Sports

J.J. Watt Selected By Houston in NFL Draft

Waukesha County native on-hand at Radio City to hold up his new jersey.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Radio City is a long way from the Pizza Hut J.J. Watt used to work out just before he enrolled at the University Wisconsin.

It was around that time where he made his dreams evident, that he would one day be a first round draft pick in the NFL. His dreams came true Thursday evening when the Houston Texans made him their 11th overall selection.

“It’s a great day to be a Texan,” said Watt, a Pewaukee High School alum. “I’m excited to be in a state that loves football. They have great fans down there and I can’t wait to experience it.”

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He took what he describes as a “whirlwind” phone call from the Houston front office brass, hugged his folks and brother and spent his media crusade in the bowls of one of the world’s finest music establishments saying how much he is thoroughly excited to play football in Texas.

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“I’m excited to sack a quarterback every week, that’s the goal for us defensive linemen,” he said. “As a first round draft pick you’re expected to come in and contribute to the team.”

He said everything right, praising new teammate Mario Williams and suggesting that the Texans have the same goal as every other team, to win the Super Bowl.

Watt started at Central Michigan as a tight end and walked out on a scholarship to find himself enrolled at a local community college prior to walking on at Wisconsin. After a season with the Badgers he was named Special Teams Player of the Year.

He bulked up, switched sides of the ball and three seasons later he is an All-American, All-Big Ten Conference selection and announced he was forgoing his final year of eligibility to take his talents to the next level. He will, however, look to finish his degree in kinesiology in the future.

“I have to learn to sack quarterbacks right now,” he said, mentioning Peyton Manning as the obvious threat in the AFC South. “Every single week you’re seeing a great football player line up across from you on that offensive line. You need to be on your game every single week. I can’t wait to perfect my technique so we can win more football games.”

Watt had the fortune of lining up against Gabe Carimi, a Wisconsin product selected by the Chicago Bears with the 29th pick, in practice every day.

“Gabe is a great football player,” he said. “He was the best offensive lineman in college football. No one else got the practice I did and that’s definitely going to help me transition to the NFL.”

With a first round not panning out like many prognosticators expected, four quarterbacks were selected and the greenroom was in a tizzy early on.

“For me, I was just waiting for a phone call and was extremely excited when it was Houston on the other end of the line,” said Watt, who lettered four times in football as a defensive end and tight end at Pawaukee and was ranked as the seventh best high school recruit by Rivals.com in Wisconsin.

“I think he’s just a really good football player,” Houston Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips said to the Texans' website staff. “He led their team in sacks, caused fumbles, hurries and blocked kicks. He was second on their team in tackles and he was second on their team in passes defensed. Now, passes defensed for a defensive lineman and tackles for a defensive lineman at that position are rare to be in that category. This guy makes a lot of plays.”


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