During yesterday’s Houston Texans narrow win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, you might have noticed a new sack celebration from J.J. Watt.
If you just thought it was simply a personal celebratory dance, you would have been mistaken. It was a message of support and dedication to his friends, Houston’s Berry Children – the 3 children who were orphaned last year in a head-on collision that left them them all injured, with the two oldest boys partially paralyzed.
As Watt told the Chron.com:
“I was eating dinner at their house on Friday night,” Watt said. “They said they’re going to be watching the game. They said give us a signal. I said OK, when I get a sack, I’ll do the wheelchair.” […]
The children’s story caught the attention of people and organizations locally and nationally. They got visits from athletes and donations from teams and other celebrities.
Watt befriended the children beyond the occasional fundraiser. He played wheelchair basketball with them last week, which gave him the idea for the post-sack celebration.
It’s not the first time Watt — who normally salutes after sacks — has promised a sack celebration to someone. Last weekend before the Texans’ Sunday night game in Chicago, Watt told Blake Geoffrion of the Montreal Canadians he had a special sack celebration planned in his honor.
Geoffrion, who, like Watt, went to Wisconsin, fractured his skull a few days prior. The first tweet he sent after the injury and a subsequent surgery was about his conversation with Watt the day the Texans played the Bears.
(via Ultimate Texans)
To learn more about the Berry Children or to contribute to their ongoing recovery, join their Facebook page at Joshua and Robin Berry Children’s Trust