Some players are driven by contracts, some by awards, and some by something much closer to home. For former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, TJ Watt’s competitive fire feels familiar. Both know what it means to grow up as the little brother, always trying to prove themselves against someone better.
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In an Instagram clip, the former coach explained what he saw in Watt from the very beginning. “Man, T.J., this is what I love about T.J. T.J. is an angry little brother. He is. I know that because I’m an angry little brother, too. I think it’s something about being a little brother.”
Tomlin then widened the idea to include some of sports’ greatest names. He pointed out that Michael Jordan was a little brother and said many great competitors carry a “big old chip on their shoulder.”
Before Watt ever played a snap in the NFL, Tomlin recalled taking Watt to dinner the night before his pro day, sensing “an underlying rage” that felt familiar and knew better than to bring up Watt’s brother.
That brother is JJ Watt, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. Tomlin joked about how that shapes his younger sibling. When TJ won the award in 2021, Tomlin imagined him shrugging it off because JJ has three. For Tomlin, having your biggest motivator sleeping in the next bed creates “a fight and a work ethic.”
The Steelers picked TJ Watt 30th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, and the decision has paid off massively. Over nine seasons (In his 10th NFL season now), TJ has become one of the NFL’s top pass rushers. In 2021, he won the Defensive Player of the Year award after recording 22.5 sacks, tying the NFL’s single-season record. In 2025, he signed a three-year contract extension worth $123 million, with $108 million guaranteed.
The relationship between the two has been about more than football. In January 2024, TJ Watt said he didn’t want to play for anyone but Tomlin. When the former HC stepped down this January after 19 seasons, Watt reportedly said “No” over and over as he told the team.
After a down season in 2025, in which he had only seven sacks and missed time with a partially collapsed lung, fans wondered if his best days were behind him. He has answered in his 10th season.
In Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, Watt had a pick-six and two sacks. He became only the second player, after Julius Peppers, with 100-plus career sacks and 10-plus interceptions. Through five games, he has 4.5 sacks, an interception and a touchdown, and he is a serious Defensive Player of the Year candidate again.
One thing is still missing, though. The Steelers are 0-5 in the playoffs with TJ Watt, so the chip on his shoulder isn’t going away anytime soon, and if Tomlin is right, that is exactly how Watt likes it.