LOL, not sure if this is a joke/troll post, but go look at his career stats. Mentioning last year when he's not really in his prime any longer is false posting.
JJ Watt believes he could be serviceable player with 1 year training
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LOL, not sure if this is a joke/troll post, but go look at his career stats. Mentioning last year when he's not really in his prime any longer is false posting.
He's mostly been an interior pass-rusher generally as a 3-4 end, which unless you are Aaron Donald doesn't tend to rack up crazy sack numbers. Just look at his peak years, they were ridiculous and the best numbers from an interior pass rusher since Warren Sapp.
The only populated country in Europe where the NHL gets massive coverage is in Russia. It's growing in Germany, but it is pretty much a nothing sport in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Turkey. Also keep in mind the United States has 350 million people, which is about the same size as the top 4 European countries combined.
More people in America know of JJ Watt than Canada has people.
DowJones
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Obviously the NFL is much more popular than the NHL, but still it is not like all 350 million US citizens are into NFL and 0 are into NHL. Not sure how popular NFL is in Canada.
So globally, NFL is more or less limited to US and Canada.
The interest for NHL is big in Canada, it is what it is in US, big in some european countries and at least of relevant interest in Russia. Especially the national news coverage of the players from each country is pretty big.
So if you compare the interest globally, at least the casual interest, I doubt that you can say that the NFL would dwarf the NHL by any means.
Well, the NHL has problems turning that into actual revenue. The NFL also has some level of interest in Mexico, which is a country of 130 million.
The NFL is insanely popular in Canada.
snipes
How cold? I’m ice cold.
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There's probably more NFL fans in Mexico than NHL fans in Canada by most estimates.
Mick Riddleton
“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”
WarriorofTime
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You are delusional if you think more people on the planet know of say Nathan MacKinnon than JJ Watt.
WarriorofTime
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Yes and the NFL is even starting to grow in Europe. The games in London are very popular over there. They've even toyed with the idea of moving a team over there (obviously a ton of logistical issues will probably make that more of a pipe dream than a reality). It's not obviously not going to replace the other "football" but in a country like England there are way more American Football fans than Hockey fans.
DowJones
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Asinine
yer opinion is wrong
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DowJones
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WarriorofTime
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You don't know?
Man, I've respected you, but this... sheesh.
Come on. It's Watt, man.
[Checking notes.] Yeah, Watt. That Watt. Ring any bell now? Jebus. Guy doesn't know Watt.
I know there's an argument about population density making the rounds, in the medical circles so to speak, but I'll just point out that Finland is in fact a populated country. 5+ million, no less. Finland is in Europe. I rest my case.
DowJones
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The argument I responded to was that JJ Watt would be more known than any NHL player. Gretzky would be my reference there.
Finland and Sweden don't make a dent when you are talking about global interest in something. Canada hardly does as a country of 35m. I'm not knocking countries for being small, I'm just saying when you are talking about global interest of something, being very popular in Sweden, Canada and Finland, doesn't really make a dent. For something to be relevant in Europe on a large scale, it needs to have popularity in at least a few of Russia, Turkey, the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. At the end of the day, Hockey has very little traction in Western Europe. It's growing in Germany, but so is the NFL.
To be honest, with ease of travel, I've heard the England games really draw from all over Europe. People use cheap Ryen air seats and go over for the weekend/game.
Not that I think there is more popularity for the NHL than the NFL in the UK, just that it isn't very significant. They are pulling in not only people from the U.K., but all European fans and a ton of expats or international students who live in Europe.
teravaineSAROS
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American Football and Baseball are pretty much nothing sports in those countries aswell though. Most people here in Sweden or back in the UK don't know who Tom Brady is. I don't know what team he plays for I just read he's in the NFL. I don't know a single baseball player.
Like yea it's exciting when they do exhibition games in the UK and what not because it's something new, but it's not as big of a deal as North American media sells it as.
RedHawkDown
still trying to trust the yzerplan
I have zero doubt that he could play and not get totally embarrassed. The NHL draws from a WAY smaller pool of talent than leagues like the NFL. Despite what some of the snobby elitists in this thread think, JJ Watt is likely a far superior athlete to every single current NHL player. If he dedicated years to nothing but training hockey (especially since he already knows how to play - he played AAA as a kid), he would be a decent bruiser in the NHL for sure.
If he’d chosen hockey at a young age and totally focused on it, I believe he’d have been a really good player.
If he’d chosen hockey at a young age and totally focused on it, I believe he’d have been a really good player.
RedHawkDown
still trying to trust the yzerplan
This. JJ Watt is an absolute freak athlete. Hockey is a sport, not astrophysics. His raw athleticism, size, and strength would have taken him very far in hockey.
