J.j. Watt Jokes About Coming Out Of Retirement After Brother T.j. Passes His Sack Total: 'i'm Gonna Put The Pads Back On'

Pittsburgh Steelers pass rusher T.J. Watt passed an NFL legend in the best way possible. Watt not only exceeded his brother J.J. Watt's NFL sack total, but he did it on a touchdown-scoring play ... with his brother calling the game. 

The moment occurred early in the second quarter Sunday. Watt broke through the Chicago Bears' offensive line and forced a strip sack on Caleb Williams. Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig fell on the ball in the end zone, giving the Steelers the lead on a touchdown.

It was T.J. Watt's 115th career sack in nine NFL seasons. That surpasses J.J.'s sack total, which was 114.5 when he retired after 12 seasons.

The score wasn't enough for the Steelers, who eventually lost, 31-28. 

J.J., who was broadcasting the game, gave props to his brother for the accomplishment, saying that play was "one hell of a way to do it."

Before long, though, J.J. decided to have some fun with the play. As the broadcast was going to commercial, broadcaster Ian Eagle teased "T.J. Watt is No. 1 in the family for now." J.J. responded by saying, "Ouch."

When the broadcasters came back from commercial, J.J. decided to run with that joke, saying he was going to come out of retirement to take his family record back. 

"Well, that's it. I'm gonna put the pads back on because this is preposterous," J.J. said.

J.J. — we assume — was joking about coming back. The future first-ballot Hall of Famer hasn't played since the 2022 NFL season. Though, at 36, it's possible he still has another double-digit sack season left in him. 

And on the off chance you thought Watt was actually upset about being passed by his brother, that wasn't the case. The broadcast came back from halftime with a video from the third Watt brother — Derek — who spoke highly of T.J.'s accomplishment. 

“Wow, T.J., What an incredible play," Derek said. "Just passed J.J. in the all-time sacks, buddy. Congratulations. So glad we could be here. “

J.J. responded to that with an earnest comment about how special it was to have the moment happen with his family at the game. 

“It was really special to have everybody here," J.J. said. "I didn’t think it would be a big moment for us, because we just go about it. But to have Derek, who played eight years in the NFL, and T.J. go past my record and my parents here, it really is a pretty cool emotional day. We used to dream about days like these.”

It certainly sounds like J.J. is just fine with his younger brother having the most NFL sacks among Watt family members. If it stung at all, J.J. didn't show it. That makes sense. J.J. has little reason to be disappointed about his NFL career. He was the most fearsome pass rusher of his generation and will coast into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

T.J. is on a similar trajectory, so J.J. presence as the only member of the Watt family in the Hall may not last too long. If Sunday is any indication, he'll be just fine with that.