JJ Watt Signs With Arizona Cardinals, Reunites With DeAndre Hopkins
After JJ Watt announced he’d be mutually parting ways with the team he’d been playing with his whole career, the Texans, speculation loomed on where the NFL defensive end would end up.
As a reporter, your sources are key to any story and there’s no better source than the subject of the story itself. Check your sources. In this case, JJ Watt said: “source: me”, posting a picture on Instagram of himself with an Arizona Cardinals shirt. You can read between the lines there and see this was his announcement post on which team he’d be signing with.
JJ Watt is now an Arizona Cardinals defensive end. From Houston to the desert, from Texas to Arizona, the signing all of a sudden bolsters the Cardinals’ defense and reunites Watt with his former Texans teammate DeAndre Hopkins.
Two weeks ago, Hopkins posted on Instagram: “Let’s finish what we started…” showing him and Watt with the defensive end wearing what appeared to be a photoshopped Cardinals jersey.
That caught the attention of Cardinals’ defensive players.
“👀,” Isaiah Simmons commented on the post.
“Could you imagine? 👀,” Chandler Jones said.
Now, Jones and the Cardinals don’t need to imagine it anymore. It’s reality. Watt is now an Arizona Cardinal.
Hey, could that even bring Vince Wilfork out of retirment?
“Hop, don’t drag me out of retirement!” Wilfork commented on that Hopkins post. “I got couple downs still in me”.
Watt is a five-time Pro Bowl selection, five-time All-Pro, was the 2017 Walter Payton Man of the Year, and three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year.
Watt also will still be wearing that signature number-99 jersey even though Watt said in a Tweet it was “previously retired in honor of Marshall Goldberg”.
Watt thanked the Goldberg family “for their kindness in offering me the opportunity to wear #99 in Arizona…I am humbled & honored to wear it and will do my best to make them proud and honor Marshall properly…”
Charlie Lapastora is a sports/news multimedia journalist who’s reported, written, produced, anchored, shot video/edited on different NBC, ABC, and FOX shows in multiple TV markets, along with digital & new media companies. Charlie has traveled the country telling national sports, news, feature, and original stories on a cable news network, airing on top 10 TV markets, satellite radio, and digital platforms. He is passionate about his faith, family—being a husband to whom he calls the G.O.A.T. of women—about reppin’ his home state of Michigan and Detroit teams (yes, including the Lions), good coffee, and loves how sports brings people together. He’s traveled the world leading and coaching sports camps and has also worked at the Detroit Pistons and LA Clippers’ NBA teams.
At The Buzzer, or ATB, is the place for those who love sports, life, family, community, and so much more. We are far from the run of the mill 24/7 sports news websites. We not only bring you what’s happening in the world of sports in terms of trades and breaking news, but we also bring you the news that goes on behind the scenes. The stuff you don’t see during the 48 minutes of an NBA game or the 60 minutes of an NFL game. We let you know what’s going on in the lives of your favorite athletes. From big life moments like becoming a mother or a father to highlighting personal videos of them raising their little ones, At The Buzzer is the place you go when you want to relate to the athlete you root for on a daily basis. If you're interested in how Russell Wilson juggles being one of the best quarterbacks in the league while also being a doting husband and father-of-three, we got you covered. Interested in seeing a video of Iman Shupert's three-month-old baby speaking her first words, we have that here at ATB. Or would you rather watch Tiger Woods' son growing up and following in his father's footsteps, don't worry, we can show you that too. At The Buzzer is so much more than sports. It's relatable, reliable, and ready to show you a side of sports you didn't know existed. Our goal at ATB is to bring you relatable, entertaining news that will leave you feeling closer and more informed about the people you are looking up to and rooting for. Sports are more than just a group of organizations that entertain you, it's about the people who make up those organizations and the stories of how they became the people they are today. So take a minute and read one of our articles, we promise you won't regret it.