Justin James Watt (born March 22, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, for the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. He played college football for the Central Michigan Chippewas and Wisconsin Badgers and was selected by the Texans in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft.
Watt received the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times in his first five seasons. Watt's position was primarily defensive end. He also took snaps on offense, catching three touchdown passes in 2014. Watt holds the Texans franchise records for sacks and forced fumbles. In 2017, Sports Illustrated named him its Sportsman of the Year. Watt is regarded as one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history.
After retiring in 2022, Watt joined CBS Sports, working initially as a studio analyst on The NFL Today and then joining Ian Eagle on the network's #2 game announcing team in 2025. Watt is the older brother of Derek Watt and T. J. Watt.
Early life Watt was born in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, to parents Connie, a building operations vice president, and John, a firefighter. Both of his younger brothers also went on to play in the NFL. Derek Watt was a fullback and T. J. Watt plays outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Watt played ice hockey from age four to 13 and played for travel or competitive teams that traveled to Canada and Germany. He gave up hockey when weekly games started to conflict with his schedule and for financial reasons. Watt also played football throughout his childhood and became passionate about the sport while he was in the fifth grade.
Watt attended Pewaukee High School, where he was a four-year letter-winner in football and also lettered in basketball, baseball, and track and field. Watt earned the Woodland Conference Player of the Year Award as a senior, and first-team All-State, All-County, All-Area, and All-Conference selections as tight end and defensive end. He was also named the team's MVP. During his senior year, Watt recorded 26 receptions for 399 yards and five touchdowns.
Watt followed in his father's footsteps and competed in the shot put during his senior season, earning first-team All-state selection. Watt captured the state title in the shot put at the 2007 WIAA Division II Championship, setting a new school record with a throw of 59 ft, 11.5 in (18.28 meters).
Regarded as a two-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, Watt was ranked among neither the top tight end nor the top defensive end prospects in his class. After official visits to Central Michigan, Colorado, and Minnesota, Watt chose to play at Central Michigan under coach Butch Jones.
College career
Central Michigan Watt received a scholarship offer from Central Michigan University. He has stated that he was led to believe by Butch Jones that, as a tight end, he would have the opportunity to score touchdowns. He played 14 games with the Chippewas, compiling 77 receiving yards and 8 receptions. Watt's coaches, led by Jones, suggested that he move to offensive tackle, but Watt decided to forgo his starting spot and scholarship to walk-on the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he played as a defensive end.
Wisconsin At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Watt redshirted the 2008 season and was named Wisconsin's Scout Team Player of the Year. In 2009, he played in 13 games as a defensive end for the Badgers. In a game against the Hawaii Warriors on December 5, Watt had a career-high of two sacks, three tackles for loss, six tackles, and one quarterback hurry. Watt finished the season with 32 solo tackles, 12 assisted tackles, four and a half sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, and five passes defended. He also earned his first letter. On November 20, 2010, against the Michigan Wolverines, he recorded his first collegiate interception. Overall, in the 2010 season, Watt played in 13 games and led the team in tackles for loss, quarterback hurries, blocked kicks, and forced fumbles. He finished the season with 42 solo tackles, 20 assisted tackles, 21 tackles for loss, seven sacks, one interception for 15 yards, nine passes defended, and three fumbles forced. He earned the Lott Trophy in 2010, voted AP and Sports Illustrated second-team All-American, All-Big Ten first-team, academic All-Big Ten, and was voted the team's MVP.
Professional career Pre-draft
Watt skipped his senior season, entering the 2011 NFL draft. At the 2011 NFL Combine, he was a top performer in all combine categories except the 40-yard dash.
Houston Texans 2011 On April 28, 2011, he was the first defensive end selected in the first round when the Houston Texans picked him as the 11th overall pick. The Texans signed Watt to a four-year, $11.24 million contract on July 31, 2011.
In the 2011 season, Watt started all 16 games. During the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, he had five tackles and a fumble recovery in his NFL debut. On November 27, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Watt had his first multi-sack game with 2.0 in the 20–13 victory. Watt finished his rookie year with 48 solo tackles, eight assisted tackles, and 5.5 sacks. The Texans qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
In the playoffs, Watt recorded 11 solo tackles, three assisted tackles, an interception returned for a touchdown, one pass defended, and 3.5 sacks in two games against the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round and the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round. Watt was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team and the USA Today All-Joe Team, and was named Texans Team Rookie of the Year.
2012 In 2012, Watt is considered to have had one of the best seasons for a defensive player in NFL history. He finished the season with 69 solo tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 20.5 sacks, 16 passes defended, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his Week 2 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month in both September and December. On November 22, 2012, in a game against the Detroit Lions, Watt recorded three sacks, to give him a total of 14.5, breaking the Texans' record for sacks in a season, which was previously held by Mario Williams. On December 16, against the Indianapolis Colts, Watt recorded three sacks and ten total tackles in a 29–17 victory. The Texans made the playoffs again in 2012, and Watt recorded six solo tackles, three assisted tackles, two passes defended, and two sacks in two games. Watt finished the season 2.5 sacks shy of Michael Strahan's single-season record for sacks, set in 2001. Watt was named to the 2013 NFL Pro-Bowl Team on December 26, 2012. Watt also was named Texans Team Most Valuable Player, USA Football Fundamentals Team, PFW First-team All-Pro, Pro Football Weekly/PFWA Most Valuable Player, Sporting News Defensive Player of the Year, NFL 101 AFC Defensive Player of the Year, AP First-team All-Pro, and the AP Defensive Player of the Year. Watt received 49 out of 50 votes for the Defensive Player of the Year award. He is the first Texans player to receive an NFL Player of the Year award. Watt was the 17th defensive lineman and only the eighth defensive end to receive the award since 1971. Watt made the highest debut on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2013, coming in at number five.
2013
Though Watt had a strong season, the Texans struggled as a whole in the 2013 season. In Week 2, against the Tennessee Titans, he had his first two sacks of the season in a 30–24 win. From Weeks 7–12, he recorded at least one sack in each game. Overall, in the 2013 season, Watt recorded 65 solo tackles, 15 assisted tackles, seven passes defended, 10.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. The Texans, however, had a losing season and finished with a 2–14 record. Watt was named to the 2014 NFL Pro Bowl and earned First Team All-Pro honors.
2014 Prior to the start of the 2014 season, the Texans and Watt agreed to a six-year contract extension, worth $100 million. He received $30.9 million at signing and was expected to receive $21 million at the start of the 2016 season if he was on the roster. This contract made him the NFL's highest paid non-quarterback, based on average yearly salary.
In a game against the Oakland Raiders, on September 14, Watt became the first defensive player in Texans history to score a touchdown from scrimmage. He scored the touchdown on a one-yard catch after coming into the game as a tight end. He scored his second touchdown of the season on September 28, against the Buffalo Bills. Watt picked off a pass from Buffalo's EJ Manuel that was intended for Fred Jackson, and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown. With this touchdown, Watt became tied at sixth for the longest interception return by a defensive lineman. Watt's touchdown was the fourth longest interception return in Houston Texans history. During the game, Watt hit Manuel nine times, but was flagged twice for roughing the passer. Watt was fined $16,537 for one of the incidents. In a game against the Bills, he earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week. Watt was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September.
In a Week 5 Thursday night game against the Indianapolis Colts, Watt recorded two sacks on Andrew Luck, one of which was a strip-sack in the fourth quarter that he recovered and returned 45 yards for a touchdown. Despite Watt's performance, the Texans lost 33–28.
For his fourth touchdown of the season, Watt caught a two-yard pass from Texans quarterback, Ryan Mallett, for Mallett's first NFL touchdown pass. Watt recorded four solo tackles, an assisted tackle, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in the same game, which was on November 16, against the Cleveland Browns. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his game against the Browns.
Watt scored his fifth touchdown on November 30, 2014, catching a one-yard pass from Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick against the Tennessee Titans. With this reception, Watt became the first defensive lineman to have scored at least five touchdowns in a season since 1944.
In Week 16, Watt recorded his 54th sack as a Texan on Joe Flacco in a 25–13 win against the Baltimore Ravens. With that sack, he surpassed Mario Williams as the franchise leader in sacks. In Week 17, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had three sacks on Blake Bortles, one of which was his first career safety which also gave him 20.5 sacks on the season, becoming the only player in NFL history to have multiple 20-sack seasons. Watt earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month for December. Watt finished the season with a career-high five fumble recoveries and scored five total touchdowns (three receiving touchdowns, one interception return touchdown, and one fumble recovery for a touchdown).
For his outstanding season, Watt was unanimously named to the 2014 All-Pro First Team as a defensive end and named to the All-Pro Second Team as a defensive tackle. Watt was named to the 2015 Pro Bowl, where Cris Carter, team captain of Team Carter, selected Watt to be his captain on defense. He unanimously won the Defensive Player of the Year award, one of a few players to win the award multiple times, and became the first defensive player since James Harrison in 2008 to get votes for the MVP award, receiving 13, which was also good enough for second place in the MVP voting behind Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who won the award. After the season, Watt was named to the top spot in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.
2015