J.J. Watt ‘loved Houston’ but there was one NFL team with a devoted fanbase that would have been ‘really cool’ to play

JJ Watt has achieved the ultimate US-UK sports crossover.

But while the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year is now primarily focused on Burnley’s bid to fend off relegation to the Premier League, the 35-year-old still gets a ton of questions about American soccer.

One recently revolved around a dream scenario that Watt was never able to pull off on the field.

Watt recently appeared on the Stick To Football podcast with Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright.

While Watt was clearly impressed with the round table of big names surrounding him, others wanted to know everything about Watt’s life in the NFL.

“I loved being in Houston. The people were amazing, it was awesome,” said Watt, who spent 2011-20 with the Texans and became one of the most popular and dominant players in the league. NFL.

As the team that drafted him began a rebuild, Watt joined the Arizona Cardinals for his final two professional seasons.

But there was always a familiar football team in a small market that he watched from afar.

“I grew up in Wisconsin and Green Bay,” Watt said. “The Packers have a little different relationship with their fans.”

Green Bay, more than any other of the NFL’s 32 teams, has a Premier League-like connection to its collection of very dedicated and widespread fans.

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This has always had an impact on Watt, who now co-owns Burnley, 19th out of 20 Premier League clubs, and at risk of relegation to the Championship.

“(The Packers are) a community team, it’s a small town, so it always would have been really cool,” Watt said.

As Watt becomes more involved with Burnley, the NFL is bigger than ever in England and beyond.

Former Welsh rugby star Louis-Rees Zammit is now a proud member of the Kansas City Chiefs along with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid.

“When I first started coming here, 12 or 13 years ago, my first year, no one knew anything,” Watt said. “They didn’t know much about the game. I remember when the first games started, people were only clapping at the kicks – they just wanted to see the kicks.

“Now I can walk down the street in Manchester and people ask for photos, for autographs. It’s completely different to what it was before and they are well informed about it.”

Watt has also seen English football grow from strength to strength in the United States.

“There are thousands of people turning up in Premier League gear,” he said.