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Paul Skenes, T.J. Watt Swapping Jerseys Became an Awesome Pittsburgh Moment

Kristen Wong

Screengrab on Twitter/ @JomboyMedia
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Two of the biggest sports stars in the modest town of Pittsburgh, PA recently swapped threads in what may go down in history as an all-time great jersey exchange. 

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes linked up with Pittsburgh Steelers pass-rusher T.J. Watt in the Steelers’ building, and each athlete gave the other a special gift to take home. Watt first offered Skenes his game-worn No. 90 jersey as well as a signed jersey in the Steelers’ signature black-and-gold colorway. 

“Looks like it’ll fit,” Watt told Skenes, holding up one jersey. 

“Oh yeah, I’ll wear that,” Skenes replied.

“I gotta get some Pirates’ s--- at some point,” Watt said.

The impatient Steelers star soon received Skenes’s Pirates jersey, and the two posed for an iconic photo.

So much greatness in one picture.

Though Skenes and Watt play very different sports, the generational crossover was cool to see, especially between two stars at the top of their game right now. In his rookie year, Skenes has been pitching to a healthy tune of a 2.10 ERA across 20 starts and earned his first All-Star nod of many to come. Watt, a seven-year NFL veteran with four All-Pro and six Pro-Bowl honors, is coming off a productive campaign in which he led the league with 19 sacks.

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Kristen Wong

KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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