Hours after winning the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the 2021 season, the weight of the award and standing within the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organization all-time still hasn’t quite hit outside linebacker TJ Watt.
Watt, who tied the NFL’s single-season sacks record in 2021 with 22.5 while playing in just 15 of 17 games and missing time in two others, won the DPOY in a landslide, garnering 40 of the 48 votes one year after using the DPOY snub as motivation.
That motivation paid off in a big way as Watt dominated from start to finish after becoming the highest-paid defensive player in football in the summer of 2021, locking himself into a long-term deal with the Steelers.