What speech? Watt can’t wing commencement address

Graduation ceremony: May 11th

Houston — Former Wisconsin and current Houston Texans defensive star J.J. Watt thought he could ad-lib his speech at next month’s UW-Madison commencement ceremony. He was wrong. The school wants a copy of what Watt plans to say, which came as a surprise to the former all-American.

“I did not know that you had to write it all out. I’m dead serious- I didn’t know,” Watt said Wednesday at Houston Texans media day.

There’s supposed to be a teleprompter involved, but Watt’s original plan required no such technology.

“Just give me a black screen and tell me when to stop talking. That was literally my plan. I found out you have to write some stuff down.”

Watt’s been in the graduates’ shoes before*, and he says he knows what the students want.

“Let’s be honest. They all just want to go drink beer afterwards. I mean, they’re excited! I know how commencements go. They just want the person to give a cool message for about five minutes and get off the stage.

The commencement ceremony is May 11th at Camp Randall Stadium.

(*Watt started his college career at Central Michigan in 2007 before transfering to Wisconsin. After sitting out a year, he played two seasons for the Badgers, but he did not get his undergraduate degree. He did, however, receive an honorary doctorate from the Baylor College of Medicine in 2018. At the ceremony he walked onto the stage wearing a cap, a gown, and shoes.)

COPYRIGHT 2023 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.