JJ Watt says he wasn't mocking Vikings great Jared Allen
When J.J. Watt bullied his way through Ed Ingram, sacked Kirk Cousins and celebrated with Jared Allen's famous calf-roping routine, he did so in honor of Allen, not to mock him.
Watt went out of his way to clear up any confusion on the matter after the Vikings beat the Cardinals 34-26 Sunday in Minneapolis. Allen was inducted into the Vikings' Ring of Honor during a halftime, with Allen living up to his identity by entering the field on a horse similar to the way he announced his retirement in 2016 by riding into the sunset on horseback.
"I also want to clear up – clearly the fans here misinterpreted my Jared Allen tribute," Watt said. "Jared Allen's one of my favorite players of all time, and that was absolutely a way to honor him on his night here. Zero disrespect. I would never disrespect him. I have a lot of respect for Jared Allen, so I hope that clears that up."
The Jared Allen sack celebration was a tribute, not a slight.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 30, 2022
Don’t get it twisted.#Legend
"He's one of the best of all time," Watt continued. "He's a great player. I loved watching him. I met him a couple of times. I have a massive amount of respect for him. So, it was great to see him going into their Ring of Honor, very well-deserved. And I hope he took it as a tribute and understood that it was a sign of respect."
Watt wasn't the only player to use the roping-a-calf celebration on Sunday. Vikings linebacker Za'Darius Smith did it after his first of three sacks on the day.
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Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.