J.J. Watt had interest in joining Green Bay Packers

Before future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt enjoyed a 12-year NFL career split between the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals, he played college ball for the Badgers, not far from where he grew up in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.

Once Watt reached the NFL as the 11th overall pick in 2011 by the Texans, it didn’t take him long to take the league by storm. In just his second season, Watt tallied 20.5 sacks and won his first of three Defensive Player of the Year awards.

But after ten seasons in Houston, where the Texans never got past the Divisional Round, Watt was ready to move on and find a situation where he’d be able to compete for a chance at the first Super Bowl of his career.

It was then when Watt reportedly wanted to join the Green Bay Packers, for whom he grew up rooting for.

Watt opened up about the possible scenario during a recent appearance on the Rise and Schein podcast, but he wasn’t willing to provide too many details about what never came to fruition. Now set to retire at the age of 34, Watt was asked if he had ever considered returning home to play for Green Bay. Here’s his response.

“There’s certainly a part of me that thought about that. There’s a story for another day. I can’t share. That’s a story for like a memoir someday. There was certainly a thought for that. It’s just sometimes things don’t materialize in a way that it is all gonna… sometimes it just materialize. Sometimes things just don’t happen the way fairytales are supposed to happen.”
J.J. Watt on thoughts of joining Green Bay Packers

It’s unclear where discussions broke down between Watt and the Packers. It’s clear he had an interest in playing for his hometown team, but he would eventually wind up signing with the Arizona Cardinals for two seasons instead. As they say, the rest is history. Watt is now retired and as far as we know, not considering a comeback during the 2023 season.