he can do and kind of getting in their mind for next
year" Derek pointed out.
"Next summer and all off-season," he went on,
"we're going to be probably talking about the playbook and making sure he (T.J.) knows what he's doing so he can be flying around at full speed."
Even though they were high school teammates,
T.J. said, "I didn't realize how special he is (as a football player) until I was on the sidelines watching
him play this season.
"I was so excited when he scored that touchdown
(against Northwestern), I was first one to congratulate him. Anything he does on the field, I'm happy
for him; I know he feels the same for me."
Derek said that he takes after his mom. T.J. said
that he takes after his dad. What about the J.J. Watt
influence? How tough has it been to be in the shadows of their older brother?
"You get the question a lot, you get compared a
lot," Derek said. "But it's really hard to compare us
other than our character and work ethic because
we're totally different people on the field.
"I'm a fullback, he plays defensive end. Obviously,
he has done some tremendous things and you're al-
ways going to get, 'Are you going to live up to the
standards that he set?'
"I try not to think about it that way. My goal is to
be the best fullback in the country. I take that dayby-day and I handle my own career and I'm kind of
setting my own path."
So far, so good. Recapping the Illinois win, Andersen said, "He's not flashy, which we all know; but all
he does his job and he does it with physicalness and
takes great pride in it every single snap."
J.J. Watt and Derek Watt can be tough acts to follow.
"I've been nagged about it all through high school
and middle school," said T.J., who really isn't a "little" brother. He's 6-foot-5, 235 pounds. Derek is 6-2,
231. J.J. is just bigger than life.
"You blossom as your own player and your own
person and it's great to turn to them; they don't brag
or anything like that. They're my main supporters
along with my mom, dad, grandpa and uncle."
The Watt brothers are no different than any other set of brothers at Wisconsin. "We all fought and
it was about dumb stuff that we didn't need to be
fighting about," Derek said.
"I was so excited when (Derek) scored that
touchdown (against Northwestern), I was
first one to congratulate him," T.J. said.
"Anything he does on the field, I'm happy
for him; I know he feels the same for me."
44
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VARSITY October 24, 2013
