Much like his older brother, Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt is among the most-dominant pass rushers in the entire NFL.
This past season with Pittsburgh, Watt recorded 39 quarterback hits, 21 tackles for loss and tied Michael Strahan’s single-season record with 22.5 sacks. He also forced five fumbles while recording another three fumble recoveries.
During Thursday night’s NFL awards show, T.J. Watt was awarded for this accomplishment. In what can’t be considered too much of a surprise, he earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.
T.J. Watt joins brother J.J. Watt in winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year
It was set up pretty nicely for the younger Watt during the initial stages of the awards show in Southern California Thursday evening. His brother, Arizona Cardinals edge rusher J.J. Watt, presented the award. At that point, we pretty much knew the younger Watt would come away with the hardware.
- T.J. Watt stats (career): 150 quarterback hits, 80 tackles for loss 72 sacks, 22 forced fumbles (77 games)
Those are some absolutely ridiculous numbers right there.
This is also a pretty big night for the Watt family. J.J. has earned three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards during his future Hall of Fame career. It appears that the younger Watt is well on his way, too.
As for this individual award, T.J. Watt becomes the sixth defensive linemen to earn the award over the past seven years. Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams had won it three of the past four seasons.