JJ Watt has explained why he swapped “one seat at a game” in NFL for a place on Burnley’s board, with the American football icon now fully invested.
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Could have stayed in American footballWanted to step out of comfort zoneExperienced highs & lows with ClaretsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
After taking the decision to hang up his cleats, Watt was eager to remain involved with sport in some capacity. It would have been easy for him to stick with what he knows, having established a reputation as an all-time great in the world of gridiron.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Even his wealth would not make much of an impact in NFL circles, though, with the decision taken to step well outside of a professional comfort zone and join the ranks at Burnley – with quite the adventure being taken in there.
WHAT JJ WATT SAID
Watt has told : "You look at an American football club, right now they're all valued at billions and billions of dollars. You take my amount of money and put it into that and congratulations, you have one seat at a game, not at the board table, not at anything. You come over here and the valuations are different and there's more opportunity.
“I saw an opportunity to get involved at a level I wanted to be involved at, be in the board meetings, learn and grow, while also injecting something, bringing something to the club in terms of global notoriety, eyeballs to the game etc.”
Getty ImagesDID YOU KNOW?
Watt has experienced the highs and lows of promotion and relegation into and out of the Premier League during his association with the Clarets. It is that rollercoaster of emotions – which does not exist in American sport – that helped to lure him towards Turf Moor.
