TEMPE, Ariz. — New Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman J.J. Watt confirmed in a video posted by the team on Tuesday that he has been given permission to wear his No. 99 in Arizona.
The number is one of the few retired by the organization. It was worn by Marshall Goldberg, who played for the Chicago Cardinals from 1939 to 1948.
In a video of Watt speaking to Chandler Jones at the facility, Watt confirmed to Jones that he spoke with Goldberg's daughter, who gave him permission to wear the number.
Watt, drafted in 2011, is a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and five-time First Team All-Pro.
The Cardinals are signing Watt to a two-year, $31 million deal which includes $23 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports.
The 31-year-old shocked the sports world on Monday when he posted a picture of him in a Cardinals shirt on Twitter, declaring he was signing with the team. There was much more speculation flowing that Watt may sign with playoff teams from last season including the Bills, Browns, Packers and Steelers.
Watt became the second major player to move over to the Cardinals from the Texans, after Arizona traded for DeAndre Hopkins, one of the league's top receivers, around this same time last year. Last month, Hopkins posted a photo of Watt photoshopped into a Cardinals jersey with the caption, "Let's finish what we started," trying to lure his former teammate to the desert.
Team 12's Niala Charles spoke on Monday to J.J. Watt's mother, Connie Watt, about J.J.'s legacy of philanthropy that he is bringing with him to the Valley.