T.J. Watt has twice been made the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, and has won the sack crown three times with a Defensive Player of the Year honor in 2021. He has accomplished just about everything he possibly can at an individual level. But that’s not what drives him, at least not anymore.

“I talked to Watt about his sack drought, whether he still chases Micah Parsons, Myles Garrett. He said at one point I wanted to be known as the best pass rusher in the league. Now I think about getting deep in the playoffs,” Watt said according to Cameron Wolfe on NFL GameDay Morning. “I walk past those six Super Bowl trophies every single day and it eats at me that I have not done it yet. He said, ‘It fuels me. It drives me. My family needs it. I need it. That’s what fuels me now.’”

TJ Watt told me they had an “awful” defensive film watch this week. It wasn’t Steelers ball. He was vocal with team.

Watt told me he feels different urgency now to claim the only thing he doesn’t have, what eats at him – a Super Bowl.

For @nflnetwork @NFLGameDay: pic.twitter.com/CfJV99DWbG

— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) September 14, 2025

Of course sacks and team success often go hand-in-hand, but there is such a thing as doing too much as an individual. Several Pittsburgh Steelers defenders pointed to the need for everybody to stick to their assignments after a rough Week 1 outing.

Part of being T.J. Watt is getting double teams or chipped by tight ends and running backs on nearly every play. And the New York Jets very obviously made a concerted effort to run away from Watt all last week. Instead of chasing plays to make sure he gets the sack crown and individual accolades, Watt would rather stick to his assignment and make plays when they are available to him. Selling out for a stat can put the whole defense in a bad position.

Watt very clearly felt snubbed in 2023 when Myles Garrett won Defensive Player of the Year over him. But it sounds like he’s done caring about individual rewards for the final portion of his career. He has nothing left to prove other than team achievements. It would be a shame to have a Hall of Fame career without a single playoff win to his name.

It also struck me that he said “my family needs it.” The Watt family had three sons in the NFL, and just four playoff wins between them. J.J. Watt is another future Hall of Famer that never came close to bringing home the ultimate prize in the Super Bowl. T.J. Watt is the last chance for their great family to be immortalized in Super Bowl history, and it sounds like he is all-in on trying to make that happen.