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JJ Watt & His Wife Disagreed on Erling Haaland in a ‘Fascinating Debate’ Over His NFL Chances

Published 04/12/2024, 12:28 AM EDT

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Standing at 6ft 4 inches tall and weighing 88 kg, Erling Haaland has a physique seldom seen in soccer. The Norwegian has put this gift to phenomenal use as defenders often end up on the losing side in a duel with the striker. But, can Haaland translate his success to one of the most demanding sports on the planet, the NFL?  Former Houston Texans defensive Lynchpin JJ Watt opens up on this.

In the Overlap with Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, and Roy Keane, Watt gave insight into a discussion he had with his wife, Kealia Watt. Watt added that with Kealia being a professional soccer player, the couple used to have discussions about the difference in athleticism and the overarching factors of both sports. He added, “We were recently talking about Erling Haaland and were saying like could NFL players with let’s call it 5 years of training come over and make a roster? I’m not saying play on the top teams make a roster and vice versa. If you give a guy like Haaland 5 years to train in the weight room and learn, could he come and do something in the NFL and it was a fascinating debate.”

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Regardless of how the debate ended, it’s likely that JJ Watt would have been backing Erling Haaland. The Burnley owner has seen the Norwegian score a brace against his side back in August. As a result, Watt termed Manchester City #9 as a ‘special talent‘. This could be why he was infuriated with Roy Keane’s recent comments on the star striker.

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JJ Watt grills Roy Keane after likening Erling Haaland to a ‘League Two’ player

Recently, Erling Haaland was subject to severe criticism by Keane over his ‘all-round’ game. Keane had said, “He’s almost like a League Two player. The levels of his general play is so poor.” The Irishman did praise the striker’s goalscoring abilities but added that he must improve in other facets of the same. Many including Pep Guardiola felt the criticism was uncalled for. And JJ Watt too disagreed with Keane regarding the Norwegian goalmachine.

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In the Overlap show, the former NFL star asked Keane, “League Two striker? Were you smoking weed?” Keane’s face had a wry smile but he still defended his stance. Keane added that if City are to win and dominate the heavyweight games, the striker has to improve his overall game. Considering how Erling Haaland was negated by Rudiger in the recent CL clash, the pundit does have a point.

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Written by:

Adithya Narayanan

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Adithya is a Soccer Writer at EssentiallySports. A Liverpool fanboy, he takes pride in being alive to witness Jurgen Klopp taking the Reds to domestic and European glory. Adithya loves an in-depth soccer chat involving tactical intricacies and stats.
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Edited by:

Jayant Chhabra