When J.J. Watt name goes up in the rafters on Sunday, there will be one player with a front-row seat for the entirety of his playing career in Houston: Jon Weeks. The Pro Bowl long snapper was just in his second year when the Houston Texans selected Watt with the 11th pick overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.
"I mean, just so happy for the guy, so happy for his family, so happy for him in general because you know how hard of a worker he is, you know how much it meant to him," Weeks said. "He earned everything he went out there and did. There's wasn't a harder worker in the room and the guy worked his tail off and became the most dominant player in football for a four- or five-year span. And he deserves everything he's getting this weekend. I'm just happy to be a part of it. I was happy to be his teammate. I'm happy to be his friend and I'm really looking forward to Sunday."
With Watt's name going into the Ring of Honor on Sunday, many are debating his best moment as a Texan. I asked Weeks, the only player who has been on the field for all of Watt's 128 regular season games and his playoff appearances with the Texans, to settle the debate.
"Come on, Deepi," Weeks says. "That's easy."
Weeks doesn't hesitate or even pause before describing his favorite Watt moment, the one that still gives him "chills."
1. The 2011 Wild Card vs. Cincinnati pick-six
Watt capped off his rookie campaign, thus kickstarting his Houston superstar status, with the biggest play in the team's first-ever playoff appearance back in the 2011 Wild Card game at home against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"I've been there for all of JJ's big, big moments, yes, but I think my favorite, along with everybody else's favorite, is the Cincinnati playoff game," Week said. "The pick-six. You know, I don't think there was a better moment at the time and to hear the stadium and how loud and excited that place got. The energy in that stadium till this day still gives me chills. I love that. It was a fantastic play that, you know, he made a dozen times in his career. But that one was special and what made it more special were the fans. The fans erupted that stadium at that point and it was awesome."
I wanted to find out where some of the other great Watt moments ranked for Weeks, so I asked him to give me a Top 3.
2. Watt's Hurricane Harvey relief efforts
Technically speaking, it's not No. 2 because Weeks ranks this as his "1B" memory behind the playoff pick-six. Watt raised $41.6 million in the world's largest crowdsourced fundraiser. He started with a goal of $100,000 – in addition to the $100,000 donated - to aid the 2017 Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.
"I mean, obviously, 1B would be the impact that he had on the Houston community with the Harvey situation and what he and the rest of the of the US were able to do and raise for all the people that needed it at the time," Weeks said. "That would be my 1B."
And finally…
3. J.J. Watt's big sack vs. Buffalo
Weeks' third favorite moment involves the Texans last playoff win, the Wild Card game at home against Buffalo during the 2019 postseason. In Watt's first game following a pectoral injury that sidelined him since October, no one knew what to expect in his return. The Texans trailed 13-0 in the third quarter as Josh Allen and the Bills were looking to add to their lead.
"Buffalo's doing a good job controlling the game and they're getting ready to go in for another score," Weeks said. "J.J., coming off his torn pec on a short amount of time, has a huge sack on Josh Allen and it kind of flipped the script, you know? It got the crowd back into it, got the guys back into it and we go on a run and we come back and we win that game in overtime."
Watt's sack on third down gave life to the entire sideline and was the start of a 19-0 run in Houston's 22-19 overtime win.
"There's so many, it's hard to just pinpoint a few," Weeks said. "But obviously, I think those are the three that jump out at me real quick."
The Texans will be inducting Watt into the Ring of Honor at halftime during Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kickoff is set for noon CT on CBS and Sports Radio 610.
