Justin Berl/Getty Images T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers sacks Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns during the second quarter at Heinz Field on January 3, 2022.
On Monday night Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt sacked Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield four times, a large minority of the nine sacks the Steelers amassed en route to a 26-14 victory.
But it was T.J.’s third sack of the night—which brought him to a total of 20.5 on the season— that prompted his older brother J.J. to take to Twitter to welcome him to the 20+ sack club.
Meanwhile, J.J. Watt also took the opportunity to remind his younger brother that “(Only one person has ever done it twice. Imagine if he was your older brother and he bragged about it, that would suck.)”
J.J. Watt, who is 32 and in the employ of the Arizona Cardinals, has twice recorded 20.5 sacks, first in 2012 and again in 2014, both times while playing for the Houston Texans.
The elder brother went on to encourage T.J. to go out and “break the record kid,” making reference to Michael Strahan’s single-season record of 22.5 sacks, which the New York Giants Hall of Famer set in 2001.
Welcome to the 20+ sack club @_TJWatt!
(Only one person ever has done it twice. Imagine if it was your older brother and he bragged about it, that would suck.)
Go break the record kid.
That echoes the message that former Steelers star James Harrison delivered to Watt last month when T.J. broke his franchise record for sacks (16), a mark Harrison set in 2008.
In order to break the NFL’s single-season sack record, T.J., who is 27, would need to record 1.5 sacks against the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh’s regular-season finale on Sunday January 9.
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J.J. Watt Takes Every Opportunity to Troll His Little Brother
This is not the first time that J.J. Watt has taken the opportunity to tweak his younger brother—and engage in a little humblebragging in the process.
On New Year’s Eve in 2020, J.J. positioned himself as promotional wingman for his sibling, who was a strong candidate to win his first NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
“He is more than deserving of Defensive Player of the Year and I would be stunned if he did not come home with one, which [would] remain two less than I have,” quipped J.J. Watt at his press conference on that day, having won the award in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
And in September 2020, when J.J. was asked when he started to regard T.J. as a peer, the elder brother said: “Once he has three Defensive Player of the Year awards, I’ll start to see him as a peer.”
As it turns out, T.J. Watt finished as the runner-up for the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year award. But this year he is considered by most NFL insiders to be the favorite to win the honor.
Will T.J. Watt Clap Back at His Older Brother on Twitter or Instagram?
If you’re wondering if T.J. Watt is going to respond to J.J.’s quip via social media, the answer is: not likely. That’s because T.J. Watt—along with middle brother Derek Watt and several other Steelers teammates—is in the midst of a week in which he has pledged to “go dark on social media.”
But T.J. would be hitting back from a position of strength, as he now has more sacks (21.5), than J.J. Watt has ever recorded in a single season.
And this year, J.J. Watt has played in just seven games for the Cardinals, during which time he has been responsible for 16 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and 10 quarterback hits, as per Pro Football Reference.
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J.J. Watt Ribs Younger Brother T.J. After Steelers Star Joins the 20-Sack Club