HOUSTON – No. 99 flies around the field wreaking havoc on opposing offenses and defenses alike, undoubtedly becoming one of the greatest, most-feared football players of our time. But not that No. 99 for our Houston Texans. We're talking about a smaller version of 99 given the nickname "J.J."
Seven-year-old Anthony Tarantelli, of Edmond, Oklahoma, plays defensive end and tight end for his flag football team.
Anthony wanted the big JJ to know just how good he was and sent him a note along with an autographed No. 99 jersey. The real JJ was so impressed he shared Anthony's letter and jersey on his Twitter account.
Local 2 spoke to Anthony's mother, Lauren, over the phone.
"He wanted JJ to know that he was his biggest fan, and that he played the same position and that he had been an influence in his life," said Lauren.
Watt talked Wednesday about receiving Anthony's note and signed jersey.
"I thought that was funny," said Watt. "You get all the fan mail and a lot of it starts to become the same. It was just something that stuck out, so I thought it was pretty funny."
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Like our Texans superstar, little J.J. plays offense and defense. He's been pushed to be even greater after hearing from Watt on a personal video JJ sent to the 7-year-old, leaving some inspirational words.
"'If you have a dream you can achieve it. I really like your confidence in yourself and it's just really cool,'" said Lauren, recalling Watt's message. "Anthony's been watching it over and over again."
According to the Tarantelli family, what was also promised on the video message was that Anthony could "expect something in the mail." He also told Anthony he has his signed jersey on the wall in his office hanging with the likes of jerseys from Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.