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WATCH: J.J. Watt gives speech to Wisconsin Badgers players about walk-on journey

Future NFL Hall of Famer J.J. Watt visited Wisconsin Badgers football practice, and Luke Fickell had him deliver a speech to the team about hard work and betting on themselves.
Lorin Cox|
Jan 1, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt posses for a picture with the Wisconsin Badgers cheerleaders prior to the game in the 2015 Outback Bowl against the Auburn Tigers at Raymond James Stadium.
Jan 1, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt posses for a picture with the Wisconsin Badgers cheerleaders prior to the game in the 2015 Outback Bowl against the Auburn Tigers at Raymond James Stadium. | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers will have to embrace the underdog role with multiple College Football Playoff contenders on their schedule this season.

Who better to inspire that approach than one of the program's most famous underdogs.

Future NFL Hall of Famer J.J. Watt visited Badgers football practice on Wednesday, and Luke Fickell had him deliver a speech to the team about putting in hard work to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them.

Watt famously left a scholarship spot at Central Michigan to come to Wisconsin as a walk-on player, converting from tight end to defensive line to become a dominant force.

It means more when it comes from a player like him that has lived it before and knows exactly what the rest of the people in that room are going through every day.

The current Badgers team especially needs the boost on the defensive line where Watt played, with a revamped group through the transfer portal that Wisconsin is counting on for improved play in 2025.

If the players can take Watt's message to heart and show it on the field, they can pull of some surprises this year, the same way J.J. did during his career ascent.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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