go back down the mountain a little bit, but I never let myself go too far down the mountain. So then it was just reclimbing back to the top and maybe a little higher. This time with the surgery, I'm all the way back at the base of the mountain. And I've never had to climb the full mountain really since the beginning of everything. So for me, it's a chance for me to climb the whole mountain again.

1:13:46It's a chance for me to have new challenges for new, almost like I'm a rookie again. I get to redo everything that I've ever done and refight every battle I've ever had to fight. And for me, that's exciting. Not that being successful and not that it got easy, but I love a challenge and my back's against the wall again. When you're questioning if you'll be able to play again or even if you wanted to play again, take me to that mental space and what you were thinking about at that time. It was awful, you know. There were complications, so I was only supposed to be in the surgery room for 45 minutes and I was in there for two and a half hours because they found more wrong than we thought.

1:14:27I was supposed to be able to walk normally within a couple days and I couldn't walk normally for weeks. I was supposed to be able to start training again in a month, and I couldn't train again for longer than that. So it was just a scary time because nothing has ever really gone that wrong for me. Even when I dislocated my elbow and tore all the ligaments in my elbow, I played a game four weeks later. With this, I had no control. I couldn't control how fast the surgery took. I couldn't control how fast I healed. So it really messed with my mind. And it was the first time that I felt like I couldn't control how I was going to be as an athlete.

1:15:07So it really messed with my head. And I was sitting in a hotel room in Philadelphia for like 10 or 12 days. All you do is sit, lay in that hotel room in pain. And your only job is to try and walk because you're supposed to be able to walk for your rehab. And I couldn't even do that. And so then you start to question everything. Tell me about one of the calls you made to your trainer Brad from that Philadelphia hotel room. I was bad. I mean, I was in a bad place mentally, physically. I just honestly didn't know if I would be able to come back because your core is everything in football. I mean, you have to use your core for literally every movement on the field.

1:15:44And I literally couldn't get out of bed by myself. I couldn't walk by myself.

1:15:51I don't think it was necessarily not being able to. I think it was them telling me that I would be okay to walk in a couple days, and then a week goes by and I'm still not walking right. And why was it? It was a more invasive surgery than expected. There were a lot more things wrong and a lot more things that need to be reconnected than we thought, and so it just took a while. And whether it was a nerve getting messed up or whatever, It just took a long time. How difficult was it to surrender to the fact that once you started working out again, you weren't going to immediately be able to do what you were used to?

1:16:29It was the worst because, I mean, I'm a stubborn guy, so I hate admitting things. And so when my workouts started again and I had to do lesser workouts than I normally did to get back to where I was, I hated it. I mean, I wanted to go and do the heavy weights and run the fast sprints and do everything. and they all just, everybody from Brad to the Texan experience, you know, just slow down. Like, we got time. And now I'm back to doing everything I've done before. So it's, I'm glad that we did it that way. I'm glad that they forced me to relax. And I think in the end, this will all be beneficial for me because it's going to give my body, it gave my body a chance to rest.

1:17:04And it said, hey, you need to take some time, just relax, let your body recover. So I think in the end, it's going to be a really good thing. I want to end on this because you are, I mean, despite being at the top of the NFL, kind of a big kid. And we've, over the past hour and a half or so, heard about the various points of your life and your story to success. If some kids watching this and kind of doubting themselves and their ability, what advice would you give? I think the first piece of advice that I would give would be to enjoy where you are now. I think as even here in the NFL today, if I could go back to high school and relive my high school days, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

1:17:50Because it was one of the most fun times of my life and the relationships that you build and the people that you're around every single day, that's the most important thing ever. So I think it's learn to enjoy and embrace where you are in life right now. And then the other thing I would say is to make the most out of every single moment of every day. One of the best things somebody told me once was, look at your day in 10-minute increments. Write down on a piece of paper your day and every 10 minutes what you did for that 10 minutes. And then look at how many of those 10-minute increments you wasted.

1:18:20And then sit down for the next day and figure out how you're going to waste less 10-minute increments. So the more productive you can make your day, the more effective you can make your day, the better you're going to be in the end. And if you're looking to make a big dream come true, start with the big dream. What's your biggest dream? I mean, if it's playing in the NFL, it's playing in the NFL. Okay, how do I get there? Well, I'd probably get drafted. That would be better than not drafted. How do you get drafted? Getting drafted in the first round is my best option. So what did the top defensive man in the first round get?

1:18:50What was his 40 time? How big was he? How fast was he? How strong was he? Okay, how do I accomplish those numbers? Well, I need to get in the weight room. Okay, so how can I get in the weight room and improve my speed, my agility, my strength today? What can I do today to improve that? Well, it's going to also involve nutrition. So how can I eat properly? So it's a process. You take the big dream and you break it down to its simplest form. What can I do today to make myself better? And once you break everything down into that and you do those things, that's when you have big time success. It's not about just chasing a massive dream.

1:19:26It's about what are you going to do today to make your dream come true? Really a pleasure. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. That does it for my chat with J.J. Watt. To see video clips from our day with JJ in Houston, including attending a celebrity softball game at Minute Maid Park that featured Roger Clemens and Houston Texans players, head to youtube.com slash Graham Bensinger and give us a rating and review if you get a chance. Thanks again for listening.