Looking back at the year J.J. Watt scored five touchdowns as a defensive lineman

J.J. Watt announced on Tuesday that he is retiring from the NFL following the 2022 season, ending one of the most dominant careers of the modern era. So let's take a minute to look back at one of the most dominant single season performance in NFL history when Watt did what seemed to be the impossible: Scoring five touchdowns as a defensive lineman.

It was the 2014 season, and it was without question Watt's best year in the NFL as he was a one-man wrecking crew for the Houston Texans. 

His list of accomplishments included 20.5 sacks, a league-leading 29 tackles for loss, 51 quarterback hits, a safety, an interception, four forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries. 

He was a runaway winner for the NFL's defensive player of the year award, and finished as the runner-up for MVP behind Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

But for as amazing as the sack and tackle numbers were, it was the five touchdowns that really stood out as an unbelievable accomplishment because he scored them on both sides of the ball.

He scored two touchdowns on defense, returning an interception of then-Buffalo Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel 80 yards for a touchdown while also adding a 45-yard fumble return against the Indianapolis Colts. 

As if that was not enough, he also added three touchdowns on offense while being used as a goal line tight end. Those touchdowns came in Weeks 2, 11, and 13 against Oakland, Cleveland, and Tennessee respectively. 

He became the first defensive lineman since 1944 to score five touchdowns in a single season, while he was the only player to score at least three offensive touchdowns and two defensive touchdowns in the same season since 1948 regardless of position.

Running back Arian Foster (13) and DeAndre Hopkins (six) were the only two players on the team to score more touchdowns than him that season. Alfred Blue (four) was the only other offensive player to have more than three touchdowns. Even former All-Pro wide receiver Andre Johnson only caught three touchdown passes that season. 

Watt has scored seven touchdowns in his career, adding an interception return against Matthew Stafford in 2020 and a 29-yard interception return against Andy Dalton in the 2011 playoffs. 

You can see all of them here. 

The touchdown catch against Cleveland is one of the more impressive plays as his footwork and body control along the sidelines is something that most natural tight ends would be jealous of.