JJ Watt, considered one of the NFL’s greatest ever defensive players, has announced he will retire at the end of the current season.
The Arizona Cardinals defensive end, 33, was voted NFL defensive player of the year three times.
Watt spent a decade with the Houston Texans before joining Arizona in 2021.
“My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude. It’s been an absolute honor and a pleasure,” Watt wrote on Twitter.
Watt has spent the last two seasons with the Cardinals, after representing the Houston Texans between 2011 and 2020.
He added that Sunday’s defeat by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was both his baby son Koa’s first NFL game, and his own “last ever” home game.
Having failed to make the postseason, the Cardinals have two regular season games left, at Atlanta and San Francisco.
As well as being defensive player of the year in 2012, 2014 and 2015, Watt was the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2017.
He was also named Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year in 2017 for helping to raise $37m (£30.7m) in relief funds for people affected by the devastation brought by Hurricane Harvey in Houston.
In his 12-year NFL career, Watt has 111.5 total sacks, 580 tackles and 27 forced fumbles, and is the only player in the last 40 years to record 20 or more sacks in multiple seasons.
