NFL's head coaches select Steelers' T.J. Watt to The Sporting News All-Pro Team
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt was voted to The Sporting News NFL All-Pro Team, which is selected by the league's 32 head coaches.
The Sporting News says NFL head coaches have total control in deciding which 26 players belong on the first team, and Watt made the list.
Watt is also a finalist for the AP defensive player of the year, and he's already been selected as the 101 Awards AFC Defensive Player of the Year for 2023, an honor he previously won in 2020 and 2021. He's also been named to the Pro Football Writers of America All-NFL and All-AFC teams and for the fourth time in his career, he's a First Team AP All-Pro.
It was a record-breaking season for Watt. He became the first player to lead the NFL in sacks three times, totaling 19. He also broke the Steelers career sacks record and he became only the second player in NFL history to reach 90 sacks in his first 100 career games. His teammates also voted him MVP for the fourth time.
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said he thinks Watt is just wired differently.
"Some people watch tape, some people study tape. And there's a difference," Tomlin said on Steelers.com. "However you describe the spectrum, T.J. is on the extreme end of it from a preparedness standpoint. And that's one of the reasons why you get the production that you get from him beyond his freakish talent.
"He was always like that in mentality. I think the level of productivity from that endeavor grows with his experience, it gets more pointed, he wastes less time. I could just tell by the dialogue that he and I have and how it has matured over the years that his process is being honed to a fine edge."
