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<p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><script type="application/json" data-placement="fcplayer-semantic">{"type":"fcplayer-semantic","data":{"embedCode":"//cdn.fcp.codes/embed-code-template/embed-code-template.js#SEMANTIC_5704afb8-c10b-4ba5-9cb4-d7fb6098ef90"}}</script><ul><li>American football icon made clean sheet wager</li><li>Has seen Clarets secure six successive shut outs</li><li>Promised keeper he would sign for the Bengals</li></ul><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va2ivxLJJhzdzbJdwo0n"><strong>Follow GOAL on WhatsApp!</strong></a> 🟢📱</td></tr></tbody></table>

‘Do I need to look at real estate?’ - Burnley bet has JJ Watt worried as James Trafford heroics threaten to force him back into the NFL

Championship

Portsmouth

Burnley

<p>American football legend Watt, who is <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/explained-why-nfl-legend-jj-watt-former-uswnt-star-wife-kealia-bought-stake-burnley-american-football-icon/blt14ea2f0339469864" target="_blank">married to former USWNT star Kealia</a>, hung up his cleats back in 2022. He has no intention of putting his body on the line again, but did sign up to a wager with Clarets goalkeeper Trafford that is causing some concern.</p>

WHAT HAPPENED?

<p>Watt <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/nfl-jj-watt-bet-burnley-james-trafford-retirement-cincinnati-bengals/blt1ddc80aed6b0259b" target="_blank">agreed that he would join the Cincinnati Bengals if Trafford does not concede another goal</a> this season, and the 22-year-old is currently on a run of six successive clean sheets. After seeing Burnley sweep Plymouth aside 5-0, Watt posted on social media: “Another clean sheet from Traffs… Do I need to start looking at real estate in Cincinnati?”</p><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Another clean sheet from Traffs…<br><br>Do I need to start looking at real estate in Cincinnati? <a href="https://t.co/THkkah0g4x">https://t.co/THkkah0g4x</a></p>— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) <a href="https://twitter.com/JJWatt/status/1882187511315005521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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WHAT JJ WATT SAID

<p>Watt has also told the Pat McAfee Show of his bet with Trafford: “We were just joking around. He’s a big Bengals fan. We were messing around and he said, before the Bengals played the Steelers and he was trying to rile me up, ‘How about you come out of retirement and play for the Bengals?’ I said ‘If you don’t allow a goal the rest of the year, then I’ll do it, it’s a deal’. We have played five games since then, he has allowed zero goals and he saved two penalties in 10 minutes in one game. He’s taken it very seriously. After three games, I messaged him and said ‘Hey, you’re taking this a little too seriously’. He messaged me saying ‘How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time’. After this last game I said you are getting real serious and he said ‘I want this pretty bad’. It’s heating up a little bit, but we still have 18 games left.”</p><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Our goalie at Burnley is an ABSOLUTE DAWG"<a href="https://twitter.com/JJWatt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JJWatt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PMSLive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PMSLive</a> <a href="https://t.co/D4rD33Z2G2">pic.twitter.com/D4rD33Z2G2</a></p>— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1882137684514419199?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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THE BIGGER PICTURE

<p>Burnley will need Trafford to continue doing the business, putting more pressure on <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/bene-bombs-royal-dyche-learning-songs-nfl-icon-jj-watt-pub-crawl-veteran-fan-swearing-youngsters-burnley/blt9445601db255f74e" target="_blank">investor Watt</a> along the way, in order to book an <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/jj-watt-burnley-advice-ryan-reynolds-talking-transfers-wife-kealia-nfl-legend-explains-all-in-turf-moor/blt10d7a05ff05d8f5a" target="_blank">immediate return to the Premier League</a>. They sit third in the second tier table as things stand, two points adrift of the automatic promotion spots and three behind leaders Leeds.</p>

WHAT NEXT?

‘Do I need to look at real estate?’ - Burnley bet has JJ Watt worried as James Trafford heroics threaten to force him back into the NFL | Goal.com

JJ Watt is starting to get worried about his Burnley bet with James Trafford, as the goalkeeper’s heroics threaten to force him back into the NFL.

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