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US soldier in Afghanistan opens package, realizes NFL star kept his promise

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Houston Texans star J.J. Watt won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award last month for his incredible efforts to help his NFL city in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Watt helped raise more than $37 million for people affected by the intense flooding in Houston and coastal areas in Texas.

“This award is about the inherent good that lies within humanity,” he said after accepting his award.

Watt’s charitable efforts aren’t always on such a large scale, however. He’s often gone out of his way to support American troops and veterans in small ways.

After the release of a new version of his Reebok JJ II shoe in December, the defensive end got a Twitter inquiry from a soldier deployed in Afghanistan.

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Watt promised he’d do what he could to send him a pair.

After prompting from another Twitter user, Watt asked for the entire unit’s shoe sizes so he could outfit all of them.

He kept his word, and the unit received the shipment in January.

“Big thanks from the men of C-2 3/509 airborne. GERONIMO,” said the soldier who first reached out to Watt.

Watt loved the photo of the shoes alongside the paratroopers’ gear.

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“Send my best to the rest of the crew, stay safe and know that all of us over here are thinking about you and thankful for you,” he tweeted in response.

The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year is likely wearing his Reeboks a lot these days. In mid-January, he resumed running as he works to recover from the tibial plateau fracture in his left leg that ended his 2017 season in October. A month and a half later, Texans coach Bill O’Brien said Watt is “ahead of schedule in his rehab.”

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Todd Windsor is a senior story editor at The Western Journal. He has worked as an editor or reporter in news and sports for more than 30 years.
Todd Windsor is a senior story editor at The Western Journal. He was born in Baltimore and grew up in Maryland. He graduated from the University of Miami (he dreams of wearing the turnover chain) and has worked as an editor and reporter in news and sports for more than 30 years. Todd started at The Miami News (defunct) and went on to work at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., the St. Petersburg (now Tampa Bay) Times, The Baltimore Sun and Space News before joining Liftable Media in 2016. He and his beautiful wife have two amazing daughters and a very old Beagle.
Birthplace
Baltimore
Education
Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Media, Sports




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