Former NFL star defensive end J.J. Watt has been having fun since retiring after the 2022 season. However, that inner child came to life in a new partnership with DICK'S House of Sport to the point where he wants to move his family into one of the stores.
Watt's partnership was announced Monday morning in a hilarious skit that involves him trying to convince his wife, Kealia Ohai Watt, to move into a DICK'S House of Sport with their son, Koa.
Watt spoke to Fox Business Digital about why this experience made him feel like a "kid in a candy store."
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"It is pretty crazy, man. These are gigantic," Watt explained. "I mean, 100,000 square feet. When I first walk in, this is the honest truth, I’m like a kid in a candy store. It’s like that over-excitement, looking at it like, ‘Where do I want to go?’ There’s a hundred different places I want to go. The one in Knoxville we were just at has the rock climbing wall dead center. So, immediately I’m like, ‘Yeah, let me hit that rock climbing wall.’ Then, like out of the corner of your eye you see the golf simulator. You’re like, ‘All right, Trackman, let’s go.’
"I personally really enjoyed the batting cage. This last time, I liked hitting in the batting cage. That was fun. But, I mean, I’m also a hockey player at heart as a kid. I’m fortunate now, but as a kid, we were shopping at Play It Again Sports and getting hand-me-down gear. So to see an entire hockey section and just look at it and be like, ‘That is the Holy Grail.’ It’s pretty crazy. It truly is. It brings out the inner child in you and also brings out the inner athlete. It kinda makes you want to play sports, be active and be a part of it. That’s what I love most about it. This is such a natural partnership for me."
The size of DICK'S Sporting Goods stores is usually massive when visiting any location, but Watt being in awe of what he saw at the House of Sport shows how much of an experience this can be, no matter the sport.
The ad, where Watt sneaks into a House of Sport after hours to shoot his "campaign" to pitch his wife to move their family inside, shows what kind of hands-on experience customers can have.
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"It’s an athlete’s paradise. So we snuck in here to make a video to convince my wife how sick I’d be to live here!" Watt told his director and camera/audio men, who did not appreciate him not divulging the whole breaking-and-entering situation they were in.
Watt went on to tour the store to show his wife what their new "home" could be, including the master bedroom which is located inside a HitTrax batting cage.
"Who wouldn’t want to fall asleep to the sweet baseball sounds from the state-of-the-art HitTrax cage?"
He also tried to pitch his wife on a "walk-in closet," which was all the shoe sections inside the store.
"You know how you talked about having a walk-in closet? Why would you have a closet when your shoes could have a whole house?" he said.
While pointing out the rock climbing wall and all the "adventurous" date nights they could have there, he went into the "new backyard" – a turf field with soccer goals right behind the store.
As a professional soccer player, Kealia may not have been able to say no to some personal training turf right in her new home. At least, that is what her husband thought.
"A soccer superstar like yourself needs her very own practice field. Welcome to our new backyard. What more could you want?" he said.
Kealia gave her answer at the end of the skit.
"So you got a whole team to shoot this?" she asked Watt. "And there’s an entire room for shoes? And a rock wall for date night? Hard pass, but I’ll meet you at the golf simulator. That looks fun."
Watt confirmed that she agreed to go with him to the House of Sport occasionally, but the family will not be moving in anytime soon.
Maybe more visits will bring out that inner child and athlete Watt feels every time he steps foot in one.
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