Ian Eagle can’t stop gushing about J.J. Watt’s rookie broadcasting season

Ian Eagle has worked with plenty of Hall of Fame players during his 27 years calling NFL games for CBS. He knows what makes some succeed in broadcasting while others flame out. And based on his comments this week, J.J. Watt exceeded every expectation Eagle had going into the 2025 season.

“It was amazing — truly,” Eagle said during an appearance on BetMGM Tonight with Brad Evans and Pat Boyle. “He is as good a dude as you think he would be, but despite all the accomplishment, despite the accolades, despite the fact that he’s going to the Hall of Fame, despite the fact that — as you said — he stands out from a physical standpoint, he is as humble a person as I’ve been around and I think that’s what makes him so good on the air.”

“𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐛𝐞…”

Ian Eagle joins @NoisyHuevos & @PatBoyle44 to give flowers and share his experience working with @JJWatt. pic.twitter.com/77lAlz8ApL

— BetMGM Tonight (@BetMGMTonight) January 8, 2026

Eagle highlighted Watt’s curiosity, his willingness to ask questions, and — maybe most importantly — his work ethic. Too many Hall of Fame players assume credibility carries over to television. They don’t ask questions because they think they already have the answers. Watt went the opposite direction.

What surprised Eagle most, though, was something viewers wouldn’t fully grasp unless they watched the pair together every week.

“He can hang on pop culture, entertainment,” Eagle continued. “He can rally with me or Evan [Washburn] on a myriad of topics, and it’s not just limited to football talk all the time. He’s the perfect blend. He was even beyond what I thought it could be, which I thought could be really enjoyable. It went beyond it because he just brought his A-game every week, and he wanted to be great at this. And he is great at it, and he’s going to be great at it for a long time.”

Watt’s ascent happened quickly. CBS didn’t initially plan on breaking up Eagle and Charles Davis, who had worked together since 2020 and ranked fifth in Awful Announcing’s 2024 NFL announcer rankings. But when Gary Danielson announced his retirement after 36 seasons, Davis jumped to CBS’s lead college football role, leaving Eagle without a partner.

CBS promoted Watt from his studio role on The NFL Today to fill the void. Eagle wasn’t consulted about the decision beforehand, though the two had called a Netflix Christmas Day game together that apparently went well enough for the network to move forward.

The early signs looked promising. Before the season even kicked off, Eagle was already talking about Watt like a veteran broadcaster rather than a rookie learning on the job. The preparation stood out immediately. So did Watt’s willingness to take the job seriously rather than treat it like a retirement victory lap.

“The whole lead-up to it has been fantastic,” Eagle said before the season. “He’s very prepared. He obviously has the experience as a Hall-of-Fame player. And the added part of this job is, what kind of perspective do you have? What kind of takes do you have? Are you opinionated — which he is — and can you back it up? And the little extra secret sauce is he’s got a tremendous sense of humor. He’s self-deprecating, he wants to be a really good teammate.”

Three weeks into the season, Eagle’s early optimism proved justified. Now, with an entire season in the books, Watt has already established himself as one of CBS’s most valuable long-term voices.