Come leave me then. Let’s see how that goes’: Retired NFL running back JJ Watt applauds Fox News commentator who chided him for wearing number 99 on beer league hockey team
In his retirement, former Arizona Cardinals defensive end JJ Watt has apparently plunged back into the sport of hockey, something he played while growing up in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
In early March, Watt posted a photo on Twitter of himself lacing up his skates, wearing a jersey on the ground and wearing a number 99 helmet.
In hockey culture, the number 99 is sacred, as it is the number of the player considered the greatest to touch an ice sheet: Wayne Gretzky.
Gretzky’s number has been retired in the National Hockey League, but despite it being just one league, it is generally considered a misstep to wear the number at any other level of the sport.
Yet Watt has worn number 99 at every step of his football career, from his college days at the University of Wisconsin, through the Houston Texans, to his last stop with the Arizona Cardinals.
Retired NFL defensive end JJ Watt took to Twitter to applaud a Fox News commentator.
Watt posted this photo earlier this month wearing a helmet with the number 99 on it.
Conservative commentator Stephen Miller took offense that Watt used that number.
Watt responded to Miller after having worn number 99 during his playing days.
However, that caused people to respond to his photo with messages from hockey purists saying he shouldn’t be using the number.
One of those people was Stephen Miller, the conservative commentator who appeared on Fox News and is a contributing editor for The Spectator.
“Any guy wearing 99 in the beer league is asking to be dropped,” Miller said. He added below that tweet a statement that read: “There are some things men just don’t do.”
Although Miller was responding to a Tweet made 15 days ago, Watt decided to return the applause.
Come leave me then. Let’s see how that goes,” Watt said in a quoted tweet. “I showed up at the court and the NHL guys who invited me to play with them had a gear bag for me with this helmet. I did not choose it. Are you going to leave them too? #Tough guy’
Other comments telling Watt that he shouldn’t use 99 didn’t generate similar traction. TSN commentator and former Toronto Maple Leafs player Jeff O’Neill responded in the original post: “99 is not allowed in that sport.”
Watt played hockey from the age of four to 13. The 6-foot-5, 288-pound edge rusher said he was a center and a goalscorer and even traveled to Canada and Germany for tournaments. He eventually left the sport when it conflicted with his schedule and for financial reasons.
In hockey, the number 99 is commonly associated with the greatest sports player Wayne Gretzky.