NFL star has last laugh on Twitter after once being hated on after Draft

"Glad they warmed up to me a bit down here!"
 By 
Johnny Lieu
 on 
NFL star has last laugh on Twitter after once being hated on after Draft
J.J. Watt didn't used to be loved by Texans fans. Credit: Bob Levey/Getty Images

It's hard to believe it now, but Houston Texans fans once hated on J.J. Watt.

That was all the way back after the 2011 NFL Draft, when the player was selected by the Texans as its 11th overall pick.

The now-beloved NFL star, one of Time's 100 most influential people of 2018, hasn't forgotten the bad times. In a caption-less tweet on Thursday, coinciding with this year's NFL Draft, he reminded everyone about the hate he received online at the time.

Watt also retweeted a video of fans booing him in 2011, right after he was picked by the Texans in the NFL Draft.

"Haha good times. Glad they warmed up to me a bit down here!" Watt tweeted.

It turns out Watt still keeps a video of that moment on his phone and computer to remind him of where he came from, as revealed in a 2016 interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger.

"You remember how quickly things can turn in this league. You remember how fragile fame and success is," he said.

"I always remember the fans booing me. I always remember people wondering if I would be good. My whole goal when I saw that for the first time was I’m gonna change this city's mind. I’m gonna do everything I can to take this city from hating the draft pick to hopefully loving it."

Never listen to the doubters, people.

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Johnny Lieu

Mashable Australia's Web Culture Reporter.Reach out to me on Twitter at @Johnny_Lieu or via email at jlieu [at] mashable.com

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