J.J. Watt excells at many things.
Football, obviously.
Raising money ($400k from his softball tourney in May) for charity.
But Tuesday, he did a great job of shedding light on the "P" word.
Perspective.
He was asked about rookie Jadeveon Clowney missing minicamp and a few organized team activities, and whether or not Clowney would be hampered by the absence. Watt rewound to his 2011 rookie season and gave a reminder of the hurdles he and fellow rookies overcame that year.
"I was locked out during my rookie year, so I never went through this," Watt said. "I went straight into training camp. He's already had more reps than our rookie class had, so he's a step ahead in that manner than where we were."
Watt was Houston's first rounder that April, and the day after the first round, the lockout was lifted for
24 hours. He visited the stadium, met with coaches, and snagged a playbook instead of lunch. The next time he was on the premises was when training camp started after the League and NFLPA reached a labor agreement.
No rookie minicamp. No OTAs. No minicamp. No strength and conditioning work at the stadium. No q&a's with his coaches. Just the oppressive heat and humidity of a first training camp in the NFL.
He turned in a good rookie season, and amped it up a bit in the playoffs.
Watt followed it up with a 2012 for the ages, and was still a disruptive force during the team's disastrous 2013.
While a full complement of OTAs and minicamp would have been optimal for Clowney and second round offensive lineman Xavier Su'a-Filo (he missed OTAs because of the quarters system at UCLA), Watt and the Texans were able to get by and succeed without them in 2011.
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