GLENDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt showed, once again, why he was named the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year back in 2017 through an interaction with a fan of his former team on social media Wednesday night.
A woman named Jennifer, who lives in Texas and is a Houston Texans fan, tweeted out that she was selling a pair of J.J. Watt sneakers and a Watt Texans jersey to help with her grandfather’s funeral.
Watt responded just 20 minutes after that tweet was posted and told Jennifer to keep her shoes and jersey and that he and his wife, Kealia, will help with the funeral.
Jennifer responded, saying, “I freaking love you man. It’s been a hard year for me and this last month has been hard since the death. I wish I could tell you my story.”
The exchange has blown up on Twitter, as J.J.’s tweet has gotten more than 28,000 likes and more than 2,000 retweets.
Jennifer, we here at 12News join J.J. in sending you our condolences.
We’ll keep you posted if J.J. and Jennifer meet so she can share her story.
This is the second time in the past year that Watt has offered to help pay for funerals. He also paid for the funerals for six people who were killed after a car crashed into a Christmas parade in Wisconsin last November.
Watt has also covered the costs of funerals for victims of the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas back in 2018.
He was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2017 after raising $37 million for victims of Hurricane Harvey.
J.J. will join his Arizona Cardinal teammates at training camp starting next Tuesday.