Not much gets by Tampa Bay Buccaneers tackle Tristan Wirfs. Wirfs has faced some dominant players in his career, and he's taken care of most of them, boasting two First Team All-Pros at both left and right tackle to prove it.
Sometimes, though, he has some battles — and the true greats of the game never go down easy. Wirfs was recently on the Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, and he was asked which player he would love to play against the most in their prime. Wirfs responded with a story about J.J. Watt, one of the NFL's great pass rushers, who he'd given as his answer when asked the same quesiton at the NFL Combine.
Watt and Wirfs ended up playing against each other on Christmas Day when Watt played for the Arizona Cardinals after his legendary tenure with the Houston Texans, and despite having a bad ankle, Wirfs was able to keep him in check — for a short time.
"At the Combine, I said J.J. Watt, and then I got to play him when he was at Arizona — it was Christmas Day," Wirfs said. "I was coming off an ankle injury, I couldn't do s**t on my right ankle. I remember I had a backside cutoff on him... I remember seeing him, jetted up on a three-point stance, I was like, 'He's gonna fly off the ball.'... I just did a quick little pivot and grabbed his back hip and just threw him upfield kinda, and after the play, he said 'That's an old vet move.' I was like 'Yeah! I got him!'"
That didn't last long, though. In fact, according to Wirfs, it took the very next play for Watt to get his revenge.
"Then he blew me up on the next play. I had a drive block on him and he just stoned me. I was like, 'Alright, there it is. Get one back.'"
The Buccaneers ended up winning that game in overtime 19-16 in an ugly Christmas Day showdown, so Wirfs got the very last laugh. But even when players are past their prime like Watt, they can still pull out a move that shows you just how good they are.
Much to the chagrin of Wirfs, who didn't get a lot of time to celebrate his victory. He's probably smiling now, though, knowing just how much he's improved as the Bucs' anchor on the offensive line.
