Alright, let’s talk about this JJ Watt card thing I got into recently.
It started pretty randomly. I think I saw something about him retiring, or maybe one of his highlights popped up somewhere online. Made me think, “Huh, JJ Watt. Now there was a player.” He always seemed like a solid guy, played hard, did good stuff off the field too. So, I kinda just decided, on a whim really, that I wanted to get one of his football cards.
First thing I did was hop online. Makes sense, right? Everything’s online now. Typed “JJ Watt card” into the search bar. Man, what a rabbit hole. There were tons. Rookie cards, cards with little bits of his jersey stuck to them, signed cards, shiny cards, cards that looked like normal cards. Prices were all over the place too. Some were a few bucks, others were… well, let’s just say a lot more than I expected for a piece of cardboard.
I spent maybe an hour just clicking through listings on different sites. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming. So many grades, different brands, variations. It wasn’t like when I collected baseball cards as a kid, where you just bought a pack and hoped for the best. This felt more complicated.
Finding the Right One
After getting a bit fed up with the online jungle, I remembered there’s a small sports card shop a few towns over. Haven’t been there in years. Decided to take a drive. Felt better doing it the old-fashioned way sometimes.
Walked in, place smelled like old paper and dust, just like I remembered. Talked to the owner, nice older guy. Asked him if he had any Watt cards. He rummaged through a few boxes under the counter.
- He pulled out a couple of base cards from recent years.
- Found one slightly fancier one, a bit thicker.
- Then he found a rookie card. Not perfect condition, but looked decent.
We chatted for a bit about Watt’s career, the Texans, the Cardinals. He told me which ones were more sought after, but I wasn’t really looking for an investment. Just wanted a card, you know? Settled on the rookie card. It wasn’t expensive. Paid the man, thanked him, and left.
Got the Card, Now What?
Got home and took a proper look at it. It’s funny, isn’t it? It’s just a small piece of printed cardboard. Picture of a young JJ Watt looking serious in his Texans uniform. But holding it felt… different. More real than looking at pictures online.
Here’s the thing, though. It got me thinking. Why did I even do this? Spend an afternoon hunting down this specific little thing? It wasn’t really about JJ Watt, not deep down. It reminded me of sorting through my dad’s old tools last month. Didn’t really need any of them, but just going through them, feeling the weight of the wrenches, seeing the wear on the screwdriver handles… it connects you to something, I guess. A time, a person, maybe just the simple act of doing something tangible.
This whole card thing felt like that. The searching, the driving, the talking to the shop owner, finally holding the card. It was the process. In a world where everything is clicks and swipes, actually going out and getting something, even something small and kinda pointless like a football card, felt strangely satisfying.
So yeah, I have a JJ Watt card now. It’s sitting on my bookshelf. Will I become a big card collector again? Probably not. But the little adventure of finding it? That was worth it. It broke up the routine, made me do something different. And sometimes, that’s all you need.
