Mike Tomlin Reveals His Favorite T.J. Watt Story
During an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show Wednesday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin reflected on his first interaction with All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt. It occurred on the night before Watt’s pro day in 2017, and to say the least, it was a rather mundane visit. That’s just Watt’s personality, though. He’s a man of few words.
“We flew into Madison, Wisconsin, the night before his pro day. In an effort to get to know him, you take him out to eat. We had some other people there, but really I was there to kind of get a feel for him,” Tomlin told Eisen. “It was really fun and cool that he was really annoyed by the whole process. He didn’t want to chit-chat. He wasn’t interested in getting to know me or me getting to know him, he just wanted to get to work. And that’s kind of indicative of T.J.”
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— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) August 28, 2024
Watt, who won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, was the most statistically dominant defensive player in the NFL last season. Watt had 19 sacks last season and set a modern NFL record as the first player to lead the league in sacks for a third time since it became an official statistic back in the early 1980s. Deacon Jones of the Los Angeles Rams unofficially led the league in sacks five times in the 1960s.
Watt also led the NFL in sacks in 2020 and 2021. He tied the all-time single-season sack record in 2021, drawing even with Michael Strahan’s mark of 22.5.
“He is blue-collar in every way. What you see is what you get,” Mike Tomlin said of Watt. “He does not have time for chit-chat. There’s an urgency in that guy that’s really contagious and fun to be around. You know how sometimes somebody can show a lack of personality and it becomes (a) personality? T.J. was not interested in getting to know us and us getting to know him. But have gotten to know him, obviously over the last seven years, I just really appreciate that about him. He’s on go as it pertains to football. His level of intensity and urgency in all football settings is unimaginable. Those of us that are around him day-to-day, we are not surprised by what we see in-stadium because we know the approach.”
In addition to winning DPOY in 2021, Watt is a six-time Pro Bowler and has been named first-team All-Pro four times in his seven-year NFL career. He was named second-team All-Pro in 2019.
Watt broke James Harrison’s all-time franchise sack record against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2 last year. He’s currently at 96.5 sacks.
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