J.J. Watt surprised one of his biggest fans this past Thursday, as 12-year-old cancer patient Cristian Beasley was watching his sixth-grade class from home. Beasley is currently fighting leukemia and the youngster uses a robot he named “Watt” to virtually attend class everyday.
KHUO-TV wrote a story about Beasley last week, and the Houston Texans’ star defensive end must have been watching. While Beasley was participating in class through his robot, Watt snuck up from behind Cristian to give him the biggest surprise of his life.
Beasley named the robot “Watt” because the 2012 Pro Bowler is his favorite player. The young boy is one of 34 patients across the United States to use the VGo telepresence system, according to the TV station.
“When I heard the story that he named the robot after me and he was such a big fan of me, it was a no-brainer,” Watt told KHUO-TV . “To see the smile on his face when he realized I was in the room with him… there’s no better feeling.”
Once J.J. Watt’s surprise set in for young Cristian, they spent over two hours together playing in the backyard, which including a lot of football, some hacky sack, and a quick dancing session.
This isn’t the first time Watt’s gone above and beyond to produce a heartfelt moment, as he asked 6-year-old Breanna to be his pretend wife for the day in January after she told her mom she wanted to marry the NFL player.
On Thursday, Watt drove all the way to Spendora, Texas to visit Cristian Beasley, much to the delight of the youngster who nearly lost it during the surprise. The rest of Beasley’s classmates were watching, and J.J. Watt said his hello’s to the class before stealing his new buddy for the day.
Is there anyone in the NFL who appreciates their fans as much as J.J. Watt? Surprises or not, the 24-year-old has a connection with his fans unlike any other.
[Image via Jeffrey Beall ]
