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J.J. Watt played his last NFL game on Sunday. The Arizona Cardinals ended the year with a 38-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Watt explained that he wasn’t all that emotional leading up to his final game per Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. Watt couldn’t contain the emotions any longer after the team put together a video of some of his best moments.
“I have not been emotional through the whole process,” Watt said. “I had not been emotional back when I made my decision, I wasn’t emotional last week really, I wasn’t emotional at the last practice, I wasn’t really emotional at the meetings (Saturday) night. I was just ready to go to bed.
“Then (defensive line coach Matt) Burke got up and explained putting together the video. The second that video turned on, I lost it. I absolutely lost it. I was bawling like a baby, and I didn’t stop until well into the night.”
Watt had 2 sacks, 5 total tackles, and 3 tackles for loss in the game. Shortly after the game Watt made a Twitter post showing how grateful he was to the game of football.
Sometime in the coming days I’ll find the right words.
But for right now, all I can say is thank you.
You’ve changed my life forever and I am perpetually grateful.
🙏🏼
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) January 9, 2023
Watt understands that he could still play football if he wanted to, but he is choosing not to.
“I know I still can,” Watt said of his play. “I’m just choosing not to.”
Grant Bricker covers the B1G for Saturday Tradition. His previous stops include the Williamson Homepage and Nashville Post.