T.J. Watt has been playing in his older brother J.J. Watt’s shadow since they both played for the Wisconsin Badgers.
On Sunday, he finally surpassed the legend in his own family.
In the second quarter against the Chicago Bears, T.J. Watt strip-sacked quarterback Caleb Williams in the endzone. Another former Wisconsin Badger, Nick Herbig, recovered it for a Pittsburgh Steelers touchdown.
That sack by Watt was the 115th of his career. He officially passed J.J. Watt’s career mark of 114.5 sacks.
TJ WATT PASSES JJ WATT IN CAREER SACKS.
INCREDIBLE. https://t.co/5xBLbevDDR pic.twitter.com/1F2DPuynmx
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The best part? J.J. was on the game broadcast for CBS Sports to watch his brother pass him. Their parents were also in the stands for the game.
John and Connie Watt have spent plenty of years watching their boys rack up sacks on the gridiron.
Both pass rushers only played two seasons in Madison with the Badgers.
Ironically, they both recorded the same number of sacks (11.5) in their careers at Wisconsin.
J.J. Watt had a six-year head start on his NFL career, and he built a huge lead in the sack race with a league-leading 20.5 sacks in his second season.
T.J. Watt eclipsed that mark with a career-high 22.5 sacks in 2021.
J.J. hit his 114.5 sacks in 151 career games. T.J. got to 115 in his 132nd game.
Both are already Wisconsin legends and on track to be future Pro Football Hall of Famers.
Everything else T.J. does from here is just bragging rights over his older brother.