Flashback: JJ Watt Tracks Down Kid Wearing Homemade 'Jersey,' Goes Above and Beyond
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re re-posting it here in case you missed it.
A kid from Houston will have an amazing story to tell his grandchildren thanks to one of the NFL’s most awesome human beings: Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt.
It was the 99th day of school at Moore Elementary in Houston earlier this month. So fourth-grade teacher Malinda Ross invited her students to wear Watt’s No. 99 jersey to school.
A student named Brock Givens didn’t have a Watt jersey of his own, so in the do-it-yourself spirit popular among young folks these days, he took a fairly standard-looking blue Champion-logo T-shirt, stuck a 99 on it that he made out of paper cutouts and posed with his teacher and another student.
The teacher, Malinda Ross, posted the photo to Twitter.
Ross’s grand gesture of support for one of her students was not lost on the Twitter faithful, and Watt’s notifications lit up with mention after mention:
Watt was totally on board too:
It was yet another instance of the Texans defensive end showing his amazing ability to connect with fans and the community in Houston.
He could have simply tweeted out that he thought the concept was cool, or he could have had a jersey sent over.
Instead, he went above and beyond:
“We were able to find our man from last week! Now he has a couple jerseys of his own to choose from and I have a new friend named Brock,” Watt tweeted Wednesday. And one named Malinda, and a bunch of others in her class, no doubt!
Another commenter was Johnny-on-the-spot to capture the moment:
“Brock, thank you for the support!” Watt wrote “Dream big,” he added, and “Work hard!”
Watt is signed with Reebok, so the apparel company got in on the fun to make sure Brock received a new pair of trainers as well:
Watt is a fixture in the Houston community, and it seems like hardly a day goes by where he’s not doing something awesome for his city.
Keep it up, Watt. And good luck on Mrs. Ross’s next test, Brock!
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