J.J. Watt wanted his deal with the Arizona Cardinals to be a surprise.
So, the All-Pro defensive lineman went to some pretty incredible lengths to make that happen.
The Cardinals announced Monday that Watt had inked a two-year contract with the team. Watt was introduced by the team Tuesday, and he detailed just how difficult a secret it was to keep.
Watt’s negotiations with the Cardinals largely flew under the radar. And when he finally made his decision to take his talents to Arizona, Watt was fairly surprised by how quiet the story had been kept.
At that point, Watt decided it was an announcement he wanted to make. So, he enlisted the help of some family and friends to keep it that way.
“A few days earlier … we had an idea of who the final four or five teams were,” he prefaced the story, via MySportsUpdate’s Ari Meirov. “So I had shirts for each team ordered just in case the situation arose. But we were trying to keep this so quiet that I didn’t trust whoever at the packing facility would not see my name and put two and two together.
“So, I had my brother’s high school friend order (them), use his credit card and his address and he shipped the shirts to his house. And then, he brought them over to my house so we could make this all happen.”
He made sure to publicly thank the guys that helped pull off the scheme, too.
“Shoutout to Doug and Joe for making this happen. I appreciate you guys,” Watt said. “They’re the true brains behind the shirt that I wore for the workout.”
Now, let the work begin.
