Top 5 moments from J.J. Watt's career

J.J. Watt announced Tuesday that he'll retire after the 2022 season, putting an end to one of the most decorated careers for a defensive player in NFL history.

Watt, who'll play two more games for the Arizona Cardinals before hanging up his cleats, has piled up remarkable plays, collected numerous awards, and set several records. Here are the best moments of the future Hall of Famer's NFL career.

Pick-6 vs. Bengals

We could already tell how special Watt would be after what he did as a rookie in the 2011 season. The No. 11 overall pick scored a 29-yard pick-6 in his first playoff game en route to helping the Houston Texans claim their first-ever postseason victory in the wild-card round against the Cincinnati Bengals.

TD catches

For several years during Watt's career, we were caught asking, "What can't he do?" The Wisconsin product wreaked havoc, took down quarterbacks, and forced turnovers as well as any lineman in history. But Watt became a cheat code when the Texans lined him up on offense in goal-line situations in 2014.

The five-time Pro Bowler caught three touchdowns that year while showing off an unreal athletic ability. He also scored a pick-6 and a touchdown on a fumble return en route to finishing second to Aaron Rodgers in the MVP race. In addition to his five scores in 2014, he had 20.5 sacks and 29 tackles for loss, the second-most in NFL history behind ... Watt's 2012 campaign (39 TFL).

DPOY (x3)

Perhaps Watt's biggest accomplishment was earning three Defensive Player of the Year awards, the most in NFL history (tied with Lawrence Taylor and Aaron Donald).

Watt took home his first DPOY in 2012 at the age of 23 after leading the league with 20.5 sacks and 39 TFL. He also notched 16 pass breakups, four forced fumbles, and 43 quarterback hits. In 2014, Watt, already regarded as perhaps football's best player, was named DPOY for the second time. He then amassed a league-high 17.5 sacks in 2015 to become only the second player ever at the time to win the league's top defender award in consecutive campaigns.

From 2012-15, Watt led the NFL in sacks twice, earned three DPOY awards, finished second for the MVP honor once, and claimed four first-time All-Pro nods.

20-sack seasons

The NFL has seen only 13 individual seasons with at least 20 sacks since that category became official in 1982. Watt is the only player whose name is on that list more than once.

Watt posted an NFL-leading 20.5 sacks in 2012 and then put up another 20.5 two years later, becoming the only player ever with multiple 20-sack campaigns. He led the NFL in sacks in 2012 but surprisingly finished second in that category in 2014 to Justin Houston, who had a whopping 22 that year.

Walter Payton Man of the Year

Watt will mostly be remembered for his game-changing plays on the gridiron, but he also put on a show off the field. During the 2017 season, when Watt played only five games, he raised approximately $40 million in just 19 days for relief efforts for the Houston area after Hurricane Harvey. As a result, he was named Walter Payton Man of the Year for his excellence on the field and in the community.