JJ Watt claims he would follow through on bet to unretire, play for Bengals
JJ Watt is gearing up to potentially make good on a wild bet he made with an English footballer.
That player is James Trafford, goalkeeper for the Burnley FC program, a group Watt is now a partial owner of. A while back, Trafford made a wild bet and pitch to Watt that the former Wisconsin star and NFL All-Pro accepted.
At the time, Trafford — a Cincinnati Bengals fan — asked Watt to come out of retirement to go play for the Bengals. Watt responded he would, but only if Trafford made it the rest of the season without allowing a goal.
Well, so far, Trafford has made it an unbelievable 13 straight games without allowing a single goal, toppling English football records in the process. And Watt admitted things are heating up with Trafford’s magical run during an interview for “The Dan Patrick Show.”
“It’s getting pretty serious,” Watt admitted about Trafford’s unbelievable run. “We created a lot of Clarets fans in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is really cool. We’re getting a lot better ratings and numbers from the Ohio region, so it’s been really fun.”
So, what happens if Trafford can complete what is still an improbable run down the stretch? Watt says he has no plans of backing out of his bet if Trafford lives up to their bargain.
“I’ll do it,” proclaimed Watt. “If he does that — which is insane — I mean, there’s 12, 13 games left? If he does it, it’s insane enough and respectable enough that I would absolutely follow through.
“Who knows if (the Bengals) even want me? I don’t know, I haven’t talked to them. But I’m in shape, I’d go play.”
.@JJWatt says he'll absolutely follow through with his bet to come out of retirement and play for the #Bengals if James Trafford doesn't allow another goal for the rest of the season.
The only question? Would the Bengals want him? 👀
Care to comment, @Bengals? pic.twitter.com/d7QY5xPk88
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) February 25, 2025
Watt later admitted he was unsure of his actual contract status since he never filed retirement paperwork. If there are any potential loopholes, he’ll try and work through them to follow through.
But first, it’s up to Trafford to complete the unthinkable.