J.J. Watt Reminds Everyone That NFL Training Camps Involve Way More PowerPoints Than Football

J.J. Watt is enjoying retirement the way a guy with 114.5 career sacks should: by watching other people sit through mandatory legal presentations.

Training camps are opening across the NFL this week, which means rookies and veterans are reporting to facilities, meeting new teammates, and preparing for the grind of a 17-game season. For fans, it’s the most hopeful time of the year. For former players like Watt, it’s a reminder of the worst part of the job — and he summed it up perfectly on social media.

“Always miss football on days like today when training camps open,” the three-time Defensive Player of the Year wrote. “Then I remember the 4 hour long welcome meeting that those guys will sit in tonight with all the mandatory PowerPoints and legal presentations for every department and miss it just a little less.”

Watt spent 12 seasons terrorizing quarterbacks for the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. He made first-team All-Pro five times, forced 27 fumbles, and recovered 17 more. But apparently none of that prepared him for the agony of a four-hour orientation slideshow.

The Real Grind of Training Camp

The public sees the highlight-reel catches and the bone-crushing hits during practice. What they don’t see is the 50-slide deck on updated concussion protocols. Or the compliance officer explaining the new gambling policy for the third year in a row. Or the team lawyer walking through the social media policy while players check their social media under the table.

Watt’s post resonated with anyone who’s ever sat through a corporate seminar where the clock seems to stop moving. It’s a specific kind of pain — the kind where you’re physically present but mentally checking out somewhere around slide 14.

During his career, Watt played 151 regular-season games and racked up 586 combined tackles. He wrecked game plans and offensive lines. But even he couldn’t fight off the boredom of a welcome meeting that runs long enough to require a second cup of coffee.

Now Watt gets to spend late July however he wants. Maybe on a golf course. Maybe at home with his family. Definitely not in a stuffy auditorium watching a projector flicker through league-mandated slides about proper equipment use.

Current players are fighting off sleep in folding chairs right now. Watt is living the dream, and he knows it.