Good People Doing Good Things — JJ Watt

Posted on by under Good people doing good things, Social commentary

I did not even have to go in search of this week’s ‘good person’ — he fell right into my lap.  Okay, okay, no not literally.  But he was a headliner today, so he wasn’t hard to find.  As you all know, sports is not my strong suit, and football (American-style, with the ovoid pigskin, for my non-US amigos) is definitely not my forte.  But yet, today’s good person is an excellent football player, I am told, but an even better human being.  Allow me to introduce today’s good person doing good things, Justin James Watt, better known as JJ Watt.Ellen tweetJJ Watt is star defense end for the Houston Texans and on Saturday it was announced that Mr. Watt will personally be paying for the funerals of all ten victims of the Santa Fe, Texas, school shooting the day before, Friday, May 18th.  That’s right – you heard me – he is paying for all ten funerals, 9 students and 1 teacher, who were shot and killed on that fateful day.  Now, that in itself would have earned him a place in this post, but there is so much more that he gets the whole post.

Watt’s history of helping out after school shootings dates all the way back to 2012 and the Sandy Hook shooting where 27 were killed.  Watt invited some of the children from Sandy Hook Elementary to meet him and participate in a day of football and much-needed fun at the Texans’ stadium.

“I just kind of wanted to give them as normal a day as possible, just running around, having fun, going out on the field. We were kicking field goals. They were trying to put it through the uprights. Just be kids. And to see them in a normal setting, having fun and big smiles on their faces was awesome.”

Watt-Sandy-Hook

On Monday, Watt visited with survivors of the Santa Fe High School shooting at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and cheered both the victims and the hospital staff!

Watt joined the Texans in 2011, and has been doing good things for the community almost since day #1.  On July 2, 2011, the Berry family was traveling home from a vacation in Colorado Springs. The parents, Joshua and Robin Berry were killed in a head-on collision while also leaving their two sons, Peter and Aaron handicapped. Their daughter, Willa, suffered minor injuries. Watt met the children at a fund-raiser and grew close with them. He played wheelchair basketball with them and pantomimed rolling a wheelchair after sacking a quarterback in a 2012 game. The pantomime was an agreed upon signal between the Berry children and Watt as a post-sack celebration.

Justin J. Watt Foundation, a charity organization that provides after-school opportunities for children in various communities, in order for them to get involved in athletics in a safe environment. This foundation’s motto, “Dream Big, Work Hard” is sold on wrist bands and T-shirts. Since this foundation was launched in 2010, Watt has raised over $1 million.

Remember Hurricane Harvey that hit Houston last August?  JJ Watt started a fund-raiser to help the victims of Harvey and kicked it off with $100,000 of his own money.  He said he was hoping to get the fund up to $200,000 with donations from others.  But guess what?  Mr. Watt has some selling-power, for the fund blew past the $200,000 mark in a matter of hours and finally ended up at $37 million from more than 200,000 donors!  And he took a personal interest in seeing that the funds were distributed where they were most needed, often working into the night with relief groups and organizers.

In addition to Watt’s mega contributions to humanity, he does a lot of little things, too.  For example, there was the time he popped in to surprise his favorite teacher on the day of her retirement, thanking her profusely for all she’d done not only to inspire him, but all of the kids she’d taught during her 41 years as an educator.Watt-teacherThere is much negativity about sports super-heroes these days, their exorbitant salaries, arrogance and hedonistic lifestyles.  It is heartwarming to come upon one like Mr. JJ Watt, who is truly a humanitarian, who is using both his money and his voice to do things to help people.  Thank you, Mr. JJ Watt, for all the good you do and have done.Watt-tweet

He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk.  Two thumbs up to Mr. Justin James Watt!  two-thumbs

45 thoughts on “Good People Doing Good Things — JJ Watt”

  1. Dear Jill,

    Mr. Watt is my kind of guy. It is so frustrating for me to hear wealthy folks whine about paying more / or less taxes. If I were in their shoes, I would get it that I was blessed and would be grateful to where I wouldn’t be begging for tax breaks. The only caveat is the I would want to get my monies worth which we are not getting. The US congress has been short on delivering on anything that benefits the middle class/ poor.

    We are now an Oligarchy as well as a “Banana Republic.” We are a country for the rich and by the rich.

    But Mr. Watts is doing what I wish most rich folks would do.

    Hugs, Gronda

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yes, unfortunately there are many things this nation has become in just over 16 months: an oligarchy, a plutocracy, a semi-autocracy, a banana republic, and least respected of all the western nations. Wow, what an honour, huh?

      Yes, I liked Mr. Watts … he is using his large platform for good. Is it wrong that I keep hoping Trump will have a fatal coronary in his sleep one night soon?

      Hugs!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. He is a hero. No doubt he attracts publicity, but then he would even if he bought a soft drink in public. Anyone who does what he has been doing is fine in my book.

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  4. That’s great. He is lucky enough to be given his big Sporting break in life. That he uses his excess earnings to help people in terrible circumstances, is so commendable. Two thumbs up indeed! 👍👍

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  5. The only reservation I have about people like JJ Watt (and other big-name athletes and movie stars) “doing good” — and I don’t question his actually having done so — is the suspicion that he is drawing attention to himself. But, then, as long as he does good things perhaps it is splitting hairs. So I will climb on the Watt band-wagon, if you say so.

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    • Well, from what I read, he spends a lot of time with children, after school activities, organizing groups, etc. I sometimes think if they are only giving money, of which they have plenty, then perhaps they are doing it for the attention. But when they give of themselves and their time … I usually think that is pretty genuine. Just my way of looking at it, and I understand your point, also. Still, as you said, as long as he’s doing good, he is several steps ahead of most of the wealthy people in our government today who establish ‘foundations’ that don’t help anybody who actually needs it.

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      • Yes. That’s the point. I need not probe too deep to seek motives. How many of us knows why it is we do what we do? But with many of the “big names” it is hard not to conclude that it’s all about publicity. JJ Watt is very public about his activities, making sure we all know what he is up to. But,. as you say, he does a great deal of good while many wealthy men and women simply try to find ways to get richer!

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        • Agreed … he is sharing his wealth while others are busily tapping their keyboards transferring theirs back and forth between investments and offshore accounts, trying to squeeze an extra nickel out of it. And for what??? To watch it sit and grow? Pffffft …

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  7. Jill, this is what a hero looks like. He just rolls up his sleeves to help. One of the touching Barbara Bush commercials was her working with JJ Watt to promote reading. Bush donned football pads and eye black in a fun commercial.

    He is one of those shining lights that Barbara’s husband used to talk about. Keith

    Liked by 2 people

    • I agree … no bragging, no preening, just roll up the sleeves, wade in, and do it. I did see several pics of him with Barbara Bush, but was running out of time and didn’t look deeper into it. An all around good guy, I think.

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      • Jill, Hugh’s point is one to be mindful of, but the celebrity is a given. If he or she uses it for good and does so without fanfare, then that gives them more credence. Seeing politicians at tragedy sites gives me the same concern – are they there to help or are they there to look like they are helping. Seeing Trump toss paper towels in Puerto Rico is one of the best metaphors for this superficial man and his presidency. Keith

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        • You’re right … they (celebrities) are always in the limelight and whatever they do, good or bad, will be noted. The paper towel incident sickened me and was only further proof that he has no sense of values, of humanitarianism. As if we needed further proof.

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  8. If only there were more like him. (Yeah, there are, but I mean a lot more!) It was many years ago I came up with the idea that if half the world’s millionaires and billionaires were to organize and donate the interest from their savings accounts (Do they really need extra money on top of all the extra money they have stored away, doing nothing for anyone?) they could create disaster relief teams all over the globe that could respond professionally to all kinds of disasters as fast as those disasters occurred, and make a real difference to the people and and environments who have been disastrously affected.
    Imagine how such response teams would change lives! Think Puerto Rico, where they still haven’t recovered from last year’s hurricanes, think the wildfires in Canada where people are still trying to rebuild their lives years after the last fires were put out, think the earthquakes in Haiti that affected millions of lives of people so poor their lifetime homes were made out of corrugated cardboard, and their bathrooms did not even pretend to carry away the sewage from their living spaces, thus creating huge health problems. Think of Aboriginal peopless all over the world who do not have potable drinking water coming out of their taps because the johnny-come-latelies polluted their lakes, rivers, and streams, and them ignored them because they weren’t coloured the same as the polluters.
    Just the interest on the vast fortunes some people make could change this world drastically. Now imagine if they were to donate 1% of 1% of their vast fortunes to help our world. What would this world look like then?
    But, alas, no one seems to care. At least not most of the millionaires and billionaires of this world. They “earned” their fortunes (yeah, off the backs of their wage-slave employees), so why should they help?
    Why not, it’s the right thing to do. GO, JJ.

    Liked by 4 people

    • I’ve been told that among the rich, it’s always a game of one-up-man-ship. So to actually give away some of their vast fortunes would lower them in the “standings.” And doncha’ know? That (for them at least) is what’s all-important in life.

      Thankfully there are those who don’t play the game. ❤

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      • Yeah, I know that. But it doesn’t impress me. I ask, who is going to do their menial labour when all the wage-slaves are gone? Who is going to build the robots they will need to do that menial labour? Who is going to cook their foods, and deliver it to them? Who is going to grow that food? Who is going to drive their cars, or pilot their private jets and helicopters? Who is going to populate the armies they will need to defend themselves from their richer opposition? Oh, they think we are endless, that we will always be here to serve them…
        What happened to the endless herds of buffalo that used to pound across the prairies? What happened to the multitudinous schools of cod that used to team in the oceans? It wasn’t the rich who preserved enough individuals to at least keep those species alive. If it was up to them, they would have destroyed those species, just like they did the dodo and the passenger pigeons.
        No, they cannot survive without us, but they can’t even imagine a world without us. But it is the way this will go, if changes are not made. If nuclear weapons are ever used. If their greed is not controlled.
        We, on the other hand, can see our own demise. We have to be realists, if we want to survive. The question is, why do we want to survive? Just to be wage-slaves, cannon-fodder, and sex-puppets?
        How many of them are bright enough to have a new idea? To invent anything on their own? The only thing they know is how to buy someone else to do those things for them. They are relics of a bygone age, fighting like hell to keep what they have. This is not an airplane ride, where the mother has to save herself if she wants to be able to save her baby. In life, you have to work to save others first, if you want to be able to save yourself. Especially if you have to depend on others to live.
        Can you see a person like Trump creating a rifle to go shoot an animal, a knife to skin the animal with, an ax to get fuel for a fire, a match to light that fire? Can you see him finding a seed to plant a garden to grow a vegetable to put in a pot to cook that vegetable, and a fork to deliver it to his mouth? He would need hundreds of people to accomplish all those tasks for him. But, he’d rather take all their money, their health care, their shelter, and their very lives away in case one of them might turn on him and threaten his well-being? Yup, I’d love to see him pump his own gas, drive his own car, cook his own food, and fill his own bed. Ah, wishful thinking. I do have a great imagination, don’t I?
        If only I couldn’t imagine the future that we are heading breakneck towards? How much more enjoyable my life could be…

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    • Y’know, my friend, I REALLY like your idea! The only thing I would change is … why only half of the millionaires & billionaires? Why not all of them. I would, perhaps, exempt the ones who are already using their wealth to help humanity, such as perhaps Bill Gates, Warren Buffet … but they would likely be the first to volunteer to give up their interest. But alas, you are quite right … the very wealthy insulate themselves in ivory towers where they do not see he rest of us, do not see the struggles of the “commoners” and therefore they do not have to care. It is easier for them to turn a blind eye. But what do they need with all that money? There are only so many mansions they can live in, so many cars they can drive, so much food they can eat, and so many trips they can take. I’ve never understood the hoarding of wealth by that op 1%. I can honestly say I have never once in my adult life wished to be rich. Now, I wouldn’t mind having a little bit of money, say enough to buy a good used car and a new laptop. 🙂

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      • I only ask for half of them to do it because I know at least half of them would refuse. So why even bother asking. Better for them to sort that out on their own.
        And while it would be nice if every one of them did donate their interest, there would be leftover money lying around, and that would attract the con men, the embezzlers, and other such nefarious folk, and they would not stop at stealing the latent cash, they would go for it all, and thus destroy the original intent of the idea. So, this is why I tried not to show greed. Maybe one year half could donate, and then the other half the next year. Would that make it more acceptable?
        They could all sit on the board, if they wanted. As long as they were not allowed to affect the day-to-day work of the response teams, such as deciding where teams could go or not go. There could be no no-go zones, no interdicted areas. When disaster strikes, it strikes everyone equally, therefore help would have to be available to all.
        But no use trying to figure out all of the laws of such an organization yet, it is more important to figure out how to approach these people to present the idea to them. That part I have not figured out yet…

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        • You have really good ideas, and I wish there were a way to make them work. The question becomes, how do we make those who bury themselves in their ivory towers see the rest of us, how do we make them aware and make them care? I think this problem has been pondered throughout history and as yet nobody has come up with a solution. But … people like you and me … will keep trying, and keep doing what we can. You’re a good man, rawgod, with a good heart.

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          • I’m a good idea man, I will accept that. I’ve had good ideas all my life, but nobody believes in me the way you do. Right now I am involved in discussions with a religion addict, and a science addict, on other WordPress sites. They both call me crazy. They don’t tell me anything I don’t know, one has to be crazy to survive in today’s world. But they think they are sane, and that is the crazy part.
            I wish I didn’t enjoy listening to them so much, they really believe in what their saying. Damn, even most atheists don’t believe I am an atheist. An atheist is he or she who declares themselves to be an atheist–as long as they don’t believe in any variety of a supreme being anyone can be an atheist. They don’t realize being atheist is not a community project, no matter how much they want it to be.
            But I am sorry for laying this trip on you, Jill. You don’t deserve it. I guess I just need to hear myself whine…

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            • The problem with good ideas is convincing enough other people they are good, in order to be able to implement them. But it seems that people are more inclined to believe in bad ideas, such as those of Disfunctional Turdhead, than good, stable ideas that might help save the world from us humans.

              Sounds like you’re having a bit of fun with the science and religious dudes! Better you than me! And you weren’t whining … you were thinking aloud and sharing your thoughts. I enjoy our conversations.

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              • I am impressed by Dysfunctional Turdhead. That spews more vinegar than anything I can remember writing. Wowza, Bowsa!
                I guess the convincing part is what i’m not so good at. Maybe a bit egotistical too. A lot of my ideas seem obvious to me how good they are, so people should just flock to them. I guess my view of reality is not theirs.
                And, yes, I admit I am having fun with the religion and science crowds, but I cannot help it. It comes so naturally.
                But some of them are serious searchers, and those people I like. I don’t expect them to become converts, I don’t want uncommitted converts. I don’t want converts of any kind. But I do want free-thinkers, and they seem to be harder to find than I expected…

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                • Thank you!!! I didn’t even have to think about it — it just popped into my head!

                  I doubt it matters how good you were at convincing … the masses have to be willing to listen to what you say, and most aren’t, or if they are, it’s only so they can call you names and put you down. Yep, free-thinkers … heck, thinkers of any sort … are hard to find these days. We are a dying breed, my friend.

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                  • I do hope you are wrong about thinkers being a dying breed, the world is headed for disaster if they are. Oops, the world is headed for disaster as we speak? Then I guess your theory could be correct. Youch!

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                    • I hope I’m wrong too, but think about it … we don’t really encourage deep thinking any more, but rather we spoon feed information, we tell people how and what we want them to think. There will always be some who will break out of the nice square box and think, ponder and innovate, but there seem to be fewer today than there were, say 40 years ago.

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                    • Universities and colleges no longer make thinking a requirement, that is true. Maybe that is my conservative parties everywhere want to make education unaffordable to the masses. They just want to educate their own children, who have mostly already been brainwashed since birth.
                      They cannot see the bigger picture, that everyone is needed to run a society. They think they can do without the masses, but they cannot.

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                    • It definitely seems that is the current trend — to keep the 99% under-educated and believing the newspeak they are told, so that they will be good little servants. Keep the masses oppressed so they are never a threat to the 1%. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …

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