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WSN15: Football Top Players #15 - J.J. Watt, Pewaukee

12/11/2017, 1:45pm CST
By Travis Wilson

The WSN15 series will celebrate the 15th Anniversary of WisSports.net by looking back at the top players, teams, and moments of the past 15 years (2003-2017).

The Top 15 Players countdown is not a recruiting ranking and not indicative of what the players did after high school. It is a ranking of the top high school players, the impact they had for their team, and the dominance they displayed while in high school.

Top 15 Players: #15 - J.J. Watt, Pewaukee

Let's get this out of the way, right away: if this list were based on what top high school players did in their entire careers, Watt is #1. While injuries have limited him the last two years, he was one of the most dominant defensive forces the NFL has ever seen from 2012 to 2015, recording 69 sacks while earning three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Watt was outstanding at Pewaukee High School for head coach Clay Iverson, but no one could have seen his eventual professional football dominance coming.

He was a four-year letterwinner for the Pirates, and garnered recruiting interest after a strong junior year. However, the summer prior to his senior year he missed the entire college camp circuit with mononucleosis.

Not being able to prove himself in front of college scouts, his only offers late in the summer were from Wyoming and Central Michigan. After an outstanding senior season, interest did pick up, although he did not receive a scholarship offer from home-state Wisconsin. Instead, he initially made a verbal commitment to the Minnesota Gophers in December of 2006.

However, only two weeks later, the Gophers fired head coach Glen Mason. Denver Broncos tight ends coach Tim Brewster was hired a short time later, and did not pursue Watt, who instead would sign with Central Michigan.

As a senior at Pewaukee, Watt helped the Pirates to a playoff appearance and was named a First Team WFCA All-State selection at tight end and an honorable mention selection at defensive end. He hauled in 26 catches for 399 receiving yards to go with 5 touchdowns, adding more than 20 tackles for loss.

For his career, he was a two-time First Team all-conference selection, recorded 44.5 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks, and amassed 38 catches for 549 yards with 11 touchdowns. He also claimed the Division 2 shot put title in the spring of 2007.

In one year at CMU, Watt would catch 8 passes for 77 yards at the tight end position. It was then he decided he needed to take a chance, and transferred back to the University of Wisconsin as a walk-on.

After sitting out a year as a transfer, Watt broke out in 2009, earning a scholarship, starting all 13 games, and finishing second on the team in tackles for loss, fumble recoveries, and pass breakups as well as third in sacks.

Watt quickly became one of the most dominant defensive players in recent Badger history during his junior season, leading the team in sacks, tackles for loss, forced fumbles, and blocked kicks as he helped the Badgers to the 2011 Rose Bowl. He was a consensus First Team All-Big Ten selection, a Second Team All-American by the AP and Sports Illustrated, and a finalist for the Bednarik and Hendricks Awards.

Drafted in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Texans (much to the chagrin of many Houston fans, who booed the selection on draft day), Watt quickly rose to be one of the faces of the NFL. Despite missing most of the 2017 season with a broken leg, Watt was named the 2017 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year for helping raise more than $37 million for hurricane relief.

It has been quite a run for the hometown hero from Pewaukee, and hopefully it is far from over.

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.

Tag(s): News Archive  News  Travis Wilson  WSN15