JJ Watt has been out of football for two years, but there is a chance first Nfl Star could get out of his retirement in 2025 and it was because of a bet he made.
Watt and his wife, Kealia, have a stake In Burnley FC, a football team that plays in the division of the English football league (EFL). Burnley’s goalkeeper is James Trafford, who happens to be a big fan of the Bengals of Cincinnati, who is a very notable aspect of this story.
In December, Trafford asked Watt if he would be willing to get out of his retirement to play for Bengals and Watt replied half that he would, but only if Trafford had become the rest of the EFL season without abandoning a single goal.
The tweet above is from January, but the two had the exchange of SMS on December 28 and until this point, Trafford had only granted nine goals in 22 league departures, which is impressive. But to win the bet with Watt, 22 -year -old trafficking should finish the season by recording 24 consecutive (clean leaves) whitening.
Given that the English record of all time by a goalkeeper is 14 hits in a row, it did not seem that something would have to worry, but it suddenly changed, because Trafford is now on one of the most popular sequences of any goalkeeper of all time in England: Trafford has recorded 12 simple simple sheets for Burnley, who is the second in the story English soccer.
Burnley’s social media team made sure to remind Watt how Trafford plays.
Trafford has been so good that he was appointed The EFL championship player of the month for January.
With Trafford now more than halfway through the realization of a feat that once seemed impossible, you may be wondering if Watt will come out of his retirement if Trafford wins the bet and the answer is yes. Although Watt seems to love his job as a studio analyst on “the NFL Today” here at CBS Sports, he said that he would go back to the NFL Si Trafford continues his hot sequence.
During Interview on The Dan Patrick Show this weekWatt clearly said he will be happy to play for Bengals if the unlikely series of consecutive clean leaves continues.
“I’m going to do it,” said Watt when I returned to the NFL. “If he’s doing this, what’s crazy, we have 12 or 13 games left. If he does it, it’s pretty crazy and respectful for me to follow absolutely. Who knows if the (Bengals) want me even? I don’t even know. I haven’t talked to them, but I’m in good shape, I’m going to play.”
Bengals had one of the worst defenses of the NFL last season, so there is a good chance that they welcome Watt, who is a triple defensive player of the year three times, with open arms. When watt Retired after the 2022 seasonHe was a free agent, which means that if the return occurs, he would be free to sign with a team, including Bengals.
Many fans of Cincinnati have been wind of the bet and because of this, Burnley suddenly became a very popular team in the southwest of Ohio.
“We have created many fans of Clarets in Cincinnati, which is really cool,” Watt to Patrick told. “We get much more ratings and figures from the Ohio region.”
During the interview, Watt admitted that he did not expect things to go so far.
“It started as a literal joke,” said Watt about the bet. “Obviously, I speak to the guys of our team all the time and James Trafford – he will one day be goalkeeper No. 1 of England, he is so good – and he sent me a message one day. We were talking about the Steelers -Bengals … And he played with me and he said:” Hey, do you want to get out of retirement and play for Bengal? “Being an intelligent ass, I said:” Yes, you do not give up another objective the rest of the season, I will get out of retirement and play for Bengals. “”
Things started to become a little more serious for Watt after Trafford recorded his third clean sheet in a row.
“There were (24) games at the time,” said Watt about the bet the bet was originally made. “I said to myself:” It’s just a joke. “The next match, he did not give up a goal and I sent him a message and I said:” Hey, you really take that seriously. “And he said:” I really want you to play for the Bengals “. Two games later, two other games without goals, I sent him a message and I say to myself:” It becomes a bit ridiculous now. “”
The most impressive match of Trafford during the sequence probably came on January 17 against Sunderland when he stopped two penalty kicks in a 0-0 draw.
Stoping a penalty kick is quite difficult, but the two -game stop is almost unknown. The day after this draw with Sunderland, it was when Watt shared the SMS of the bet.
“And now, here we are sitting down,” said Watt. “He broke all the records along the way and there is only one record that he has not broken in the history of English football, which is old as hell. He sets records and therefore, it becomes quite serious.”
With Trafford on a role, Watt is now officially looking for houses in Cincinnati, so if you know a good real estate agent in the region, you may want to tweet their names in Watt.
At this point, whatever happens, Trafford succeeds in one of the most remarkable seasons of any goalkeeper in the history of English football. Burnley still has 12 additional league games to play, so Trafford has work to do, but he has already recorded 12 whitening, it is therefore certainly possible that he can withdraw this historic feat and that there is a good chance that the fans of Bengals starting the world support him for him.
If Trafford takes this sequence for the last Burnley match in May, Joe Burrow could want to bring together some teammates and take a flight to Great Britain to watch one of the best goalkeepers in England, who also happens to be a big fan of Bengals.
