Watt: I was serious about playing for Bengals if I lost Burnley bet

Former NFL defensive end J.J. Watt insists he was prepared to come out of retirement next season if he lost the friendly wager he made with Burnley FC goalkeeper James Trafford.

Watt, who owns a minority stake in the English club, was asked by Trafford in December if he would consider unretiring to join the Cincinnati Bengals. Watt agreed on the condition that Trafford didn't allow another goal for the rest of the season.

Trafford went on to post a clean sheet in 13 consecutive games, but his streak came to an end Tuesday when he conceded a goal against Cardiff City.

During an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Thursday, the 35-year-old Watt said he was "serious" about holding up his end of the bet.

"I'm telling you, my wife and I had the conversation last week because she finally got to the point where she was like, 'Alright, nuts and bolts - are you serious about this?'" Watt said. "And I said, 'If he does this' - 'cause there's still 12 matches left - if he does this, it will be one of the greatest athletic feats in history. And I will absolutely honor my end of it, because that would be unbelievable.'

"So I would've done it. It's easy 'cause, I mean, I'm talking about it after the fact now, but I told her, I said, 'I'll play for the vet minimum. I'll go do it because it's that impressive and I said I would do it.'"

Watt retired from the NFL in 2022 after 12 seasons, the first 10 of which were spent with the Houston Texans. He ranks as the franchise's all-time leader in career sacks with 101.