Screenshot of a tweet from JJ Watt. Image courtesy: Twitter.
HOUSTON, TX (WSAU) — Wisconsin native and former Badgers DE JJ Watt continued to toy with fans on Twitter who were clamoring for him to continue his career in the Green and Gold, then broke their hearts on Monday.
Watt referred on Monday to the Packer’s long-standing training camp tradition of players biking to the practice fields by announcing that he doesn’t actually own a two-wheeler.
“i [sic] don’t own a bike. stop,” wrote Watt on Twitter.
Fans immediately began reminding him that he could purchase one with his signing bonus if he were to come to Green Bay. Other fans reminded him that the players borrow the bikes from kids along the route to the practice fields. Other responses included photoshopped images of Watt in a Packers jersey.
Then, not 45 minutes later, Watt announced where he would be playing:
JJ Watt working out in an Arizona Cardinals T-Shirt. Image courtesy: JJ Watt/Facebook
That image was posted to Watt’s social media, including his Facebook and Twitter, with the caption “Source: Me.” The Arizona Cardinals then corroborated the story on Twitter:
Welcome to the Valley, @JJWatt!
We have agreed to terms with J.J. Watt on a two-year contract.
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) March 1, 2021
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says the two-year deal could be worth up to $31 million with $23 million in guaranteed money.
Watt has spent the last few weeks toying with fans on social media who were encouraging him to sign with their favorite club. Last week he responded to a question about his next team by saying “I scroll through door dash for like an hour before I pick a restaurant man… You’re gonna have to give me a second to choose a new team and city.”
The Pewaukee native has made a career out of being accessible to fans through social media. While rehabbing from a knee injury in 2019, he even released his cell phone number to fans and encouraged them to text him.
That led to Watt receiving over 30,000 messages in about a day. Some fans posted images of his responses to social media.
His phone number remains accessible to this day through a Google search.
Watt was granted a release by the Houston Texans, the only team he has played for in his nine-year career, just after Super Bowl LV.
Houston fired their Head Coach and GM partway through the 2020 regular season and has been in a rebuilding mode since then. That includes star QB Deshaun Watson requesting a trade after he expressed disappointment following the announcement of the team’s new Coach.
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