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The San Francisco 49ers will be the last team to ever prepare for J.J. Watt, because the NFL legend with five All-Pro nods is preparing for life after football.
The Arizona Cardinals defensive end took to Twitter on Tuesday, December 27 to reveal that the Christmas Day loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers represented his last home game ever.
Watt and the Cards travel next to Atlanta to face the Falcons on New Year’s Day. But then the January 8 contest at Levi’s Stadium will put a cap on an illustrious 12-year career.
Watt Over the Years Including Versus 49ers
Watt, 33, not only lived up to expectations as a first rounder out of Wisconsin in the 2011 NFL Draft to the Houston Texans. He exceeded them and emerged as one of the faces of the NFL.
The 6-foot-6, 290-pound Watt went from 5.5 sacks his rookie season to skyrocketing to a league-high 20.5 in 2012 — earning him NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors and giving him his first All-Pro nod.
From there, he went on to produce three more consecutive seasons of surpassing the double digit sack mark — 10.5 in 2013, 20.5 again in 2014 and then 17.5 in 2015. Injuries, though, began to hamper Watt the next two years as he combined for eight starts and delivered 1.5 sacks as he dealt with abdomen and back ailments. He gave the Texans one more double-digit sack season with 16 in 2018, also his last Pro Bowl and All-Pro nomination.
Watt would combine for nine more sacks the next two seasons before eventually making his way to the Cardinals for the 2021 season. He currently has 9.5 sacks in 2022.
Watt only got to play the 49ers three times in his career, going 1-2 overall. In his first meeting in 2013, Watt and Texans fell 34-3 on October 6 with the edge rusher finishing with three tackles for a loss and three solo tackles. Watt was on injured reserve with a leg fracture for their December 10, 2017 contest in Houston that was won by the 49ers 26-16.
He finally got to taste victory over the Niners not once, but twice in the 2021 season as the Cards swept the regular season series against San Francisco. Though he was only on the field for the first meeting on October 10 which was additionally the NFL debut of Trey Lance. Watt delivered three solo stops and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage. In the last meeting versus the Niners, Watt was limited to one tackle as S.F. rolled to the 38-10 rout on November 21.
49er Fans Chime in, Including Sharing Hope for Watt in 2023
There are those 49er fans who wished Watt well. But there are members of the 49ers Faithful who hope to see Watt return in 2023…as a 49er.
Others, however, are wishing Watt nothing but the best.
Per Pro Football Reference, Watt has delivered: 580 total tackles, 445 solo stops, 313 quarterback hits, 191 tackles for a loss, 111.5 sacks, 27 forced fumbles, 17 fumble recoveries and intercepted two passes. He also started in 149 career games including playing an entire regular season seven times in his career. He appeared in nine playoff games with eight of those contests as a Texan.
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