We Need to Talk About: J.J. Watt's online persona

The J.J. Watt hate wave has crested and is beginning to crash onto the beaches of our collective psyches.

A recent media blitz by the Houston Texans defensive end has once again brought NFL observers face to face with the square-jawed golem, smirking his way through difficult workouts while offering banal axioms, shirtless selfies, and endless humblebrags on social media. The apparent end goal? Selling a sneaker nobody needs, to a population that can't afford it, in an effort to increase the overall value of the Watt brand.

Whether or not Watt represents a pernicious force at the intersection of sports and commerce is less relevant to the growing ire against him than his habit of coveting widespread attention while copping an every-man persona that's above it all.

Rumblings of Watt's grating personality began a few years ago, with his hypocritical stance against selfies, and seemed to enter the zeitgeist around the time he began try-harding after practice on HBO's Hard Knocks prior to the 2015 season. Just a guy out working on the practice field well after dark with no one around except a 15-person camera crew, no big deal ... support the troops!

On Tuesday, the Watt hatred reached the mainstream when Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio chided the reigning Defensive Player of the Year for his false humility.

After being called out in an arguably childish but ultimately correct manner, Watt retaliated with the kind of response one would expect of the high-minded czar of old-school football.

In this instance everyone looks bad, but the argument underscores something sports fans have to deal with on a regular basis in a digital world: the inescapable media presence of certain players. Whether or not the player has likable qualities seems to matter less and less as they become more exposed.

The unfortunate reality with Watt? He so badly desires to be what he thinks America wants him to be that he's accidentally transcended into what America can no longer stomach. His persona is so on-the-nose All-American superhero that it comes off as pandering despite what are quite likely pure intentions.

There's a long list of NFL players that have been rammed down our throats over the years. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady are all good examples, but 15 or 20 years ago you only had to groan through a few soft focus pregame interviews. Now? There's nowhere to hide from the kind of safe, studied persona guys like Watt relentlessly project.

A non-comprehensive list of things J.J. Watt bravely supports:

• America
• Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
• Moms
• Teachers
• Hard work
• America
• Pat Tillman
• America
• America
• Barbara Bush
• America

Ultimately, it's annoying that Watt treats life like one never-ending pep rally in which the good guys are going to trounce those cross-town jokers through hard work and a dedication to god and country.

What's more frustrating is that he seems to know, yet not fully grasp, why that irks so many of us. Watt responded to his backlash Thursday, saying, without irony, "I'm always going to try to be the superstar everyone wishes a superstar would be."

That sums up Watt's entire superhero fantasy in one sentence, one that fails to address the realities of human behavior. Watt seems unwilling to embrace a cultural shift that embraces flawed celebrities and continues to hold out a two-dimensional image of himself as a talisman against criticism.

You can't please everyone, and in trying, Watt may ultimately turn off most everyone.

Previously: We Need To Talk About: NFL teams battling on Twitter