She Tried to Sell JJ Watt Merch to Raise Money. Watt Responded

Arizona Cardinals player steps up to help woman fundraising for grandfather's funeral
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 21, 2022 10:05 AM CDT
She Tried to Sell JJ Watt Merch to Raise Money. Watt Responded
Arizona Cardinals defensive end JJ Watt takes part in drills at the NFL football team's practice facility in Tempe, Ariz., on May 23.   (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

A sports fan who tried to hawk some of her JJ Watt merch to help pay for her grandfather's funeral ended up hearing from the Arizona Cardinals defensive end himself. Jennifer Simpson's Wednesday tweet noted that she hoped to sell a Watt-branded jersey from when he played for the Houston Texans for around $30, as well as "@JJWatt womens edition of Reebok shoes" in size 9 for $60 or so, reports the Arizona Republic. Some 20 minutes later, she received a surprise retweet. "Don't sell your shoes and jersey, we'll help with the funeral," Watt replied to her, adding, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Arizona's Family notes this isn't Watt's first gesture of generosity: He's done philanthropy work in both the Cardinals' home state, as well as in Texas, including helping to raise more than $37 million for Houston residents after Hurricane Harvey slammed them in 2017. He ended up winning that year's Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award for those efforts. Simpson, who lists in her Twitter bio that she's a Texans and Astros fan, may be a Cardinals fan now, too. "I freaking love you man," she replied to Watts' tweet. "It's been a hard year for me, and this last month has been hard since the death." (More uplifting news stories.)

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