It’s been a difficult season for Texans leader J.J. Watt, who is enduring a 4-11 year while Houston stumbles its way to the finish line.
Watt has been relatively quiet for much of the season after losses, showing some frustration, but never fully describing the depth of that frustration.
That all changed Sunday, when Watt let loose on what he thought of the Texans season following the team’s 37-31 loss to Cincinnati.
“We’re professional athletes getting paid a whole lot of money. If you can’t come in and put work in in the building, go out to the practice field and work hard and do your lifts and do what you’re supposed to do, you should not be here,” said Watt.
“This is a job,” Watt continued. “We are getting paid a whole lot of money. There are a lot of people that watch us and invest their time and their money into buying our jerseys and buying a whole bunch of s*** and they care about it. They care every single week. We’re in Week 16 and we’re 4-11 and there’s fans that watched this game, that show up to the stadium, that put in time and energy and effort and care about this. So if you can’t go out there and you can’t work out, you can’t show up on time, you can’t practice, you can’t want to go out there and win, you shouldn’t be here, because this is a privilege. It’s the greatest job in the world. You get to go out and play a game. And if you can’t care enough, even in Week 17, even when you’re trash, when you’re 4-11, if you can’t care enough to go out there, give everything you’ve got and try your hardest, that’s bulls***.”
“So that’s how,” Watt said. “I think it’s -- there are people every week that still tweet you, that still come up to you and say, hey, we’re still rooting for you, we’re still behind you. They have no reason whatsoever to. We stink. But they care, and they still want to win and they still want you to be great. That’s why. Those people aren’t getting paid. We’re getting paid handsomely. That’s why. And that’s -- that’s who I feel the most bad for is our fans and the people who care so deeply and the city and the people who love it and who truly want it to be great. And it’s not. And that sucks as a player, to know that we’re not giving them what they deserve.”