Derek John Watt (born November 7, 1992) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

, and was selected by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in the sixth round of the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He also played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. His older brother is J. J. Watt, and his younger brother is Steelers linebacker T. J. Watt.

Early life

Watt was born the middle son of three boys to Connie, a building operations vice president, and John Watt, a firefighter. He has an older brother Justin ("J. J."), and younger brother Trent ("T. J.") who were born and raised in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. He attended and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Pewaukee High School. Watt attended

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, where he was teammates with his brother T. J. from 2012 to 2015.

College career

Watt played at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

from 2011 to 2015. He was part of the offense that helped running back Melvin Gordon amass record-breaking rushing yards during his Badger career. In the 2012 season, Watt had 12 receptions for 150 receiving yards. In the 2013 season, he had three receptions for 20 receiving yards. In the 2014 season, he only appeared in three games on the season. In his final collegiate season in 2015, he had 15 receptions for 139 receiving yards. Gordon and Watt went on to reunite as teammates when Watt was drafted by the Chargers in 2016.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Pro Football Focus rated Watt the second-best fullback in the 2016 draft overall, and he also received the second-best blocking grade among fullbacks in the draft.

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

Watt was drafted by the

in the sixth round (198th overall) in the

. In the 2019 season, Watt appeared in all 16 games and recorded a rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

. He played for the Chargers from 2016 to 2019. He contributed as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, fullback, and in a

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

role.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On March 26, 2020, Watt signed a three-year, $9.75 million deal with the

. Signing with the Steelers made Watt a teammate of his younger brother T. J., an outside linebacker. In Week 2, against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Watt blocked a punt that resulted in a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. On December 21, 2020, he was knocked out as a gunner as he was concussed after being blocked into former Badgers teammate Alex Erickson on a

punt return Punt or punting may refer to: Boats * Punt (boat), a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow developed on the River Thames * Falmouth Quay Punt, a small sailing vessel hired by ships anchored in Falmouth harbour * Norfolk Punt, a type of racing ...

. After spending the whole season mainly on a special teams role with zero yards on offense, Watt ran his first rushing plays with the Steelers in the Wild Card Round against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. In the 2021 season, Watt appeared in all 17 games and started four. During Week 8 of the 2022 season at the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, Watt caught a one-yard touchdown on a throw from

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Chase Claypool. In the 2022 season, Watt appeared in all 17 games and started three. He continued to contribute as a fullback and on special teams. After not being signed to a team for the 2023 season, he announced his retirement from football via

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

on March 12, 2024.

Personal life

Watt married Gabriella Justin in 2018. The couple's first child, son Logan James Watt, was born in February 2019, and their second son, Brayden George Watt, was born in December 2020. In 2020, Watt appeared in a Subway commercial with his brothers J. J. and T. J. along with their parents John and Connie. Derek, J. J. and T. J. were also the hosts for the TV show '' Ultimate Tag''.

References

External links

TwitterWisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Derek 1992 births Living people American football fullbacks American people of Polish descent American people of Scottish descent American people of Swedish descent Los Angeles Chargers players People from Pewaukee, Wisconsin Pittsburgh Steelers players San Diego Chargers players Players of American football from Waukesha, Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers football players