{"id":169893,"date":"2022-12-27T17:55:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T17:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cardinals-jj-watt-announces-this-will-be-final-nfl-season-2\/"},"modified":"2022-12-27T17:55:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T17:55:00","slug":"cardinals-jj-watt-announces-this-will-be-final-nfl-season-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cardinals-jj-watt-announces-this-will-be-final-nfl-season-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals’ JJ Watt announces this will be final NFL season"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman JJ Watt announced in a tweet Tuesday morning that he will retire after this season.<\/p>\n

“Koa’s first ever NFL game. My last ever NFL home game. My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude. It’s been an absolute honor and a pleasure,” he tweeted along with a picture of him holding son Koa and standing next to wife Kealia at Sunday night’s game between the Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n

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Koa’s first ever NFL game.
My last ever NFL home game. <\/p>\n

My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude. It’s been an absolute honor and a pleasure. <\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc pic.twitter.com\/wXbDUchHM8B<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 27, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Watt’s 12-year career has two games left, both road trips, to the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n

He’ll walk away as one of the most dominant defensive players of his generation and a likely first-ballot Hall of Famer. Watt is one of three players to be named the Defensive Player of the Year three times, joining Aaron Donald and Lawrence Taylor.<\/p>\n

All three of those awards came when he played for the Houston Texans (2012, 2014 and 2015), the franchise that selected him 11th overall in 2011 out of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Watt will finish his career with the Cardinals, having signed with them before the 2021 season after spending 10 seasons with the Texans. He is one of three Watt brothers to play in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Koa, Watt’s first child, was born in October. In late September, Watt had the rhythm of his own heart reset after experiencing atrial fibrillation, then played days later.<\/p>\n

Watt has 111.5 sacks (26th on the NFL’s career list), a statistic that has officially been tracked since 1982. He also is the only player to record 20-plus sacks in multiple seasons (2012, 2014).<\/p>\n