Watch J.J. Watt shoot and score on NHL goaltender Brian Elliott
OK, OK, so it’s not like St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott was exactly fooled by J.J. Watt’s slap shot or anything. When the Houston Texans defensive end wound up at the Blake Geoffrion Hockey Classic, Elliott jumped out of the way and let Watt score.
But, to be fair, if you saw Watt on skates bearing down on you, winding up for a slap shot, you might jump out of the way too.
Some former Badgers athletes had a lot of fun at the charity event, which benefits the UW Health Burn Center, but the highlight that went viral was Watt’s goal. Watt probably isn’t going to pull a Russell Wilson and flirt with a second pro career or anything, but the fact that a guy that big can move around on skates as well as he can is absolutely amazing. Or frightening.
Here’s Watt’s shot from a few angles:
The shot did have some mustard on it. And extra credit to Watt for the old school Milwaukee Braves hat.
Elliott, the goaltender for the 2006 Badgers team that won the national championship (like Watt getting robbed of the NFL MVP last year, Elliott was robbed of the 2006 Hobey Baker Award, but that’s a story for another blog), was the good sport about being the prop in Watt’s highlight.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Watt on skates, but it’s impressive each time. Watt grew up in Wisconsin and played hockey as a kid, and was even on some travel teams at a young age according to a story from NHL.com:
“Growing up in Wisconsin, a big hockey state, I started skating when I was 3 years old. I played all over,” Watt told NHL.com. “The hockey community [in Wisconsin] is great. It’s very tight-knit. It’s a lot of fun. You have to be tough to play hockey. You have to work hard, and I think that’s why I was drawn to it.”
Watt gave up hockey at 13 to concentrate on football. Hard to argue with that choice.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
