J. J. Watt

Early life and high school career[edit]

Born in Pewaukee, Wisconsin to parents Connie, vice president of the Justin J. Watt Foundation and John Watt, a firefighter.^[3][4] He is the oldest of three children, with younger brothers Derek (b. 1997) and TJ (b. 1995), who are both students at University of Wisconsin and aspiring football players.^[4][5]

Watt attended Pewaukee High School, where he was a four-year letterman and two-year starter in football, and also lettered twice each in basketball and baseball and once in track and field. Watt played hockey from age 3 to age 13, and has proclaimed that it was his favorite sport growing up, and "possibly still is". When he was 13 the cost of equipment and travel became too much for his family, and Watt had to quit hockey. Playing both tight end and defensive end, Watt caught 26 passes for 400 yards and six touchdowns as a senior in 2006, while on defense registering 10 sacks, a school-record 22.5 tackles for loss, 70 total tackles, five forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries. He was named the Woodland Conference Player of the Year, and voted to the All-Woodland Conference first team as both a tight end and defensive end. Watt was also honored as Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Athlete of the Year.^[6]

Regarded as a two-star recruit by Rivals.com, Watt was neither ranked among the top tight end nor defensive end prospects in his class. He was, however, the No. 7 rated prospect out of the state of Wisconsin.^[7] After official visits to Central Michigan, Colorado, and Minnesota, Watt chose to play for Central Michigan.^[8]

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	40‡	Commit date
J. J. Watt Defensive End	Pewaukee, WI	Pewaukee HS	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	4.70	Jan 30, 2007
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 63
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR   Rivals: NR  ESPN: 172 (DE)
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Central Michigan Football Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2014-05-20. "2007 Central Michigan Football Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved 2014-05-20. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2014-05-20. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved 2014-05-20. "2007 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2014-05-20.

College career[edit]

Watt after the Badgers vs. Northwestern game in 2010

Central Michigan[edit]

Watt attended Central Michigan University, where he played for the Central Michigan Chippewas football team for one year in 2007. While there, he played tight end and caught eight passes for 77 yards. Frustrated by his lack of direction at Central Michigan, he transferred to Wisconsin.^[9]

Wisconsin[edit]

Watt transferred to the University of Wisconsin, where he played for the Wisconsin Badgers football team in 2009 and 2010. After being redshirted in 2008, Watt started all 13 games at defensive end in 2009. He finished the season with 44 tackles and four sacks.

In the 2010 season, Watt finished the regular season with 59 tackles, seven sacks, two fumble recoveries, and aninterception.^[10] Watt was the 2010 recipient of the Lott Trophy and was a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award.

College statistics[edit]

Year	Team	Tackles	TFL–yards	Sacks–yards	FR
2009	Wisconsin	44	15.5–53	4.5–19	2
2010	Wisconsin	59	21.0–91	7.0–56	2
College totals		103	36.5–144	11.5–75	4