JJ Watt Sets Record Straight on Coming out of Retirement to Play for Bengals in 2025

Former NFL superstar JJ Watt is in town with the Burnley soccer club this week. Watt is a part-owner in the English soccer team, which is taking on FC Cincinnati in a friendly match at TQL Stadium, and he dove into the fun saga last offseason that almost turned him from a retired NFL star to an NFL player again.

Watt's goalkeeper for Burnley, James Trafford, is a Bengals fan, and he made a bet with Watt late last season that if he didn't allow a goal the rest of the season, then Watt would have to play for the Bengals.

Close Call

JJ watt — JJ Watt, former NFL star and minority owner of Burnley FC, talks to media before Burnley's friendly against FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium, July 10, 2026 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The former All-Pro was deathly serious about suiting up if Trafford pulled it off, but his streak of clean sheets ended at 12 games, close to the end of the season. Watt breathed a slight personal sigh of relief in that moment, but he likely could've helped them somehow.

No NFL defensive line since 2021 had a worse stop rate than the Bengals'.

"I've had a kinship with Cincinnati over the years, probably early on, not for good reasons, and then later on we had some fun with it. But for some reason, the Bengals, the city of Cincinnati, and I have been intertwined my whole career," Watt noted to local reporters on Friday. "That was a fun, crazy time because James and I were just messing around. He's a big Bengals fan, but since then, I've seen him wearing a lot of different jerseys, so I question his status as the biggest fan. But when I made that joke, I was just making a joke, and then all of a sudden, I think it was like 14 games in a row or something. I literally started training a little bit extra, not really having any interest, but I was 1,000% serious. If he somehow, insanely, managed to do that."

Heck, Watt may have ended up starting on that unit given Trey Hendrickson missed much of the season, and no one really stepped up on the outside of the defensive line.

Alas, the team is completely remade on that side of the ball, and Watt is just excited to watch from afar this fall.

“Huge, obviously, that defense is the area that they want to and need to improve the most,” Watt said. “When you have a quarterback like Joe Burrow, you have a chance in this league.”

The Burnley minority investor will be watching his club in action at TQL Stadium today.

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