Watt's shoes were inspired by a visit with Navy SEAL widows. JJ Watt/Twitter
This article originally appeared on CultureMap.
Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt just released a pair of shoes this holiday season, with the money going toward a good cause. Watt met a group of Navy SEAL widows in 2012, whom he says have become lifelong friends, and he wanted to do something to honor them.
Watt posted to social media saying he wanted to create a shoe to honor the Navy SEAL community and do it as "authentically as possible," so he brought in a Navy SEAL to help design the shoe. It's called the JJ II Valor edition.
"This is what we came up with. As you see, it's nothing flashy, nothing crazy. It's just what he wanted and there's many details of this shoe that are special to me," said Watt in an Instagram video.
View this post on InstagramThis pair is special. For so many reasons. For starters, for every pair purchased this holiday season, a pair of JJ's will be donated to The Navy SEAL Foundation. In addition, all of my personal proceeds from this shoe will go to directly to The Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Foundation. In 2012 while attending a Memorial Day event, I met a group of Navy SEAL widows who have now become lifelong friends. They have since introduced me to many incredible people within the SEAL community and beyond. I wanted to create a shoe to honor that community and do it as authentically as possible. The best way I knew how to do that was to invite a Navy SEAL to work hand in hand with me on designing the shoe. If you watch the video, you'll see all of the details and thought that went into creating this shoe. I am extremely excited about this shoe and I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I do. Thank you and all the best!! It will be available Tonight at midnight on Reebok.com
A post shared by JJ Watt (@jjwatt) on Dec 11, 2018 at 6:18pm PST
Continue reading on CultureMap.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
How Texans are poised for most unpredictable draft in the Stroud era
Apr 21, 2025, 2:46 pm
Stephen Curry scored 31 points and the Golden State Warriors built a huge lead and held on to beat the Houston Rockets 95-85 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.
The seventh-seeded Warriors led by 23 in the third quarter, but second-seeded Houston cut it to 69-60 entering the fourth.
A basket by Amen Thompson with about 5 1/2 minutes remaining got the Rockets within four. Curry hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night a few seconds later to make it 82-75.
The Rockets cut it to four again with about 2 1/2 minutes left on a 3 by Fred VanVleet. This time Moses Moody hit a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run that made it 91-80 and sent fans streaming for the exits.
Game 2 of the best-of seven series is Wednesday night in Houston.
It was the 100th career playoff coaching victory for Golden State’s Steve Kerr, who moved into a tie with Larry Brown for sixth-most playoff wins.
Curry was 12 of 19 from the field, hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers. Jimmy Butler added 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in his playoff debut for the Warriors after joining them in a trade from Miami in February.
The Rockets, who returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2020, got 26 points from Alperen Sengun in his first career postseason game. But VanVleet and Jalen Green struggled, making just 7 of 34 shots.
VanVleet was 2 of 13 from 3-point range on a night Houston made just 6 of 29 3-pointers and was 11 of 20 on free throws.
The Warriors got a spot in the playoffs with a 121-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night in the Play-In Tournament.
They got yet another playoff victory over the Rockets after eliminating them four times from 2015-19.