Houston Texans: It wouldn’t be early retirement for J.J. Watt

Houston Texans superstar J.J. Watt raised some eyes when he suggested that he could retire sooner than later. Don’t be planning for your farewells to Watt just yet. 

Intentionally or not, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is making headlines with his words this National Football League offseason.

Related Story: Houston Texans NFL Mock Draft

If you are anything like me, you probably have a routine that you follow just about every morning. I was in the middle of my routine of having a cup of coffee and checking out sports stories on Monday morning when I noticed some interesting phrases appear on Twitter. These phrases hinted that Watt could retire from the NFL sooner than some may think.

At first, these Tweets were barely worth a second glance. April 18 was not the first day this month that it has been claimed that Watt could consider walking away from the NFL while in his physical prime.

There is bound to be at least a little bit of fire when there is so much smoke, and my Twitter timeline was admittedly a bit smoky on Monday morning. A small amount of investigating directed me to this Monday Morning Quarterback piece produced by Peter King. While speaking with King, Watt discussed his comeback from a serious and painful groin injury. The All-Pro routinely labeled as the best defensive player in the NFL today also talked to King about his long-term playing future.

"Watt, in recent weeks, has said he doesn’t know how much longer he’s going to play. Some have taken that to mean he might play only two or three more years. That’s true … but he also might play eight or nine.“I have no idea when it’s going to be, when I’ll retire,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s not going to be two, three, four years. But I’m also not saying it’s going to be nine, 10, 11 years. I literally do not know the answer. What I do know is I’m going to continue to train my ass off. I’m going to continue to work to be the best player in the world, and whenever that doesn’t sound fun to me anymore, that’s when it’s over.”"

This couldn’t possibly be the smoking gun I believed I would find in the MMQB piece. I continued to read and saw how Watt stated that he respected people who had retired early, that he understood playing football at such a level could be dangerous, that he “could” walk away from the NFL if he wished, and that he is going to be playing football; until he stops.

"“So a guy like Chris Borland used that information to make the decision that he didn’t want to play. And that is absolutely great for him. I know the information and I continue to play. As long as you have the proper information and you use that, then you can make whatever decision you want. But I’m not one of those guys who’s out here, mad at the world because I am getting my head hit.“Yeah, I play football, I’m going to get my head hit. That’s the way it goes. People love it.”"

It’s a weird time of year in the sports world. Football fans have had just about all of the mock drafts that they can stomach, and yet the NFL Draft is still over a week away. The excitement of March Madness is now but a memory. Gone is the luster that was created by the excitement of Opening Day festivities.

Thus, we get stories such as this.

Why, then, would I use a headline that claims Watt “probably” won’t be retiring anytime soon? How could anybody other than Watt believe that he or she could have any insight into what he is thinking about his career past the 2016 NFL season?

Simple, really.

Go back to the MMQB piece and read the comments offered by Watt. They do not tell a tale of a 27-year-old who has lost his love of the game of football or who is more concerned about his health and the state of his brain then he is concerned about his career. If anything, Watt seems to sound like a reasonable individual who understands the risks he faces each time he takes the football field and who is embracing this lifestyle even though it is one that is admittedly difficult.

Watt has more than just an admiration for the sport as a reason to continue playing in the NFL through at least the 2021 regular season. The All-Pro is not even halfway through a contract that is, per Spotrac, worth over $51.8 million in guaranteed money and that could earn Watt over $100 million if he is able to remain healthy and if he continues to excel at his position to the point that the Texans believe he is worth such a price tag.

This does not account for the additional income that Watt will make off of endorsement deals and from other business endeavors.

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Will Watt retire early? That could depend on your definition of “early.” Watt will turn 31-years-old in March 2020. Unless he burns through money and/or makes more than one awful business decision, Watt should have a small fortune to fall back on four years from now if he does not want to play through the end of his contract. Watt, in that scenario, would not be retiring early.

He would be making a decision any of us would make in an instant if given the opportunity to do so today.