J.J. Watt offers candid explanation for his split pants during Steelers-Pats call

J.J. Watt has settled into the NFL broadcasting booth somewhat seamlessly this season, that is, except for his inseam.

Watt, alongside Ian Eagle, called the New England Patriots-Pittsburgh Steelers game this past Sunday for CBS, and everything seemed to go smoothly. However, one eagle-eyed viewer did notice an unfortunate issue with Watt’s pants during an interlude.

As a [Patriots] fan, yesterday sucked,” wrote X user Kyle McGrath on Monday. “That being said, [J.J. Watt] did a great job calling the game. No bias, knowledgeable, and nice to hear a defensive perspective. My only recommendation: maybe a new pair of pants.”

Included in the post was a video of Eagle and Watt running through the first-half stats. However, when the camera focused on Watt, McGrath zoomed in on his seat to reveal that there was a tiny rip in the crotch area.

Never one to take himself too seriously, Watt shared the original post on Tuesday and offered a very lengthy and comical explanation of what happened.

Alright, this is great.
I assumed someone might catch it, so let me break this down 🤣

As we sat down for our halftime hit (only time you really see our pants) I noticed this issue on the monitor.

I am not sure exactly when it happened, but I have narrowed it down to most… https://t.co/VJxb7DvPKL

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) September 22, 2025

“Alright, this is great. I assumed someone might catch it, so let me break this down,” he wrote on X. “As we sat down for our halftime hit (only time you really see our pants), I noticed this issue on the monitor. I am not sure exactly when it happened, but I have narrowed it down to most likely happening when I pulled a sudden movement to avoid hitting my head on a low-hanging pipe in the booth (this particular booth had a very low ceiling).

“So I noticed this issue on the monitor. Our audio guy Jose noticed it too and was thinking quick. He tossed me a football and said “Here, hold this”. Of course, we go live on air, and instead of holding the football still, I immediately start talking with my hands, exposing the pants. Until now, I hadn’t seen or heard anything about it, so I thought maybe nobody saw it or cared enough to mention it. But lo and behold here comes Kyle with the keen eye and the video evidence!”

Watt said he appreciated McGrath’s kind words as well and that “I’m glad that we will never be too old to have a good laugh about some split pants.”

“On to Washington-Atlanta next week with a fresh pair of pants!”