JJ Watt responds to Lions fans asking him to come out of retirement

Oct 1, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Former Houston Texans player J.J. Watt speaks to the crowd after being inducted into the Texans Ring of Honor during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Lions lost star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson for the season on Sunday to a gruesome leg injury. Some of the team’s fans decided to try to recruit some replacements, and one focus of their attention was JJ Watt.

In a post on X Monday, Watt acknowledged that he had heard from more than a few Lions fans who encouraged him to come out of retirement to fill in for Hutchinson for the rest of the season. While the former Defensive Player of the Year had nothing but nice things to say about the Lions and their fans, he made it clear that returning to the NFL is not something he is interested in.

“This morning I poured a cup of coffee and took a walk by the lake with my wife & son before breakfast,” Watt wrote. “I’m very much enjoying this phase of life.”

Watt’s name still comes up when people discuss potential NFL comebacks. At age 35, he is still theoretically young enough to play, and he has demonstrated that he is certainly staying in shape . At times, he has also dropped hints that he might entertain a comeback under the right circumstances.

The flipside of this is that Watt has not played in the NFL since 2022. Plus, despite the occasional comment, he has not shown any real interest in a comeback, and he has a pretty solid gig with CBS as a studio analyst. The Lions will clearly have to look elsewhere to try to make up some of Hutchinson’s production.

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