As if Texans star J.J. Watt needed to solidify his nice-guy image, Monday he did it when he surprised his fourth-grade teacher with cake and gifts to celebrate her retirement.
The defensive end streamed the surprise on Facebook Live, starting the morning with an introduction.
“(Mrs. Keefe)’s retiring this year after 41 years, so she’s in class today,” Watt said. “It’s 11:18 on a Monday and we’re going to surprise her. We brought her a cake. We’re going to give her some shoes and we’re going to take her down to Houston for the Charity Classic softball game, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Watt carried the cake, which looked like books with a pencil, an apple and chalkboard, up a flight of stairs, then toward Keefe’s classroom, but Keefe was in the hall.
“What are you doing in the hallway?” Watt said.
“What are you doing here?” Keefe said.
“We brought a cake,” Watt said. “For you.”
Keefe read the chalkboard on the cake which read: “School’s out forever.” “Yes. It’s time,” she said.
Then, realizing what was happening, Keefe said to Watt with a hug and a kiss, and said, “You stinker!”
Watt credits Keefe with helping him get his start in sports and believing in him.
“I remember when he was your age, he used to look up into my eyes with those baby blues, and he said to me, ‘I want to be a (Wisconsin) Badger.’ I said, ‘Boy, you’re going to have to work hard,'" Keefe told her class. "(He said), ‘I really want to do it,’ and look where he is now. You can do whatever you want to do. Whatever you want to do, you can do it.
“Boys and girls, I’d like to introduce you to J.J. Watt, in case you don’t know him,” Keefe said, almost as an afterthought.
Watt gave her the gifts, including a pair of his signature shoes, as well as the trip to Houston. Keefe said she would be honored to come to the Bayou City.
Watt cut the cake and served it to the class
The post has been viewed more than 600,000 times, liked nearly 50,000 times and shared more than 6,000 times.
Watch the Facebook Live video:
My 4th grade teacher is retiring after teaching for 41 years, so we're surprising her with a cake, some shoes and a trip to Houston for her and her husband for the Charity Classic!
Posted by JJ Watt on Monday, April 3, 2017
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