The Arizona Cardinals have certainly surprised their fans with an astonishing 4-11 run this season. Yet fans had to wait for the ultimate shell shock which came with the announcement of J.J Watt’s retirement on Tuesday.
What did J.J. say?
After he made the announcement, Watt sat with reporters on Wednesday and explained, “I’ve known for a little while. It’s the right time” J.J. said, “It feels like the right time. I’ve put so much into the game and the wins and the losses, the mental stress and passion that comes with it, it just weighs on you. It’s heavy, I mean it’s really heavy,”
“The losses are very tough to take. You live with the highs and the lows, and I’ve always said that I’d way rather live with the highs and the lows than never know in the middle. I’ve got a son now. Obviously, I had a heart scare in the middle of the year, so there’s certainly some of that that played into it. But I’m very happy and am very at peace with it.”
How his teammates and coach reacted?
Even though Watt had valid reasons for his retirement, no one including his team- with teammates and the coach was not prepared to receive such a call from the great defender. Head coach, Kliff Kingsbury regarding his retirement went on to say on Wednesday, “We had no idea that was coming.”
With the team not in the best of forms, teammates needed the assistance of this great defender to stick with the team and motivate them for the upcoming seasons. However, everyone respected his decision and wished Watt for the days to come.
As the Cardinals were stuck in the back foot Watt still managed to play outstandingly well with 9.5 sacks, six passes defended, fourteen tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble to his name.
If he is able to pull off another.5 sacks in the remaining two games he will be rewarded with a million dollars.
