JJ Watt has experience on both sides of the aisle in terms of being an NFL player and being an NFL media member.
Watt is one of the best defensive players of all time as a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year (tied for the most in league history) after playing 12 seasons as a defensive lineman with the Houston Texans (2011-2020) and the Arizona Cardinals (2021-2022).
He is now an analyst on CBS Sports "NFL Today" pregame show on Sunday's, and Watt isn't here for the takes in the football world from fans and media members alike that Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa should have slid and protected his health on a fourth-down scramble in a 31-10 loss on "Thursday Night Football" against the Buffalo Bills. Watt feels like if Tagovailoa had done that and not picked up the first down, he would instead be ridiculed for not being a team player.
"I've seen a lot of conversations last night and this morning about 'Tua needs to slide. He's gotta get down. He knows he can't take hits like that.' I feel like a lot of those same people are the ones who would be crushing him if he slides and comes up short on fourth down in the red zone when his team is trying to muster any semblance of a comeback that they can. It's a bit of a double standard in my opinion," Watt said in a video he posted on Twitter Friday morning. "Everybody wants to see modern-day gladiators, but they don't want the guilt that comes along with it. They want a guy to lower his shoulder. They want a guy to power through. They want a guy to get the first down. But then when he does that and gets hurt, they all want to say 'no, no absolutely slide. Why would he do that? He's got to protect himself. Why would he do that?'"
As a reminder to fans watching the game at home, Watt makes clear the yellow line that pops up on TV to indicate the first down is a broadcast graphic and not something the players see during game action. Thus, Tagovailoa lowering his shoulder with Bills safety Damar Hamlin incoming was an understandable move in Watt's eyes.
"First, let's take a look at the logistics of that situation because I've seen a lot of armchair quarterbacks saying 'he had to know he had the first down. Quarterbacks always know,'" Watt said. "Before the play, absolutely. Quarterback knows exactly where the sticks are. Once the play starts, he's dropping back. He's looking through his reads, He's scrambling up through the line. There is no yellow line on the field. He is just trying to get to where he thinks the first down is. He is in the middle of the field between the hashes. He's doing his best. He's not 100% sure he has it, and there is a defender right in front of him. Trying to give his team a chance at a comeback, he lowers his shoulder and tries to make a play. Gets the first down and obviously an extremely unfortunate situation occurs."
In Watt's eyes, the play in which Tagovailoa suffered his third NFL concussion and first since suffering two in the 2022 season, was always going to be a lose-lose situation for the 26-year-old.
"To watch everybody sit here and act like 'he's got to get down. He's got to slide. We always want our players to slide in that situation.' To me, that just, being on the other side and knowing what if feels like for fans to criticize your every decision, it just doesn't feel true," Watt said. "Because if he doesn't do that, the narrative is 'he's not tough. He's not a leader. He doesn't deserve the big contract. That's why Tua's not the guy because he isn't willing to lay it on the line for the team.' All I'm saying is keep that same energy on both sides."
Watt ultimately hopes the rest of the world can cut NFL players some slack in moments like the one Tagovailoa went through Thursday night because the last thing the league's "modern-day gladiators" deserve is critique for putting their bodies on the line.
