HOUSTON -- The lyrics needed only a little adjustment to become an anthem for Houston Texans fans and their hero alike. When the stadium sound system blared the rap song "Turn Down for What," J.J. Watt embraced it.
Each time the music started Sunday, so did Watt's dance moves -- moves that have come a long way since the days of the failed Nae Nae attempt after his first defensive touchdown. That one drew offers of lessons from Rockets star Dwight Howard and a chuckling Watt postgame, shaking his head at how he must have looked.
This time Watt danced each time the song played, comfortable in the spotlight that's grown brighter throughout the season. The crowd who calls him MVP delighted in the moves -- in the fun he had -- almost as much as in their bearing witness to one of the greatest seasons any defensive player has had. He danced right into the NFL's history books -- again. With three sacks in a 23-17 win over the Jaguars, Watt became the first player since sacks were recorded in 1982 to have multiple seasons with 20 or more.
"If he doesn't win the MVP, the NFL is out of their mind," Texans receiver Andre Johnson said.
An MVP has to be spectacular. An MVP can be historic. Watt has been both this season.
A rundown: Watt finished with 20.5 sacks, 50 quarterback hits/hurries, 29 tackles for loss, nine batted passes, five fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles, a blocked extra point, one pick-six, one fumble recovery returned for a touchdown and three touchdown catches on nine offensive snaps. He is the only player in NFL history to have a pick-six, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and three touchdown catches in the same season.
On Sunday, he made it a clean sweep of the AFC South; he notched two or more sacks in every divisional game this season. He sacked Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles three times after sacking him thrice the first time they met. Once, he got Bortles in the end zone for a safety.
"Lights out. Tremendous effort. Nothing he hasn't done each time he hits the field," cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. "After a performance like that and a year like he's had, if he don't get the MVP, I don't think ... a defensive player should ever be capable of getting it because I don't think you can top that performance."
He might not think so, but Watt does.
"There are plenty of places I can get better," Watt said. "I watch the film and ... I kind of click past the good plays pretty quickly. It's the bad plays that you watch, and you go over and over and say, 'OK, what can I do better here? How can I help my team more here?'"
Even if he can help his team more, there wasn't a player this season who did more on his side of the ball than Watt did for the Texans' defense. Watt was a big part of why the Texans became one of five teams since the organization began in 2002 to have a winning record a season after having two or fewer wins. The Texans were 4-1 when Watt scored a touchdown -- neutralizing Watt was a focus of every opponents' offensive game plan, and it was certainly a focus of the Jaguars.
"I look like I'm 60 years old, but I'm only 45, and I haven't been around long enough to say if he's the best of all time and all those things," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "But I can tell you, in my time in the league, I've never seen a defensive player like him that affects the play on every play."
Watt sees it as his responsibility -- a feeling that's characterized a lot of his life. When his parents agreed to pay for college at Wisconsin -- allowing Watt to walk on after leaving his scholarship at Central Michigan -- Watt felt a responsibility to earn that scholarship and reward their faith. When Wisconsin gave him a scholarship, he felt a responsibility to prove he deserved it. When the Texans gave Watt a $100 million contract extension ...
"They gave me a hundred million," Watt said. "I'm trying to give them a hundred million's worth. Whatever that is, offense, defense, special teams, however I can, I'm trying to make sure that they get their money's worth and the fans get their money's worth because they deserve that."
They've gotten that and more. They've danced along with him while watching a historic individual performance. Watt's final act of 2014 only punctuated the case he's made all year.
