J.J. Watt watches younger brother T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers defense at practice on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
On Friday, the NFL informed all 32 teams today in a memo that it prevailed in its grievance vs. the NFLPA and its “team report cards.” An arbitrator determined that the NFLPA’s conduct violated the CBA and ordered it to stop making public any future report cards.
According to the memo, the union lost the grievance because of the non-scientific nature of the report cards.
Former Houston Texans defensive end and future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt ripped the NFL for not willing to be transparent. He also took a shot at Pro Football Focus in the process.
“NFL won’t let actual players grade the workplace they attend every single day, but they’ll allow a 3rd party “grading” service to display their “rankings” of players on national television every Sunday night…,” Watt wrote.
NFL won’t let actual players grade the workplace they attend every single day, but they’ll allow a 3rd party “grading” service to display their “rankings” of players on national television every Sunday night… https://t.co/JBQXOgFZIN
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 13, 2026
Watt is a longtime critic of PFF.
“I’ve had my issues with PFF for a very long time,” Watt said on The Pat McAfee Show this past October. “I was their No. 1-rated player. I had over a hundred score while I was playing. They literally came to me and told me we had to change our system because of how you did it. So this isn’t a guy who had bad grades who’s disgruntled. I literally was their No. 1 guy, and I still hate it.”
“The No. 1 issue with PFF is their player rating system and the fact that they project it everywhere, including on national TV. And that is a completely made-up number. You can’t watch film on the TV copy and create a grade.”
Watt makes a valid point. The NFL is willing to listen to an outside organization when it comes to evaluations of their employees. But when it comes to criticism or suggestions from their employees, they turn a blind eye to it.
Alan Saunders contributed.
Mentioned In This Article: J.J. Watt NFLPA Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Football Focus Steelers Steelers News