Nov 26, 2020; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
By Sam Neumann on

J.J. Watt would return to the Houston Texans — if absolutely needed.

He said as much back in May, but as he settles into his second season as a contributor on the NFL on CBS, the future Hall of Fame defensive end doesn’t seem to have the same feelings about a team other than the Texans.

After Aidan Hutchinson suffered a season-ending lower-leg injury, Detroit Lions fans made impassioned pleas for Watt to come out of retirement and suit up for the 4-1 Lions, coming off a 47-9 drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys.

Watt was born and raised in Wisconsin, but his midwestern roots are about where his ties to the Lions (and NFC North) seem to fade away. That’s not to say that playing for a Dan Campbell-led team with Super Bowl aspirations wouldn’t be tantalizing for someone like Watt to come out of retirement, but the 35-year-old seems to be enjoying his time away from the game that turned him into a household name.

Flattered by the many inquiries of him being asked by Lions fans to come out retirement to replace Hutchinson in Detroit’s pass rushing rotation, Watt took to X (formerly Twitter) to dissuade any notion that he’d be returning to the National Football League.

Using a post by someone with 36 followers as a jumping-off point, Watt acknowledged that he had heard from Lions fans once or twice about the proposition of returning and wanted to use it to make the point that he would not be.

While the 35-year-old Watt shared that he loves the current Lions squad — and the Motor City — he’s very much enjoying this phase of life. He has a lot of respect for Hutchinson and what the Michigan product has done since entering the NFL but stopped short of saying he’d replace him for the remaining 12 games — even though he is “gutted” for him.

Rather than go into the team facility, Watt poured himself a cup of coffee and went for a morning stroll with his wife and son — something that would’ve been a foreign concept on a Monday morning in the fall just a few years back.

So, unless a desperate Texans team—with Super Bowl aspirations, of course—comes calling, we can likely put to rest the notion that Watt will be making an NFL return.

His Sundays remain on CBS — for now.

[J.J. Watt on X]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann