Watt still swears he would have joined Bengals.

J.J. Watt still swears he would have joined Bengals.

Yep — J.J. Watt is still sticking to it

*What happened:*

Back in Dec 2024, Watt made a friendly bet with Burnley FC goalkeeper *James Trafford*. Trafford is a huge Bengals fan and asked Watt if he’d come out of retirement to play for Cincinnati.

 

Watt said: _”You don’t allow a goal the rest of the season and it’s a deal”_. d046

 

Watt, now a minority owner of Burnley, said he was serious. He even told Pat McAfee:

> “I will absolutely honor my end of it… I’ll play for the vet minimum. I’ll go do it because it’s that impressive and I said I would do it” 6616d17e

 

Trafford went on a crazy run with 13-14 straight clean sheets. Watt started house-hunting in Cincinnati and posting about Graeter’s ice cream and Montgomery Inn BBQ. d17e5d0d6616

*How it ended:*

The bet died on March 4, 2025 when Trafford finally gave up a goal to Cardiff City. Watt’s response:

> “I don’t like Skyline Chili anyway.” ff1e

 

*Now:*

16 hours ago he was in Cincinnati again visiting TQL Stadium with Burnley and told local media he _still_ swears he wasn’t kidding about signing with Joe Burrow’s Bengals. cc96

 

So he’s retired since 2022 and is now a CBS analyst, but he maintains he would’ve actually suited up for the Bengals for vet minimum if Trafford pulled it off. d17eaff2

 

Wild what a clean sheet streak can do 😅

 

Want me to pull what Bengals fans were saying about it?