Mike Freeman’s 10-Point Stance: Let J.J. Watt Do Whatever the Hell He Wants

1. Why can’t J.J. Watt become a movie star? 

This past weekend, on a quiet afternoon while many people were in swimming pools or enjoying a Star Trek marathon, J.J. Watt posted a picture on his Twitter account. I thought he was going to break the internet.

It was a shirtless Watt, his abs poking out, his face looking like he could be the next James Bond. Good for him, I thought. Do your thing, homie. 

pic.twitter.com/xiAdqfP4AJ

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) May 29, 2016

Then, of course, I started to see the inevitable backlash on my own and others’ Twitter timelines. The central theme of the complaints: Watt is getting too Hollywood.

Some people loved the picture, of course. But lots of haterade also splashed across the internet. Fake outrage about Watt’s off-field activities aren’t, though, relegated only to Twitter. I’ve also heard complaints about Watt recently from NFL front-office executives and even a few assistant coaches.

When Watt posted that picture, I texted one assistant coach for his thoughts.

“Is J.J. a male model or a football player?” the coach texted back. “What does he want to do? Be in movies or be the best football player possible?”

I find this argument not just absurd but borderline offensive.

I’ve heard players make this argument in the past, but this is the first I’ve heard of a coach or front-office type saying it.

I’ve written about jealousy and Watt before, but it bears repeating. If Watt wants to use his looks and charisma to do, well, whatever, then so be it. Watt likely posted that picture for fun, but what if it does also have something to do with a future pursuit of acting? Good for him.

Watt’s NFL career will be short-lived compared to the rest of his life. He’d be lucky if it lasted 10 years. Of course he should be thinking about life after football.

Jim Brown did it. He became a movie star and prepared for it while playing. Joe Namath did it, starring in ads. One of my favorite players of all time, Ken Stabler, did it. He looked beyond football while being an excellent player. Rob Gronkowski does it. I could go on.

For whatever reason, when Watt does it, there’s criticism. It’s a very strange thing. I don’t get it at all.

Watt has increasingly raised his off-field profile. He’s pals with Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s gone on dates with Kate Hudson. He’s been told numerous times he could be the next action star. He’s hosting a country music awards show. He does PSAs with a former first lady. He has his own logo. He does intense commercials.

All of this attention has created a false impression that Watt cares less about football and more about being a celebrity. He’s even been called a phony. This ignores the fact that all Watt does is bust his ass. In the offseason. During the season. In games. In practice. He’s always bloodied, working hard, setting defensive records.

If he happens to be charming along the way, so the hell what?

In April, Watt told the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson he wasn’t going to change his social media approach:

We have social media and people want to see access, they want to know what you’re doing, they want day-to-day, what’s going on in his life? Then every single thing you do becomes a story, whether it’s a tweet, whether it’s an Instagram post, whether it’s a Snapchat, every single thing becomes a story so I think if people don’t want to see what I’m doing they should probably stop following me. That’s basically what it comes down to.

One of the problems with all the social media we have nowadays is it becomes a cynical world. I think there’s a lot of people out there that want to believe that somebody’s being fake, they want to believe that somebody is doing things just for attention, when in reality there’s a whole lot of people out there doing good things for the world. If we could just believe in the good and we can actually spend our energy on being good people and doing good things as opposed to trying to rip other people down or trying to poke flaws in other people, I think then we can truly help make changes in the world.

What I see with Watt is the conflict of old …

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