Seven years ago, few people in the football world outside of Mt. Pleasant, Mich., knew about Antonio Brown and J.J. Watt. They were pass-catching teammates on the Central Michigan University football team. That's right, before Watt became the best defensive player on the planet, he was a tight end.
In fact, the two players combined for more than 1,000 yards -- Brown caught 98 passes for 980 yards and Watt added eight receptions for 77 yards.
"[Brown] took all the balls," Watt, laughing, said of Brown (via ESPN.com). "He deserved them so, yeah, he took them all. ... I just remember he was one of the best I've ever seen in my life."
Watt left CMU after his freshman season looking for more playing time. He ended up at Wisconsin, where he was promptly shifted to defense.
"I started out on the scout team at defensive line," Watt said. "I think partially because they needed a body there and partially just to see what happens and obviously it all ended up working out in the end so I'm fortunate."
That's an understatement.
In a 2010 interview with MLive.com, Watt revealed that coaches at Central Michigan asked him about moving to offensive line.
"There was a point when I was asked to move to offensive tackle, but I am not the type of guy who is going to tell the coach anything," Watt said at the time. "I am not going to tell them to do what I want. So, yes it is true I was approached to move to tackle. But in all honesty it wasn't so much the move to tackle as it was my desire to move closer to home. I also wanted to go to a place that would let me play defensive end and I felt like Wisconsin presented me with the best opportunity to do that.
"Just the way the offense was working out there at CMU, there wasn't really any opportunities for me to grow as a player. I had to do what was best for me."
It's safe to say the decision to leave Central Michigan for Wisconsin worked out okay for Watt. He'll be reuinted with Brown on Monday night when the Steelers host the Texans.
