Perhaps J.J. Watt overshares, and perhaps some of his social media postings come off as a little tone-deaf sometimes.
But the Texans defensive end defended his frequent use of the Internet, saying he didn’t plan to change a carefully crafted image because of criticisms there.
“We have social media and people want to see access, they want to know what you’re doing, they want day-to-day, what’s going on in his life?” Watt said, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “Then every single thing you do becomes a story, whether it’s a tweet, whether it’s an Instagram post, whether it’s a Snapchat, every single thing becomes a story so I think if people don’t want to see what I’m doing they should probably stop following me. That’s basically what it comes down to.
“One of the problems with all the social media we have nowadays is it becomes a cynical world. I think there’s a lot of people out there that want to believe that somebody’s being fake, they want to believe that somebody is doing things just for attention, when in reality there’s a whole lot of people out there doing good things for the world. If we could just believe in the good and we can actually spend our energy on being good people and doing good things as opposed to trying to rip other people down or trying to poke flaws in other people, I think then we can truly help make changes in the world.”
Watt was saying this the same day a number of Texans players were helping flooding victims in his city, so he has a point. But he also posted photos of the Texans weight room the day they canceled workouts because of that same flooding, which might not have been the appropriate tone to strike at that particular moment.
But whether it’s motivational slogans or workout videos or updates on his personal life, Watt has no intention to stop providing a glimpse into what it’s like being a rich, famous, three-time defensive player of the year.