Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: your host Dave Pash ESPN and Arizona Cardinals announcer. Our
Speaker 1: guest this week is JJ Watt, Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman
Speaker 1: and future Hall of Famer. We talk a ton about
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty one season as well as the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two Arizona Cardinal season, but we also get into
Speaker 1: JJ's background growing up an elite hockey player, being a
Speaker 1: Milwaukee Bucks fan, what JJ would like to do after football,
Speaker 1: also all of his philanthropy efforts, as well as a
Speaker 1: time this offseason, JJ went to a bar just to
Speaker 1: hang out with sports fans in Arizona. Boys very close
Speaker 1: there for about two hours and just had some beer,
Speaker 1: hung out, took photos with them, sign autographs wherever they wanted,
Speaker 1: but also got to just got to hang and just
Speaker 1: talk with a few of them and got to play
Speaker 1: a full round of Golden Tea, which was great. We'll
Speaker 1: discuss what the next step is for Kyler Murray, JJ's
Speaker 1: thoughts on some of the offseason moves by the Cardinals
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Speaker 1: problem call one eight hundred. Next step. All right, here's
Speaker 1: our guest for this edition of the Dave Pash Podcast,
Speaker 1: j J Watt. So JJ. First of all, I'm sure
Speaker 1: Cardinal fans want to know how's your health because obviously
Speaker 1: you had an incredibly significant injury last year that remarkably
Speaker 1: you came back from the play in the postseason. You're
Speaker 1: here now for OTAs and workouts. How do you feel?
Speaker 1: I feel great. I feel great. Obviously I was able
Speaker 1: to come back for that. Haven't had any issues whatsoever
Speaker 1: and fully normally functioning. How significant really was that injury
Speaker 1: because a lot of people at the time were saying
Speaker 1: it's shoulder, and then there was reports that it's a
Speaker 1: lot more ye shoulder. No, it was pretty bad. Thankful
Speaker 1: it's behind me for sure, but it was pretty bad.
Speaker 1: Initially they were only supposed to open up one big
Speaker 1: scar and then do like a scope on the back,
Speaker 1: and then when I woke up, there were two huge
Speaker 1: scars and two scope holes. So there was a little more,
Speaker 1: a little more than they expected, and it was pretty
Speaker 1: much a total loss in there. But they put it
Speaker 1: back together extremely well, and I'm very thankful they have
Speaker 1: great doctors and great people helped me to get back,
Speaker 1: and a little bit of luck as well. How did
Speaker 1: you stay motivated during that time because I remember you
Speaker 1: saying early on in the process that you wanted to
Speaker 1: be back for the playoffs and that was your goal,
Speaker 1: and athletes say that all the time and sometimes it's
Speaker 1: not realistic, and a lot of people thought it wasn't
Speaker 1: realistic for you. So how did you stay motivated and
Speaker 1: persistent to make sure that you got back for that game? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean when you're in the building every day, it's easy.
Speaker 1: I mean you see the guys, you see them work,
Speaker 1: and you watch them practice and go to meetings, and
Speaker 1: you want to be a part of it as a competitor,
Speaker 1: as an athlete, you want to be a part of that,
Speaker 1: and you see it in front of you every day
Speaker 1: and not every day is easy. I mean it's extremely difficult.
Speaker 1: Some days are depressing, some days are tough, some days
Speaker 1: the rehab doesn't go as well as you'd hope it would.
Speaker 1: And those guys seeing them every day and them coming
Speaker 1: through and tapping you up and wishing you the best
Speaker 1: every day and just chatting with your shooting the breeze,
Speaker 1: it just makes you want to get back out there
Speaker 1: and once it makes you want to work that much harder,
Speaker 1: makes you want to do everything the right way so
Speaker 1: you can get back on that field and help them out.
Speaker 1: So all that than this podcast, which I do for
Speaker 1: the Cardinals and in the offseason, it's not regular. My
Speaker 1: season ended last week. My last game was Game six
Speaker 1: of Philly Miami, so I'm technically I don't have to
Speaker 1: do another game until preseason. Like for me, when my
Speaker 1: season's over, I watch the NBA playoffs, but it's not
Speaker 1: like I'm sitting around watching baseball. I'm kind of get
Speaker 1: away from sports and do other things. When the Cardinal
Speaker 1: season ended, what were your thoughts? What did you do?
Speaker 1: Did you want to get away from it? Did you
Speaker 1: want to go back and watch the tape and talk
Speaker 1: to guys about it? Or did you just want to escape,
Speaker 1: you want to work. I think, especially the way it ended,
Speaker 1: and especially for myself having been injured up until that
Speaker 1: last game and then coming back, I mean I wanted
Speaker 1: to get right back to work. I mean I was
Speaker 1: unable to do anything for the second half of the season,
Speaker 1: so I was ready to immediately get back to work
Speaker 1: and put that loss behind us and do whatever we
Speaker 1: could to be ready for the next season. But then
Speaker 1: you also, you do try and find your spaces to
Speaker 1: get away, try and find your time to relax, reconnect
Speaker 1: with family, get as much time with the wife as
Speaker 1: I can. And we took a couple of trips here
Speaker 1: and there, but for the most part, I mean I
Speaker 1: was back in with Buddy the next day. We just
Speaker 1: wanted to We just want to get back to work.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the NBA Playoffs, the Bucks, so I did
Speaker 1: Game three Boston Milwaukee, and I don't know if you
Speaker 1: remember that game. That was a game Horford, who was
Speaker 1: on his hand. Yeah, I thought after that Milwaukee's gonna
Speaker 1: win the series. Obviously they didn't win the series. It
Speaker 1: could beat pretty baddling in Game seven. I know you're
Speaker 1: a Bucks fan. Peewaukee, is what west of the City Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction to Game seven. I mean, it
Speaker 1: was a rough weekend for me. It was a rough
Speaker 1: weekend for me. I had Chelsea Liverpool on Saturday, Chelsea
Speaker 1: took the Allen Pek's and then I had the Bucks. Obviously.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's tough when you got a guy like
Speaker 1: Milton out for the whole series and Jannie is trying
Speaker 1: to do everything in his power to put the team
Speaker 1: on his back the whole series, and he was incredible,
Speaker 1: but it's just kind of inevitable that at some point
Speaker 1: it's he can't keep doing it the whole time. And
Speaker 1: and then on Sunday had the Suns and it was
Speaker 1: rough as well. So it was pretty tough sports weekend
Speaker 1: for me overall. But at sports, I mean, that's the
Speaker 1: beauty of sport, you know, Like you go on Twitter
Speaker 1: after the games, and I saw somebody put up this
Speaker 1: thing of Yannis and it was saying, like the Bucks
Speaker 1: last seven years with the honest and it was like
Speaker 1: first round playoff exit, second round playoff exit, first round
Speaker 1: playoff exit, Eastern Conference Finals, NBA Champions first round playoff exit,
Speaker 1: and they they were they were listing these things like
Speaker 1: it was a bad thing. And I was thinking to myself,
Speaker 1: there's an NBA champion like you literally have in that
Speaker 1: list NBA champion at the way I mean, and you're
Speaker 1: just like we're just all of a sudden, just breezing
Speaker 1: past that, Like it's like this guy's had a failure
Speaker 1: of a career, Like it's it's just funny to me
Speaker 1: in today's world, how it's so we're just trying to
Speaker 1: find ways on people and it's just we we we
Speaker 1: were so quick to do that and not nearly as
Speaker 1: quick to lift people up and to give them the
Speaker 1: praise that they deserve. And so it's just it's always
Speaker 1: funny for me to watch that type of stuff. So
Speaker 1: more on Yannis, because I remember the first time I
Speaker 1: met you, and I'm sure you don't remember because you've
Speaker 1: met thousands of broadcasters and reporters over the years, but
Speaker 1: it was two thousand nine and then two thousand and ten,
Speaker 1: which was your last year at Wisconsin. It was really
Speaker 1: when you were taken off in ten, and I was
Speaker 1: working at the time with Chris Spielman and Bob Greasy,
Speaker 1: and I remember even Chris when I met you, looked
Speaker 1: at you like Wow, that's a big dude. And Jannis
Speaker 1: is one of those guys like you and you're in
Speaker 1: that category. I don't think people realize how big you are.
Speaker 1: And I don't think people realize like what Jannis looks
Speaker 1: like when you see him in person, it's different. Are
Speaker 1: there any professional athletes and maybe you just stick with
Speaker 1: NFL where like when you first see a guy that
Speaker 1: maybe you didn't know very well or you didn't see
Speaker 1: him in pads, you when you see him, you're like, man,
Speaker 1: that dude's a lot bigger than I thought. I don't
Speaker 1: know too many in the NFL. I think of most
Speaker 1: in the NFL have been about what I thought. But
Speaker 1: I mean I met Yeaman when I was in Houston,
Speaker 1: and I mean that, Yeah, it just blows you away.
Speaker 1: Like we went out to lunch and watching him sit
Speaker 1: in a chair at a table like is mind boggling.
Speaker 1: It's you're trying the whole time we were eating, I
Speaker 1: was just trying to wrap my head around and like
Speaker 1: his life. I was just trying to think about how
Speaker 1: he fits into cars and how he buys clothes and
Speaker 1: all these things. So, um, I think NBA definitely is
Speaker 1: like that as well, Like when you go sit courtside
Speaker 1: of the game and you're truly up there and you're
Speaker 1: seeing the guys, and it's pretty incredible even us. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm a pretty big guy, but you watch those guys
Speaker 1: and they're seven foot and they're doing things that are unbelievable.
Speaker 1: So you have a lot of respect for that. In
Speaker 1: the NFL, I'm no, I can't. I can't really think
Speaker 1: of one guy that I was like, Oh man, that
Speaker 1: guy's gigantic. That's because you dwarf most guys, So I
Speaker 1: get it. It's funny because y'all, what you know, he's
Speaker 1: not just tall, he's thick, like his lower body's thick.
Speaker 1: And Jeff Van Gundy's a buddy of mine, and Jeff
Speaker 1: coach him. It's hilarious back when Jeff was coaching him.
Speaker 1: And I assume you know Jeff from Houston because he's
Speaker 1: a huge Texan fan, and it was like having and
Speaker 1: Costello with with Jeff and yea, yeah, he's well proportioned.
Speaker 1: He's not. It's not like he's just tall and lanky.
Speaker 1: He is. His body looks like it fits his height,
Speaker 1: and it's I mean, I just I can't figure out
Speaker 1: where he buys his clothes and how he goes about
Speaker 1: his daily life. I don't know if people realize you
Speaker 1: were a great hockey player growing up. Do you still
Speaker 1: watch Stanley Cup playoffs? Yeah? Yeah, I admittedly don't tune
Speaker 1: in too heavily until the playoffs, but the playoffs. I
Speaker 1: was talking to my wife last night about it. The
Speaker 1: Stanley Cup playoffs are my favorite playoffs and all sports
Speaker 1: to watch. Just everything about it is so intense. And
Speaker 1: obviously last night you had a couple of games and
Speaker 1: you had the Rangers Penguins go, it's overtime, and it's
Speaker 1: game seven, overtime, winner takes all, and just those moments
Speaker 1: where it's one goal wins it, and you know that
Speaker 1: there's gonna be the elation of winning, and there's gonna
Speaker 1: be the devastation of losing, and it's you just you
Speaker 1: can't beat that. Were you on a traveling team growing up? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I played on a team. Yeah, I played on a
Speaker 1: trip a team that played all over Wisconsin, Canada, Minnesota, Michigan.
Speaker 1: And then I also played on another team that went
Speaker 1: over to Germany and played in Germany and a couple
Speaker 1: of tournaments over there. So yeah, it was it was
Speaker 1: pretty cool. Can you stopped playing because of football? No,
Speaker 1: I stopped playing. It was just extremely expensive. We were
Speaker 1: a middle class family and I was fortunate to be
Speaker 1: able to do it for a while. But three boys
Speaker 1: playing on traveling teams are our parents kind of said,
Speaker 1: we can't afford anymore. If you want to play on
Speaker 1: the local local team, you can, but we can't afford
Speaker 1: to be on the travel teams anymore, and so we
Speaker 1: kind of turned our attention to the other sports. Did
Speaker 1: you know about the tradition of Wisconsin hockey like when
Speaker 1: you went there? Yeah, because I grew up in Madison
Speaker 1: and I was I went to football and basketball games
Speaker 1: growing up. I never went to hockey games. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I have it literally might still be somewhere in a
Speaker 1: box somewhere, but like in my childhood bedroom growing up,
Speaker 1: I had we like when I was probably somewhere eight
Speaker 1: to ten years old, we would go skate with the
Speaker 1: Badgers like they have like a skate you could skate
Speaker 1: with the Badgers, and we went with them and I
Speaker 1: got all their autographs on their team picture and it
Speaker 1: was hanging up on my wall for shoot probably until
Speaker 1: like five years ago. So it was yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: knew all about it. The Coal Center the interest, Like,
Speaker 1: I think hockey has the best introductions in all of sports.
Speaker 1: I think that they do the best job with their
Speaker 1: audio visual in terms of the intros and the music
Speaker 1: and the announcers and shutting off all the lights and everything.
Speaker 1: I think it's incredible. So I was always attracted to that.
Speaker 1: And the Coal Center does a really good job with
Speaker 1: their presentation as well, so I love going to games
Speaker 1: there when I was in college. I'm sure a lot
Speaker 1: of people are enjoying this conversation, but they're they probably
Speaker 1: feel like we're burying the lead here and not talking
Speaker 1: about the team. So let's let's talk about First of all,
Speaker 1: I guess your thoughts on the off season so far
Speaker 1: and what you think of the moves that the Cardinals
Speaker 1: have made, whether it's free agency, the trade with Hollywood
Speaker 1: and the draft. Yeah, I mean I obviously paid attention
Speaker 1: to it a little bit, but I also just control it.
Speaker 1: I can control and do my job right to have Hollywood.
Speaker 1: And I saw him the day that he signed and
Speaker 1: or the day that he got traded or however however,
Speaker 1: and all went down, but he was in very quickly
Speaker 1: after his trade and got a chance to meet with
Speaker 1: him and looking forward to him very very fast. It'll
Speaker 1: be great far offense, open things up even more. Can
Speaker 1: never have too many weapons on that side of the ball.
Speaker 1: And then the Draft. I mean, we'll see how it
Speaker 1: all plays out. You never know, you know, with the draft,
Speaker 1: it's people love it, people hate it, people nobody knows,
Speaker 1: nobody knows, and we all hope it turns out incredible.
Speaker 1: So looking forward to seeing these guys work, looking forward
Speaker 1: to see how they go about their business, and helping
Speaker 1: them in any way I can. So I was doing
Speaker 1: a lot of interviews leading up to the draft and
Speaker 1: during the offseason locally nationally, people asking about the Cardinals
Speaker 1: and a lot of people saying, well, they're not doing anything.
Speaker 1: And obviously a lot has changed since then, the Hollywood
Speaker 1: Trade being one of the moves that was made. But
Speaker 1: also just in general, you guys were seven and oh
Speaker 1: and ten and two. It's not like there needed to
Speaker 1: be a rebuild. So my question to you is how
Speaker 1: close do you feel this group is? Because I'm you know,
Speaker 1: Adrian Wilson's been on this pod, Steve Cliff, Quinn, Harris,
Speaker 1: and everybody seems to think like you guys are close.
Speaker 1: You could feel twenty two and contend for a championship. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean wouldn't be much of a point in playing
Speaker 1: if we didn't think we could make it happen. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to the opportunity. I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: getting back out there with the group. I mean, we
Speaker 1: started out seven and oh last year, and unfortunately it
Speaker 1: didn't end the way that we wanted it too. But
Speaker 1: that feeling and that the way that we were rolling,
Speaker 1: in the way that we were going about things, there's
Speaker 1: no reason that that shouldn't have continued. And there's no
Speaker 1: reason that we can't make that happen again and continue
Speaker 1: it and sustain it. As you look at the room
Speaker 1: and you think about the possibilities, do you see some
Speaker 1: similarities to some of the teams you're on in Houston
Speaker 1: that won the division. I mean, I have bigger aspirations
Speaker 1: than I've ever had in my own career. I mean
Speaker 1: I've obviously won division titles and things like that, but
Speaker 1: i want to win the super Bowl. I mean that's
Speaker 1: the goal. So I'm done with any small goals. I'm
Speaker 1: done with any moral victories or anything like that. I
Speaker 1: mean I'm here for one goal and one goal only,
Speaker 1: and that's to win a trophy. So that's what I'm
Speaker 1: working towards, and I think we have a good group
Speaker 1: who's capable of doing that, and it's just a matter
Speaker 1: of putting it all together and doing it consistently week
Speaker 1: after week and making sure that we put in all
Speaker 1: the work. And as you know, the quarterback position is
Speaker 1: the one that's most scrutinized, obviously, and you played with
Speaker 1: some really good quarterbacks in Houston. You played with a
Speaker 1: great quarterback, and you played with some quarterbacks that you know, frankly,
Speaker 1: weren't very good, and you guys still were able to win.
Speaker 1: Kyler obviously has an elite skill set and he clearly
Speaker 1: has grown since his rookie year before you got here.
Speaker 1: What do you think's the next step for him? I mean,
Speaker 1: I think that just playing it up. He's done it.
Speaker 1: He's played at extremely high level. I think it's just
Speaker 1: obviously we need to finish out of season better. I
Speaker 1: think that's but that's not just him, that's on all
Speaker 1: of us. I think that it's being able to do
Speaker 1: it take us to where we need to go from
Speaker 1: a playoff standpoint, and like I said, to go win
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl. And every year in the league, you
Speaker 1: get better, you mature, you have you learn the game,
Speaker 1: you play differently year to year because you have more
Speaker 1: knowledge based, you have more experience, You're you're mature and wiser.
Speaker 1: So I'm looking forward to seeing his progress and looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing the step that he takes this season.
Speaker 1: How involved are you in his life in terms of
Speaker 1: having conversations, whether it's in person or via text, you know,
Speaker 1: because a lot of times you have, you know, the
Speaker 1: offenses on one side of locker and the defense on
Speaker 1: the other end, there's not much conversation going on even
Speaker 1: you know, a way from football. But I know, just
Speaker 1: based on your history, you're a guy that you know
Speaker 1: you're invested in your teammates. So I'm just curious that
Speaker 1: relationship with Kyler. Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's there.
Speaker 1: I mean we tex text message and FaceTime and things
Speaker 1: like that. I mean we're not we're not having dinner
Speaker 1: every single night, but we're definitely talking all the time.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the nature of the team. You understand
Speaker 1: the leadership of the team, and you understand that the
Speaker 1: quarterback is such a vital role to the team, and
Speaker 1: any way that I can support, any way that I
Speaker 1: can help and try and make his job easier is
Speaker 1: what I'm here to do. I know it's maybe a
Speaker 1: hard question answer because you were hurt for a good
Speaker 1: part of the year, so you weren't out there every
Speaker 1: week with a lot of the guys. But who were
Speaker 1: some of the young guys on defense that stood out
Speaker 1: to you last year that you're really high on here
Speaker 1: going forward? Yeah, I'm I'm I'm just I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to seeing them all. I mean, I think that we've
Speaker 1: got a lot of a lot of guys. I think
Speaker 1: Marco's got a lot of potential. I think Byron obviously
Speaker 1: played extremely well. I mean when I look around, I
Speaker 1: try and when you say young guys, they're most of
Speaker 1: the room is young in my eyes, so I look
Speaker 1: at everybody. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress. I mean,
Speaker 1: you look forward to seeing what's Avin is able to
Speaker 1: do with the bigger role and with a full off season,
Speaker 1: an actual offseason program, and Isaiah having a chance to
Speaker 1: have an off season program and being able to have
Speaker 1: that year to grow and mature and learn. And then
Speaker 1: on the D line, you got a bunch of young
Speaker 1: guys who you're looking to flourish and take that next
Speaker 1: step and see what they can do. So it's exciting.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to it, and then obviously the draft
Speaker 1: picks and we'll see what they can do. You're rare
Speaker 1: and that I mean you were a hit right away.
Speaker 1: Not many guys come in and have the kind of
Speaker 1: impact that you did, winning multiple Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year awards early on in your career. I'm curious, what's
Speaker 1: the key for guys like Xavin Isaiah, the younger guys
Speaker 1: that you know have flashes moments where things are great,
Speaker 1: but getting consistently good. What's the key for those guys,
Speaker 1: do you think? I think it's all about time you
Speaker 1: put in, and I think it's about repetition and just consistency.
Speaker 1: I think that the more time that you're able to
Speaker 1: commit to the job and that you're able to learn
Speaker 1: and grow, and the more time that you have to
Speaker 1: learn the playbook and the plays and see as many
Speaker 1: looks as possible, whether it's walk throughs, whether it's practice,
Speaker 1: whether it's offseason program, training camp, whatever it may be,
Speaker 1: and being able to do those things over and over
Speaker 1: and over again. That's when you really get good. I
Speaker 1: think that having an offseason program is going to help
Speaker 1: him a lot, because we haven't had one true offseason
Speaker 1: program for a few years, especially since they've been in
Speaker 1: the league. And then it's just going out there and
Speaker 1: flying around and playing football. You know, at some point,
Speaker 1: this game comes down to making plays. It comes down
Speaker 1: to being on the field and just making plays. And
Speaker 1: I think that you're gonna make mistakes. Guys are gonna
Speaker 1: make mistakes. I make mistakes all the time, but I
Speaker 1: think that you have to make those mistakes one hundred
Speaker 1: miles an hour, and you have to make them with
Speaker 1: an intent and a focus to be trying to make plays.
Speaker 1: I'd rather a guy be doing everything in his power
Speaker 1: to make a play and screw up that way than
Speaker 1: be thinking and inside of his head and screw up
Speaker 1: because he's too slow. So they got to go out
Speaker 1: there play and when you do make those mistakes, you
Speaker 1: got to learn from them. But it's all about repetition
Speaker 1: and consistency and work. When the schedule came out, was
Speaker 1: there anything that stood out to you? I know for me,
Speaker 1: the bye week being in December. Now, as a player,
Speaker 1: maybe you don't care you want to go every week.
Speaker 1: I don't know, um. I mean, the first couple of
Speaker 1: things you look at as a player is obviously who
Speaker 1: you're playing first, and then you look at the Thursday
Speaker 1: night game and the bye week. Those are the two,
Speaker 1: the two big ones that you do look at, and
Speaker 1: it is a little bit later, but I mean you
Speaker 1: also can't control it, so there's not much you can
Speaker 1: do about it. The Thursday night game being at home
Speaker 1: is definitely better than being on the road. I mean,
Speaker 1: Thursday night games are what they are, but when you
Speaker 1: don't have to travel, it does make it easier on
Speaker 1: the body for sure. But other than that, I mean,
Speaker 1: we knew who's we knew all seventeen teams we're gonna play,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna play them and I look forward to
Speaker 1: kicking it off. How often do you talk with your brothers?
Speaker 1: How often did you talked to t J at the
Speaker 1: end of the season when he was going for the record?
Speaker 1: We talked to each other many times throughout the day.
Speaker 1: I mean, we have a group chat that has probably
Speaker 1: I don't know, fifty to one hundred text messages per
Speaker 1: day in it, and FaceTime with him multiple times a week.
Speaker 1: Both of them, and we're extremely close, extremely close, and
Speaker 1: so I talked to him at length and during that
Speaker 1: run and during the end of the season and everything,
Speaker 1: and it was especially it was special to watch, and
Speaker 1: I still think that he got it. I think that
Speaker 1: there was a I still don't understand why he didn't
Speaker 1: get credit for that second sack in that game. But
Speaker 1: hell of are unbelievable. You know. One of the things
Speaker 1: that I love about you and what you bring to
Speaker 1: a team is you you immediately become an ambassador for
Speaker 1: the team and for the city that you're living in.
Speaker 1: And one of the things this offseason that I don't
Speaker 1: know that I've ever seen a professional athlete do before
Speaker 1: is just decide, Hey, I'm going to go to a
Speaker 1: bar and just hang out with the fans and have
Speaker 1: some beers. Like how did that come about? And what
Speaker 1: was the turnout? Like how long did you stay? It
Speaker 1: was good? It was great. Came about on Twitter. I
Speaker 1: don't even remember exactly how it started, but somehow we
Speaker 1: got on the topic of dive bars and I started
Speaker 1: thinking that I've been in Arizona for a year but
Speaker 1: didn't really get a chance to hang out with the
Speaker 1: fans because of COVID and we had all the rules
Speaker 1: in place, so I couldn't It wasn't much you could
Speaker 1: do last offseason in terms of meeting the fans, so
Speaker 1: I wanted to do something where I could at least
Speaker 1: get out there and see the fans. And so we
Speaker 1: went to a dive bar and it was great. It
Speaker 1: was actually great. You know. The one thing that I
Speaker 1: asked that the fans was if they just be cool,
Speaker 1: like just I mean, I want to do this, I
Speaker 1: want it to be great, but just if you're cool,
Speaker 1: it's going to be great. And to their credit, everybody
Speaker 1: was cool. Everybody was very cool. I was there for
Speaker 1: about two hours and just had some beer, hung out,
Speaker 1: took photos with them, sign autographs whatever they wanted, but
Speaker 1: also got to just hang got to hang and just
Speaker 1: talk with a few of them, and got to play
Speaker 1: a full round of Golden Tea, which was great. And
Speaker 1: the people were they were really cool. They just kind
Speaker 1: of let me hang and chill, but they also got
Speaker 1: their chances they interact and say hello and hear stories,
Speaker 1: and it was a it was a great experience. It's
Speaker 1: it's something that I would do again. You're very philanthropic.
Speaker 1: You've always been what are some of the things you
Speaker 1: have going on right now? I assume you've got things
Speaker 1: going on in multiple states. Yeah, well, I was just
Speaker 1: talking to my mom about the other day. We're trying
Speaker 1: to find because we've already donated to I believe it's
Speaker 1: either eight or ten states here or in Arizona, and
Speaker 1: we're we're looking at other schools in the area to
Speaker 1: try and continue to work with now that that I'm
Speaker 1: here on the ground, and I also want to go
Speaker 1: out and visit some of those schools and things like that.
Speaker 1: When I left Houston, we did a half million dollar
Speaker 1: project with the Boys and Girls Club where we created
Speaker 1: basically digital labs for the kids to work in so
Speaker 1: that they could keep up with the technology of today's
Speaker 1: world and trying to make sure that they have all
Speaker 1: the tools necessary to stay up with today's society. And
Speaker 1: we're also working on a fundraiser for this fall, just
Speaker 1: trying to trying to continue. We've wanted to do my
Speaker 1: charity softball game for the last couple of years, but
Speaker 1: with COVID and the uncertainty of it, we haven't been
Speaker 1: able to plan it because it takes almost a full
Speaker 1: year to plan every time and with the uncertainty, we
Speaker 1: haven't been able to, but I'd like to do that,
Speaker 1: especially with how many great minor league stadiums are down here.
Speaker 1: It's a great opportunity. But yeah, just trying to find
Speaker 1: other ways that down the community and try and help.
Speaker 1: Was that DK's camp the other day and got a
Speaker 1: chance to meet some of the kids in the area.
Speaker 1: So I'm enjoying it. I love it out here that
Speaker 1: people have been great. I'm very fortunate and my wife
Speaker 1: and I are really really enjoying it down here. I
Speaker 1: know you're focused on playing football, You're very good in
Speaker 1: the setting, and you've always been good with the media.
Speaker 1: I'm curious as you look at Tom Brady getting four
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars Romo Akeman, who now is a colleague
Speaker 1: of mine at ESPN, Like, what do you think about
Speaker 1: television as a future for you when you've done playing football.
Speaker 1: If offered four hundred million dollars, I would take it.
Speaker 1: I would take it. I'd talk about whatever they wanted
Speaker 1: me to talk about, and I would do it with
Speaker 1: a large smile on my face. So that's that's I've
Speaker 1: always said, you know, early in my career, I always
Speaker 1: said I didn't want to be on I didn't want
Speaker 1: to be an analyst. I didn't want to be on
Speaker 1: NFL shows because I there's an aspect to it where
Speaker 1: you have to speak on other people's jobs when you
Speaker 1: don't know exactly what their assignment was. And I've always
Speaker 1: that was one of my biggest caveats, was that you know,
Speaker 1: whether it was me playing game and a guy was
Speaker 1: ripping on me for going in the wrong gap, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, you don't know that's that was the
Speaker 1: gap I was supposed to be in, and things like that.
Speaker 1: I'd never liked that aspect of it, because you're at
Speaker 1: some point you are going to have to guess and
Speaker 1: assume that you know what that person's supposed to do.
Speaker 1: But the further along I've gotten into it, and the
Speaker 1: more that obviously someday it's going to come to an end,
Speaker 1: you realize that you love the game and you want
Speaker 1: to be around the game, and you do want to
Speaker 1: to have that aspect of it, so you try and
Speaker 1: try and find ways to do it in a more
Speaker 1: positive light. And it's definitely a consideration that it's come
Speaker 1: to the forefront more for me than it did earlier
Speaker 1: in my career, and I think it's something that I
Speaker 1: could be successful at and have have fun with. So
Speaker 1: we'll see. I mean, it's it's still down the road
Speaker 1: a bit, but I'm it's a possibility. Who knows. What
Speaker 1: about college football? Do you still like college football? Do
Speaker 1: you watch much college football or no? I enjoy watching it.
Speaker 1: I do enjoy college football. I love the atmosphere. I
Speaker 1: think college football for me is much more about the
Speaker 1: fan base. It's about the culture. It's about the traditions
Speaker 1: in the history. I mean one of my like, when
Speaker 1: I'm done, I definitely want to go to different college
Speaker 1: football towns and experience a game day atmosphere there. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm gonna be able to live
Speaker 1: the dream that I once had to just RV a
Speaker 1: full season from game day to game day the best cities,
Speaker 1: but I do want to go experience in the swamp
Speaker 1: in Florida, see what that's like, Death Valley and LSU.
Speaker 1: I've been to Kyle Field at Texas A and M Obviously,
Speaker 1: I've been to Wisconsin, ohiuse state some of these places
Speaker 1: I would like to go in Nebraska. Haven't been to
Speaker 1: a game in Nebraska. My brothers said, it's an unbelievable atmosphere.
Speaker 1: Haven't been up to Penn State to see what that's like,
Speaker 1: and there's there's just so many different atmospheres that I
Speaker 1: would love to experience in the tailgating and the food
Speaker 1: and just everything about it. Obviously, college football has changed
Speaker 1: recently here with the landscape and the way that it
Speaker 1: is going about its business, but I still I still
Speaker 1: think there's a real special aspect to it. I like
Speaker 1: the road trip with JJ. You could probably do like
Speaker 1: an ESPN plus like four hundred million. That's the price.
Speaker 1: Take four hundred million, will make it happen. ESPN. Just
Speaker 1: give me a call. You gotta go to a night
Speaker 1: game at LSU. There is nothing better than a night
Speaker 1: game at LAS. So I had back it was shoot,
Speaker 1: it must have been seven or eight years ago now,
Speaker 1: when I was down in Houston. This one of the
Speaker 1: people I was working with endorsement wise. It was our
Speaker 1: bye week and they said, Hey, we're going to take
Speaker 1: a I have a jet over to LSU. It's a
Speaker 1: night game LSU Alabama. And they were like one two
Speaker 1: at the time, and it was our bye week and
Speaker 1: I was dead, and I was like I'm so tired.
Speaker 1: I just want to relax and like hang out here
Speaker 1: with my family. But LSU Alabama, how do I pass
Speaker 1: this up? And I ultimately decide to pass it up
Speaker 1: just because like season, I wasn't going to mess up
Speaker 1: my season and I just wanted that rest time. But
Speaker 1: that's the one time where I look back and I'm like,
Speaker 1: maybe I should have just gone, because I hear those
Speaker 1: of briefs pecial amazing and Nebraska is interesting. And I
Speaker 1: know at that time when you were at Wisconsin, they
Speaker 1: were still in the Big twelve, so you didn't play there.
Speaker 1: But if you play Nebraska as a visiting player, they
Speaker 1: will cheer, and some of my brothers they will applaud you.
Speaker 1: They're very nice. Yeah, that's that's what I hear. It.
Speaker 1: It sounds like they show up for warmups, like it's
Speaker 1: a pack stadium for warmups. And when I grew up,
Speaker 1: I was watching I always used to watch our tunnel walk,
Speaker 1: like I always going back. I would watch the YouTube
Speaker 1: videos of their tunnel walk, and I thought it was
Speaker 1: the coolest tunnel walk ever, and like that was one
Speaker 1: of those things that as an athlete, as a high
Speaker 1: school kid, I was like Can you imagine that feeling
Speaker 1: of just walking out underneath the stadium of one hundred
Speaker 1: thousand people in their place. You're just they're just waiting
Speaker 1: for you to enter the arena. I just I thought
Speaker 1: that was so cool. We got to get at you
Speaker 1: out here in a couple minutes, so too quick questions
Speaker 1: on this year's team, based on the start last year
Speaker 1: and even the start two years ago, how important is
Speaker 1: training camp and early in the season for you guys
Speaker 1: in terms of building what you want to build and
Speaker 1: then also carrying it over throughout the year and being
Speaker 1: consistent so we don't have that fall off at the
Speaker 1: end of the season. Yeah, I mean I think that obviously,
Speaker 1: the consistency and the carrying it through to the late
Speaker 1: half of the season is the important aspect right now.
Speaker 1: Where you have to start fast. I mean, you want
Speaker 1: to do exactly what we did last year. You want
Speaker 1: to start seven to O and you want to but
Speaker 1: we need to keep it rolling. So it's extremely important
Speaker 1: to us to get off to that good start to
Speaker 1: do well early in the season. But just as important
Speaker 1: is our health and our ability to maintain as we go,
Speaker 1: And I think that's obviously what we're trying to improve. Lastly,
Speaker 1: for you, between now and the start of training camp,
Speaker 1: what's your schedule, like, what do you do to get
Speaker 1: ready for the season? Training? I mean training every day.
Speaker 1: We've got six day a week training schedule, and um,
Speaker 1: we're an OTAs obviously right now. We're starting up the
Speaker 1: actual practices next week. But we've been together doing our
Speaker 1: what we're allowed to do right now, and then we'll
Speaker 1: go through the Ota pase where we actually get to
Speaker 1: play a little football, which is nice. And then after
Speaker 1: that it's about a month of training. My brother's getting married,
Speaker 1: so I'm looking forward to that. Um, we'll have that
Speaker 1: wedding to attend, but other than that, it's really just training,
Speaker 1: trying to get a couple more weekends in here there,
Speaker 1: spend time with my wife and go see my brothers
Speaker 1: and see my family and try and make sure that
Speaker 1: I get a chance to see everybody and hang out
Speaker 1: as much as I can, because once the season comes
Speaker 1: it becomes much more difficult. Get some more golf rounds in,
Speaker 1: try and improve the golf game before that goes for
Speaker 1: six months, you know, even though it's already so it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. But yeah, it's really just all about training.
Speaker 1: I mean, my entire offseason scope is to create the
Speaker 1: best athlete I possibly can speed, strength, flexibility, stability, and
Speaker 1: then hand it to the coaching staff and say here,
Speaker 1: you use it how you want to and go out
Speaker 1: there and play good football. Well. As somebody who was
Speaker 1: part of the nineteen ninety Wisconsin State championship golf team,
Speaker 1: I can tell you that the golf game always goes
Speaker 1: to crap no matter what I shot it to us all,
Speaker 1: I shot sub ninety for the third time in my
Speaker 1: life yesterday, and I was extremely pleased with it. So
Speaker 1: I'm riding a high right now and I'm considering retirement
Speaker 1: from golf. I don't play anymore. So I just I
Speaker 1: couldn't do it. It got too stressful. Man. It's hard
Speaker 1: to get it's hard to be good and get bad. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know I could. I could, I could understand. I
Speaker 1: look forward to hopefully experiencing that someday. Well, thanks man
Speaker 1: for the time. I really appreciate it. Thank you, I
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Great to catch up with JJ, as you
Speaker 1: can tell, just a great guy, so easy to talk to.
Speaker 1: Whether it's about the Cardinals and what happened last year,
Speaker 1: what to look forward to in twenty twenty two. Also
Speaker 1: JJ's philanthropy efforts, what possibly could be his career post
Speaker 1: playing football for the Arizona Cardinals, what he thinks about
Speaker 1: the next step for Kyler Murray and the defense. What
Speaker 1: JJ did growing up playing hockey, and also his days
Speaker 1: at Wisconsin as well as his time as a Bucks
Speaker 1: fan and his thoughts on Janis and what happened with
Speaker 1: the Bucks here in the playoffs, as well as the Suns.
Speaker 1: Always enjoyed talking with JJ. Hopefully Cardinal fans got a
Speaker 1: great kick out of that conversation. We're presented by bet MGM,
Speaker 1: the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and
Speaker 1: by Hila River Hotels and Casinos. You can also follow
Speaker 1: us on Twitter at pash pot. I'm Dave Pash. Thanks
Speaker 1: again to JJ Watt. You've been listening to another edition
Speaker 1: of the Dave Pash Podcast. Four four