J.J. Watt Kalia Ohai Real Salt Lake Credit: Real Salt Lake, JJ Watt on X
By Matt Yoder on

Former Houston Texans star and current CBS Sports analyst J.J. Watt has a growing presence in the soccer world. But his wife, Kealia Ohai Watt, is the true soccer star in the family, and he wants everyone to know that.

Watt married Ohai in 2020 and played seven seasons in the NWSL from 2014-2021, making the league’s Best XI in 2016 after scoring 11 goals and having 4 assists for the Houston Dash. The pair are now investors in English club Burnley FC, which led Watt to tout a possible NFL comeback with the Bengals to pay off a bet during an incredible shutout streak in early 2025.

Kealia was born and raised in Utah, which makes what happened this week between the Watts and MLS club Real Salt Lake particularly awkward and unfortunate.

Real Salt Lake published a photo welcoming the Watt family to their stadium for a friendly against Burnley as they are doing a preseason tour of the United States. However, they only mentioned J.J. Watt and failed to recognize Kealia. This led the former NFL star to call the club to account for snubbing not just his wife, an accomplished soccer star, but also a local Utah sports hero.

“The woman in the photo grew up literally down the road, won 4 Utah state championships (1 in this exact stadium), Gatorade Player of the Year twice, National Player of the Year, scored the fastest first goal in USWNT history… Could probably be worth a mention, but idk,” Watt said in a social media post.

In response, Real Salt Lake posted a lengthy apology note giving Kealia Ohai Watt her full due.

“We made an honest mistake yesterday, and we are sincerely sorry for that. When we welcomed the Watt family to America First Field, we should have recognized Kealia Watt for exactly who she is. Kealia is a Utah native and one of the most decorated players to ever come out of this state. Kealia won four state championships with her club and four more in high school, and was a two-time Utah Gatorade Athlete of the Year. She was a U.S. youth national teamer at 13. At the U-20 level, she scored the game-winning goal in the World Cup final. She started four years at North Carolina, won a national title with the Tar Heels, then went No. 2 overall in the NWSL draft to the Houston Dash, and was the franchise’s first-ever college pick. She then became their captain with 114 appearances and 28 goals. Kealia finished her career with the Chicago Stars (then known as the Red Stars) and is now a soccer analyst for Amazon Prime Video. @KealiaOhai, @JJWatt — we are deeply sorry. Thank you for all you do for the sport,” the team wrote.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time, and probably won’t be the last, that a female member of a sports power couple is ignored for her own accomplishments. But given her local ties and soccer stardom, this one was especially egregious. Good for J.J. Watt for standing up and making sure this was corrected, and to RSL for making sure that they made things right with their apology.

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