JJ Watt leaves the NFL behind and becomes an investor in Premier League side Burnley

JJ Watt until recently was scary to all NFL quarterbacks, but today he is retired and the millions he earned with the shoulder pads and helmet are not enough, so he and his wife decided to invest in something totally different… soccer. His decision hasn’t take him into MLS, but in the Premier League with Burnley.

In a video posted on his Twitter account, in which he is accompanied by his wife Kealia, Watt announced that he will be part of the investors of the club with a minority stake.

The video opens with the two sitting on a couch and Watt mentions that he has been retired for a few months.

JJ Watt joins his wife to invest his money in the Premier League

“Well, I’m officially coming out of retirement. I love football, but not that kind of football (a picture of an NFL game is shown). Look, on these islands here (he points on a map toward the UK and Ireland) they play football with their feet, like her (referring to Kealia, who plays in the NWSL in the United States),” JJ Watt explained with his wife picking up a map.

“We’re going to invest in European soccer,” the former NFL player said, to which an off-camera voice asks, “So do you want to be Ryan Reynolds?” He replies, “No,” and Kealia says, “Yes, please.”

“We don’t have the kind of money to buy an entire team, we’re more profiled for a minority investment, but a massive emotional investment. So, America let me introduce you to Burnley. Fasten your seat belts, guys, because we’re about to embark on a little journey called the pyramid of English soccer, welcome to the Premier League,” Watt added.

“When you invest in a club that has been around since 1882, you have to have great respect for its history and tradition. We understand that we are not just investing in the team and manager, we are investing in the city and its people. We take that responsibility very seriously and intend to work hard to earn their trust and support.

“We have great respect for what Alan (Pace, the club’s chairman), Vincent (Kompany, the team’s manager) and the whole organization have built here and we look forward to working with them. We believe Burnley is a special club with an incredible fan base and we want to help continue to raise their global profile as they return to the Premier League.”