J.J. Watt Had No Plans of Writing the Speech He Was Going to Deliver at Wisconsin's Commencement
J.J. Watt is actually going to have to think a little harder than he initially planned to put together his speech for Wisconsin's commencement service.
The Texans' three-time Defensive Player of the Year is speaking at his alma mater's graduation ceremony on May 11, but the university threw a wrench in his plans and asked for a copy of his speech.
"I said, 'What do you mean?'" Watt said according to Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com. "'I don't write speeches. I'm just going to go up there and talk.' That was my full plan. I did not know you that had to write it all out. I'm dead serious."
Watt added that he has "some messages" he wants to share and "some things" he wanted to get across, but the heart of his plan was to be quick since he expects everyone in the crowd just wants to leave to drink beer and celebrate graduating.
"They just want the person to give a cool message for about five minutes, and then get off the stage," Watt added.
Watt attended Wisconsin from 2008-2010 after a year at Central Michigan. Originally a walk-on with the Badgers, Watt left after his junior season, so he didn't get to graduate at Camp Randall Stadium like the students he will be speaking to next month.
It's a shame Watt didn't get to execute his nonchalant-impromptu approach because no matter how it turned out, it likely would have been something all those in attendance would have remembered forever.
Instead, they'll get to listen to something Watt actually wrote down and had read by others in advance.
"He was like, 'They have a teleprompter for you. What do you want on it?'" Watt recounted. "I said, 'Nothing. Just give me a black screen and tell me when to stop talking.' That was literally my plan. But I found out you have to write some stuff down. So I have about a month to figure it out."
