Watt uses video of fans booing him at draft for motivation
When J.J. Watt was drafted by the Houston Texans, the fans weren't happy about it.
Six years later, Watt says he still has the video of fans booing him after he was selected 11th overall, which he watches for motivation.
"Yeah, I have it on my phone. I have it on my computer. I have that because I remember how quickly things can turn in this league," Watt said on the latest episode of "In Depth with Graham Bensinger." "You remember how fragile fame and success is. When they drafted me the whole place booed. The whole city kinda wondered who I was. They wanted somebody else ... they booed."
Watt was relatively unknown to Texans fans at the time, and it didn't take long for the Wisconsin product to realize he wasn't the expected pick.
"I remember when I got to the airport in Houston and the guy at the airport line when I was going through security saw I was wearing a Texans shirt, and he was like, ‘Hey, you a Texans fan?’" said Watt. "I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'I hope that big white guy they drafted is good.' And I kind of looked at him and I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. He literally had no clue who I was. And I was like, 'Yeah I hope so, too.' And I just went on my way."
Watt says he understood why fans were hesitant when they first saw the "big white guy from Wisconsin," but the reaction only motivated him to become the most dominant defender in the NFL.
"My whole goal when I saw (the video) for the first time was, 'I'm gonna change this city's mind. I'm gonna do everything I can to take this city from hating the draft pick to hopefully loving me,'" said Watt.
- With h/t to FOX Sports