Former Wisconsin DL J.J. Watt Selected to BTN's All-Decade Team
The Big Ten Network continued to roll out its All-Decade team on Thursday, and of course, J.J. Watt was on it.
Watt, the former walk-on turned three-time NFL defensive player of the year, became one of four defensive linemen to claim the honor from the network. Ohio State's Chase Young and Joey Bosa, along with Purdue's Ryan Kerrigan, also made the list.
UWBadgers.com's profile of Watt boasts how the Badger claimed the Lott IMPACT trophy and consensus first-team All-Big Ten accolades in 2010. During that season where he recorded 21 tackles for loss and seven sacks, the defensive end also received second-team All-America distinctions by the Associated Press and Sports Illustrated.
A first-round draft pick by the Houston Texans in 2011, Watt has played in 112 games in nine years for the AFC South franchise. He has accumulated 96 sacks as one of the best defensive players to ever come out of Wisconsin's football program. He also won three NFL defensive player of the year awards between 2012 and 2015.
In 2012 and 2014, he recorded 20.5 sacks during each season. He led the league in that category in both 2012 and 2015, the latter of which he tallied 17.5.
Watt joins three other former Wisconsin standouts -- running back Jonathan Taylor, linebacker Chris Borland and offensive lineman Michael Deiter -- on the BTN All-Decade team.
Four other Badgers, linebacker T.J. Watt, running back Melvin Gordon, and offensive linemen Gabe Carimi and Kevin Zeitler, were declared BTN All-Decade second-team selections earlier this week as well.
Tune in later this week to see if other Badgers receive this distinction.
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