Pittsburgh Steelers pass rusher T.J. Watt managed to pass an NFL legend in the best way possible. Watt not only exceeded his brother J.J. Watt’s NFL sack total, but he did it on a touchdown-scoring play … with his brother calling the game.
The moment occurred early in the second quarter Sunday. Watt broke through the Chicago Bears’ offensive line, and forced a strip sack on Caleb Williams. Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig fell on the ball in the end zone, giving the Steelers the lead on a touchdown.
With that sack, T.J. now has 115 in nine NFL seasons. That number surpasses J.J.’s sack total. J.J. retired with 114.5 sacks in 12 seasons.
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J.J. — who was broadcasting the game — gave props to his brother for the accomplishment, saying that play was “one hell of a way to do it.”
Before long, though, J.J. decided to have some fun with the play. As the broadcast was going to commercial, broadcaster Ian Eagle teased “T.J. Watt is No. 1 in the family for now.” J.J. responded by saying, “Ouch.”
When the broadcasters came back from commercial, J.J. decided to run with that joke, saying he was going to come out of retirement to take his family record back.
“Well, that’s it. I’m gonna put the pads back on because this is preposterous,” J.J. said.
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J.J. — we assume — was joking about coming back. The future first-ballot Hall of Famer hasn’t played since the 2022 NFL season. Though, at 36, it’s possible he still has another double-digit sack season left in him.
For now, J.J. will have to be fine with his younger brother having the most NFL sacks among Watt family members. While that may sting, J.J. has little reason to be disappointed about his NFL career. He was the most fearsome pass rusher of his generation and will coast into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
T.J. is on a similar trajectory, but — like the Watt family sack record — that’s something J.J. will have to process when the time comes.
