J.J. Watt keeps ending up in the booth for Pittsburgh Steelers games.
When the Browns-Steelers kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, it’ll be the third time in six weeks that Watt has called a game involving his brother T.J.’s team. Add in his Netflix Christmas debut alongside Ian Eagle and Nate Burleson, and that’s four Steelers games in seven total broadcasts.
That’s a lot of games calling your brother’s team, which Pat McAfee pointed out during Watt’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show for his weekly “Watt Wednesdays” segment.
“It turns out that the second-best AFC games on CBS every week generally does tend to involve the Pittsburgh Steelers, while they’re sitting at 3-1,” Watt replied. “Yes, there have been quite a few.”
It’s also T.J.’s birthday Saturday, so the brothers will get to spend some time together in the Steel City before Sunday’s game.
The results have been mixed when J.J.’s in the booth. Week 1 against the Jets, rookie right tackle Armond Memnou had T.J. in hell. Week 3 against the Patriots, T.J. had two sacks.
“Let’s make sure we’re non-biased,” McAfee chided. “Don’t be getting too excited.”
“I’m excited,” Watt replied. “We’ve got Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt in the same game. It’s going to be great, incredible pass rush in this game. And the Browns’ rookies are crushing it. The Browns’ rookie draft, they’re not getting enough credit. I mean, they’re getting a lot of credit, but this rookie draft class, they’re killing it.”
The setup has created some awkward moments for J.J. He revealed during his CBS debut that interviewing T.J. in production meetings required him to “pretend that we don’t talk every day of the week, and ask him questions like we don’t know each other.” He’s also dealt with NFL teams being more guarded during production meetings because of his connection to the Steelers, though Watt has said those meetings are “overrated” anyway.
The brothers remain close. They trained together throughout their playing careers, constantly competing with each other in drills. J.J. nearly became T.J.’s teammate that same year when the Houston Texans released him. But with T.J.’s contract negotiations dragging on, J.J. didn’t want to take money away from his brother’s deal. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals instead. T.J. eventually got his four-year, $112 million extension that made him the highest-paid defensive player at the time.
For now, the Steelers keep landing CBS’s No. 2 team, which means J.J. will keep calling his brother’s games.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.