J.J. Watt ‘loved Houston’ but there was one NFL team with a devoted fanbase that would have been ‘really cool’ to play for

J.J. Watt has made the ultimate US to UK sports crossover.

But while the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year is now primarily focused on Burnley’s attempt to fend off relegation in the Premier League, the 35-year-old still receives a ton of American football questions.

One of those recently centered around a dream scenario that Watt never was able to realize on the field.

Watt recently appeared on the Stick To Football podcast with Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright.

While Watt was clearly impressed with the round table of big names that surrounded him, others wanted to know all about Watt’s NFL life.

“I loved being in Houston. The people were unbelievable to me, it was great,” said Watt, who spent 2011-20 with the Texans and became one of the most popular and dominant players in the NFL.

As the team that drafted him entered a rebuild, Watt moved to the Arizona Cardinals for his final two pro seasons.

But there was always a familiar small-market football team that he watched from afar.

“I grew up in Wisconsin and I grew up in Green Bay,” Watt said. “The Packers, they have a little bit of a different relationship with with their fans.”

Green Bay, more than any other of the NFL’s 32 teams, has a Premier League-type connection with its super devoted and widespread collection of supporters.

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That always made an impact on Watt, who is now a co-owner of Burnley, who sit 19th, out of 20 Premier League clubs, and is in danger of relegation to the Championship.

“(The Packers are) a community owned team, it’s a small town, so that’s one that always would have been really cool,” Watt said.

As Watt becomes more invested with Burnley, the NFL is bigger than ever in England and beyond.

Former Wales rugby star Louis-Rees Zammit is now a proud member of the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid.

“When I started coming over here, 12, 13 years ago, my rookie year, nobody knew anything,” Watt said. “They didn’t know much about the game. I remember when games first started coming over, people only cheered the kicks — they just wanted to see the kicks.

“Now, I can walk down the street in Manchester and people ask for pictures, autographs. That is completely different than it used to be and they’re knowledgeable about it.”

Watt has also watched English football grow bigger and bigger in the United States.

“There’s people thousands of people turning up in Premier League kits,” he said.