Though Aaron Rodgers’ signing drew plenty of June headlines, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt made waves by skipping the team’s June mandatory minicamp. Seen as a sign of potential unhappiness over his contract negotiations, Watt cleared the air and explained why he opted against showing up for the three days.
“In the spring when it was 2021, I think I only came for the three days,” he said Wednesday during a press conference carried by the team’s YouTube channel. “So it’s kind of, you fly in, you do work off to the side, and then you fly back home anyways. So it was just kind of staying in my routine. The guys here have been really understanding of how I train back home. And they understand that I’m working. I’m not just sitting on the couch the whole time and I always come prepared.
“So I think you guys will see throughout the first week back, yeah, I’ve been away, but I’ve been training as hard as I possibly can. Like I do each and every year, so I come in prepared.”
Even away from the team, Watt wasn’t skipping leg day. Or arm day. A photo with Nick Herbig posted hours before his contract announcement showed Watt to be in tremendous shape. A creature of habit, he spent the offseason working hard in his Wisconsin hometown, something big brother J.J. Watt attested to last week.
“He’s been training his ass off,” J.J. said on The Pat McAfee Show. “He’s in a good spot. He’s really excited about camp. He’s looking forward to being back with the boys. It’s gonna be great.”
T.J. shared that Herbig spent the final month of the offseason training with him.
Skipping mandatory minicamp created its own waves but Watt thinks they were ripples compared to what might have happened had he actually attended with the contract cloud still over his head.
“Potentially even being more of a distraction,” Watt said of what could’ve occurred had he shown up.
Had Watt attended, he would’ve had to speak to the media and address his contract situation. A difficult spot to be in when there’s no good answers to offer. Staying home allowed him to avoid all of that and speak to the media today now that his historic contract is signed.
Watt also had plenty of personal reasons to remain at home. He and wife Dani welcomed their first child earlier this year and skipping minicamp allowed him to stay close to his family. Now, he’ll use that newfound dad strength on the football field, beginning with tomorrow’s first training camp practice.
Still, Watt played the media game. At least a little. In April, he cryptically posted a photo of him throwing up a peace sign, leading to a news cycle wondering if Watt was seeking a trade. Consider that some media trolling.
“Sometimes it’s just fun to have fun with the narratives out there,” he said. “Obviously I’m very in tune with what’s going on in negotiations and how things are going. It’s fun to see what you guys are all writing, thinking that things are one way even though they’re completely a different way. So, sometimes it’s fun. Especially when it’s early in the offseason to kind of just kind of throw something out there and see what happens. It stirred things up a lot more than I ever thought it could.”
He got the media world buzzing with that post during a relatively quiet time of the offseason after free agency and before the draft. His comments of the situation being a “completely different way” suggests things weren’t as dire as the most negative interpretation of that post would suggest. Another example that a player’s social media posting should be taken with grains of salt.
The mystery is gone now. Storylines and talk-show debate about a Watt hold-in, or holdout, have evaporated. Watt is signed, back at practice, and the Steelers are moving full speed ahead with little “drama” following them into the summer.
