After tormenting offenses for 12 seasons on the gridiron, former NFL defensive end JJ Watt’s football journey landed him at CBS Sports, working as a studio analyst on The NFL Today. But instead of covering a wide range of topics, what he really wanted to do was deep-dive into the sport he loved. That opportunity came last season, when CBS moved him to the broadcast booth with Ian Eagle as the network’s No. 2 team. A year later, Watt has some takeaways.

Appearing on the Ross Tucker Podcast, JJ Watt was asked for an assessment of his 2025 season in the booth, and Watt voiced his initial misgivings.

“I truthfully thought I would not like it,” Watt said. “My whole career, and even post-career, I thought the booth wasn’t for me. I didn’t think I would enjoy it, and I could not have been more wrong. I loved it, man.

“Being in the stadium, feeling the atmosphere, feeling the energy, being able to explain what’s going on and utilize that knowledge at a deeper level, have an unbelievable partner in Ian Eagle, and then we got Evan [Washburn] down the sideline and everybody behind the scenes, and Ken Mack and Susan and everybody. I mean, it’s top-notch, and it was a blast.”

JJ Watt wasn’t confident when he first faced the daunting task of being a color analyst for CBS. When Steelers reporter Jeff Hartman expressed that he was “skeptical of JJ Watt calling games before the season started,” Watt had noted that he “too was skeptical” of himself. But he rose to the occasion, blending his insights with humorous takes – even if that came with taking a few shots at his brother TJ Watt, the linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, after a year of calling games and making his presence felt, he’s excited for Year 2.

“I also had plenty that I learned and now can’t wait to implement in year two,” Watt said. “It’s not dissimilar to being a player where you go back, you study what you did well and what you didn’t do well and you have so much more you want to work on.”

JJ Watt has battled his own doubts, shut down narratives about brotherly bias for TJ Watt and the Steelers games last season. Now in his second year in the booth, those doubts are gone, and now he sees it like the best job in the world.

“This is a blast,” Watt said. “And this is the stuff that we already talk about anyway with our buddies, and everybody’s chatting it up over some beers, and now I get paid to do it and sit on the 50-yard line at some of the best NFL games every week. Like, come on!”