“He Should Be Frustrated”: JJ Watt Defends TJ Watt’s “Used To” Stance as Steelers LB Skipped NFL Honors

The regular season concluded, and the NFL went on to bestow the best athletes in the league with the recognition they deserved. Amongst many contestants, Myles Garrett was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year. However, many fans are upset with the conclusion of the award and are confused as to why TJ Watt wasn’t given the recognition he deserved. The Steelers LB voiced his concerns and his brother JJ Watt wasn’t happy about the decision either.

TJ Watt has been in the league since 2017 and has been awarded for his excellence only once in the last 5 years. He won the DPOY in 2021 but failed to clinch the award after that despite many nominations. Regardless of having immaculate stats, the LB lost to Myles Garrett. Maybe this is why he was absent from the award ceremony. Here is what his brother JJ Watt had to say about it.

JJ Watt backs his brother TJ Watt

JJ Watt went to the Pat McAfee show and the hosts wanted to discuss the reasons behind his brother’s absence from the award ceremony. At some point, it was pointed out that the Steelers LB knew the outcome of the nominations and chose not to attend the ceremony. Perhaps this year’s DPOY choice didn’t sit well with the Steelers LB as he posted on X, “Nothing I’m not used to.”.

The former Cardinals DE JJ Watt defended his brother’s stance while trying to be respectful towards all the nominees. Per JJ Watt, there was “no reason for him [Watt] to be there”. The older brother also pointed out that we cannot blame TJ Watt for being frustrated and said, “No I mean like, like, what we are mad at him for being frustrated? Like no, he should be frustrated. Yeah, I don’t I don’t blame him whatsoever for being frustrated.”

The older brother mentioned earlier how stats aren’t the only thing that matters when it comes to choosing the best player in any category. But even on paper, if stats were the only criteria, TJ Watt has superior numbers than Myles Garrett. Maybe this is the reason why the fans supported him wholeheartedly on his X post.

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TJ Watt lost to Myles Garrett despite having better numbers

After the 2023 season concluded, TJ Watt, Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons, and Daron Bland were among the few to be nominated for DPOY. The Browns’ DE ended up getting the best of everyone. He has 33 solo tackles and 14 sacks to show for in the 2023 season. The DE also boasts of 4 forced fumbles, but zero interceptions. Steelers Only account pointed out the flaw in the math.

On the other hand, TJ Watt accounted for 48 solo tackles, 19 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and an interception in the 2023 season. However, he didn’t win the DPOY. This has got people questioning the NFL’s selection criteria for such awards.

The “Nothing I’m not used to” remark might have been a reflection of past times when he was nominated but didn’t win the award. In the last 5 seasons, he’s been nominated thrice but only won once. Perhaps Watt potentially feels disparaged by the NFL and decided to voice his “frustrations”.

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