Steelers' TJ Watt Explains How His Desire For Success Has Changed: "How Can I Help My Team Win A Super Bowl"

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been criticized a lot recently for their lack of team success during the TJ Watt era, as they have failed to win a playoff game since he was drafted in 2017. He is widely considered as a generational talent and is arguably the best defensive player in the NFL when he's actually healthy. Now, he is on the wrong side of 30, so there are questions starting to pop up about how much time he has left. The clock keeps ticking, and he keeps getting closer to ending his career with zero postseason success. 

While recently appearing on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Watt was asked about personal success versus team success. Watt explained how those priorities shifted as time went on. 

"I think the chase for all the individual stuff is behind me honestly," Watt said. "I can honestly tell you that because that wasn’t the case. For the first bunch of years in the NFL, I was trying to be more than just JJ Watt’s younger brother and try to pave my own path, and once you win a Defensive Player of the Year and have individual success, I want to have team success more than anything. Not to say that I didn't want team success before, but it was more like, 'I want to prove myself as a player in the NFL,' and now it's, 'Those things come.'" 

The Steelers are used to their players trying to escape from someone else's shadow, and Watt was no different. Early on in his career, he had the personal numbers that he was chasing, which included the all-time single-season sack record and a Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2021. In five of his eight seasons, he led the NFL in some sort of category, and he only had one healthy season where he did not rack up at least 11 sacks. 

Watt continued on to talk about what his mindset is currently, and the kind of success he is truly looking for. 

"I'm not writing in my goal book X, Y, and Z," Watt explained. "I'm writing in my goal book, 'Be the best teammate I can possibly be. How can I help my team win a Super Bowl? What does that look like?' And all of those other accolades and stats will follow. You can't possibly play harder than I've played. I'm playing as hard as I possibly can and doing everything I possibly can to benefit the team. Sacking the quarterback obviously benefits my team, so those things take care of themselves."

A few years ago, maybe Watt would have been more worried about how he was ranked with Myles Garrett. Now, he's put that behind him to try and figure out what he can do to win the Super Bowl, let alone a single playoff game. Luckily, he got his extension done prior to training camp in 2025, so he was a good teammate by not causing distractions by sitting out of practice and demanding more money. 

Previously, Watt refused to change sides of the defense, as he was always more productive on the left side of the defensive line. Now, he is more willing to move around with guys like Alex Highsmith and play other positions. While that might hurt his personal stats, that is how he can help benefit the team currently: by throwing off opposing offenses by standing up in the B gap or switching to right outside linebacker, among other things.

Steelers Are Trying To Help Watt Avoid Joining An Unfortunate Club

Watt is not the only potential NFL legend to not make the playoffs. In the 2000s and 2010s, the NFL wept as Calvin Johnson only made it to two playoff games and lost, while Joe Thomas never even got the chance to play in January football. However, they played for the two worst teams of that time period, and Watt plays for the Steelers. Him joining that list would be an absolute disaster and a waste of such a prolific career.

What do you think about how Watt has seen personal success and team success over the years? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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