J.J. Watt: Charity

4/30/23

Athletes often vouch for how pivotal sports are to youth development. Sports instill, confidence, tenacity, discipline, and sociality, that players carry with them for all their lives. Sports are for everyone, everyone should do sports. But in many communities worldwide, the environment cannot foster the athletic endeavors of the people who need it the most.

JJ Watt sought to battle this problem. He announced his retirement in December of last year, wrapping up how career with accolades such as three-time NFL defensive player of the year, 11th overall draft pick, and 114.5 total sacks. He could have easily fallen to self-indulgence or focused solely on football. Instead, in the same year he was drafted, he founded the JJ Watt Foundation (Justin J. Watt Foundation)(ESPN). 

As said in its mission statement, the JJ Watt Foundation aims to “to provide after-school opportunities for middle-school aged children in the community to become involved in athletics, so that they may learn the character traits of accountability, teamwork, leadership, work ethic, and perseverance…” (Justin J. Watt Foundation) Watt and his foundation fund donate athletic equipment to schools and programs in need. Even in JJ’s very first year in the NFL, his foundation was able to raise 11,000 dollars for thirty-three Milwaukee middle schools and provided flags, footballs and uniforms. From then on, the foundation and its power grew. At its peak in 2017, it raised a staggering 1,146,575.37 dollars for 102 middle schools across the nation. That year and all others, they provided not just football equipment but all the provisions schools needed ranging from uniforms to even a pole vaulting pit (Justin J. Watt Foundation).

The JJ Watt Foundation boasts impressive numbers and metrics with a total amount raised currently over seven million dollars (Justin J. Watt Foundation). But behind all this success, it is important to understand the motivations and reasons for such endeavors. In an interview with Great Day Houston, he shared how he believes middle school is a core and developmental period for children that significantly impacts their future being and path. He stressed that it was key for his foundation to be a means to provide all children with the opportunity to play sports if they wanted to and that no kid should not have the chance to play. He explained his motivation in starting the foundation, “that’s what I saw as the problem when starting this, is I saw schools that could not afford to give the opportunity to play sports after school. And obviously I know what sports can do for your life from a teamwork, discipline, work ethic, time management standpoint, so for kids to not have that opportunity is cruel.” (Great Day Houston). Watt’s empathy and action seem to follow a somewhat common theme of successful NFL players beginning programs that give to others what they feel so lucky to have had and experienced. For example, Patriots offensive lineman Matt Light’s “Light Foundation” provides outdoor experiences to youth, something he felt he was so lucky to have growing up (Deer Foundation). 

Watt also further aims his aid efforts to serve Houston, Texas, the city that he played for for the bulk of his career. Almost once every year since 2013, the foundation in partnership with the MLB host the “JJ Watt Charity Classic”, a softball game between members of the Houston Texans, both past and present (Justin J. Watt Foundation). Proceeds from the game go to the foundation’s efforts. Furthermore, they extended their reach outside of their main objective to aid in relief from the devastating Hurricane Harvey. In just one year, they were able to raise 41.6 million dollars in relief money, repair six hundred homes, distribute twenty-six million meals to victims, and provide medical services to over six thousand five hundred people among many other acts of aid. The Organization also set out its plans for the following year by working closely with organizations that spearhead efforts in repairing the damages of the disaster (Justin J. Watt Foundation).

JJ Watt had an undeniable intensity, spirit, and impact on the football field, but throughout his whole career, he constantly strives to express that same level of impact around the country, in his community, and to the athletes of the future. This is resonated in his personal statement, “I hope to make you proud of me on the field as well as off the field by helping the kids in the community have the same opportunities that were afforded to me.” (Justin J. Watt Foundation).

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Works Cited

"J.J. Watt." ESPN, ESPN Enterprises, www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/13979/jj-watt.

jjwfoundation. Justin J. Watt Foundation, jjwfoundation.org/.

Watt, Justin James. "Why JJ Watt created the Justin J. Watt Foundation." Interview by Deborah Duncan. Youtube, uploaded by Great Day Houston, 5 May 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9MYUdjQDhM.