Friday morning, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled an officially licensed, limited edition bobblehead featuring former Wisconsin Badger defensive end J.J. Watt riding a badger. This is the newest addition to the extremely popular Riding Bobblehead Series and comes as Watt prepares to host Saturday Night Live tonight. The bobbleheads are being produced for the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum by FOCO, an official licensee and manufacturer of University of Wisconsin and NCAA merchandise.
Wearing a Red No. 99 jersey, the intimidating Watt bobblehead is holding a football and sitting atop an equally menacing badger. Each bobblehead is individually numbered to 2,020, and they are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. The bobbleheads are in production with expected delivery in May. They are $40 plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order.
In his nine-year NFL career, Watt has been one of the NFL’s best defensive players with 96 sacks while becoming one of the most admired sports figures for his performance both off and on the field. Watt helped raise more than $37 million for people impacted by Hurricane Harvey, earning him the prestigious honor of Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year following the 2017 season.
Regarded as a two-star recruit coming out of high school, Watt accepted a scholarship offer from Central Michigan University and played tight end as a freshman in 2007. Opting against a move to offensive tackle, Watt decided to walk on at the University of Wisconsin to play defensive end. After redshirting in 2008, he played two productive seasons for the Badgers before deciding to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. A top performer in all categories at the combine, the All-American and team MVP was the first defensive end selected in the first round.
Watt went on to receive the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times in his first five seasons. He has been named first-team All-Pro five times and holds the Texans’ franchise records for both sacks and forced fumbles. In 2017, Sports Illustrated picked Watt as its Sportsperson of the Year.
“We’re always thinking of ideas for unique and fun new bobbleheads and the riding bobbleheads have been some of the most popular over the last year,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “J.J. Watt’s bobbleheads have always been a big hit, and we couldn’t think of a better pairing for this series than J.J. riding a badger.”
