The Pittsburgh Steelers hit their first bump in the road on Sunday.
Pittsburgh lost 27-24 to the Indianapolis Colts despite a strong comeback effort. Star pass rusher TJ Watt failed to record a sack in the game, despite needing only 1/2 more to surpass 100 career sacks and becoming the second fastest ever to reach the milestone, behind only Hall of Famer Reggie White.
Watt recently spoke to Steelers insider Mark Kaboly about the mental space required to get ready for games as he looks for his 100th sack.
“When I was younger you had certain songs that I would listen to before the game to get me there. I would play rap music to get me to a certain spot I needed to get to, but the older I get, it is more being at peace with the work I did during the week getting ready for the game and having that self-belief and confidence in yourself that you had a great week and worked hard and did the film study.
At that point, it’s just going out there and getting the job done and performing.”
Kaboly asked Watt if he isolated himself in the locker room before games.
“A little bit but you also want to be loose, too. You don’t want to be too uptight and feel like you have to make so many plays then you don’t make any plays. It’s a fine balance that you are trying to find.”
Watt knows what he has to do to get ready. It’ll be interesting to see if he pulls off the feat in the Steelers’ upcoming game against the Dallas Cowboys.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.