T.J. Watt has passed a familiar face on the NFL’s career sack list. The Steelers’ pass rusher now has more than his older brother JJ Watt, a current CBS Sports NFL color analyst who enjoyed a Hall of Fame career with the Texans and Cardinals.
Fittingly, Watt’s history-making sack set up a Steelers’ go-ahead touchdown during the second quarter Sunday’s game against the Bears. Watt’s strip-sack of Caleb Williams was scooped up in the end zone by fellow linebacker Nick Herbig. The score gave the Steelers a 14-7 lead over the Bears
Watt now has 115 career sacks, which is 26th on the all-time list.
“Hell of a way to break my record,” said JJ Watt, who is serving as a color analyst for Sunday’s game.
A three-time Defensive Player of the Year, JJ Watt was one of the NFL’s most effective players during his 12-year career. He led the NFL in sacks twice while also pacing the league in tackles for loss three times.
“I was spoiled to be able to watch him play,” T.J. Watt said of his older brother during an interview with CBS Sports. “He was getting 1-2 sacks, three TFLs a game, batting passes every single game. It just seemed so normal that I took it for granted.
“When I got to the NFL, it wasn’t until then that I realized how hard it is to do what he’s been doing his whole career. I just have a great amount of respect for him and everything that he’s been able to accomplish, because it is so hard to succeed at this level.”
It didn’t take long for T.J. to develop his own reputation in the NFL after being selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2018, earned his first of three consecutive All-Pro nods in 2019 and won Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 after Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record.
The younger Watt’s success has earned him the respect of many of the NFL’s great defenders who played before him, his big brother included.
“I think he’s the best defensive player in the game,” JJ Watt said of his brother shortly after he announced his retirement after the 2023 season. “He’s the best defensive player in the world, and I’m looking forward for the rest of the world to see it again.”
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