“Cannot wait to share all the details of this day.”
JJ Watt is officially a father of two!
The 36-year-old retired NFL player took to Instagram on June 24 to announce the birth of his and his wife Kealia Ohai Watt’s second baby — a son named Niko Benjamin Watt.
The newborn, who arrived June 14, joins the couple’s other son, Koa James Watt, born in 2022.
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The announcement post included four photos — one of the newly-minted family of four, one of Koa holding his new sibling, one of Kealia Watt cradling the baby and one of Niko in JJ Watt’s arm.
“Overcome with joy and gratitude,” the 3-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year wrote in the caption.
Several fellow athletes shared their excitement in the comment section, including Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Randal Grichuk and New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks.
“Ahhh congrats guys delighted for ye,” wrote former Irish rugby union player Simon Zebo.
“Congrats brother!!” NFL safety Kareem Jackson commented.
“Congrats boo!!!” added Crystal Dunn, who played college soccer with Kealia Watt at the University of North Carolina and now plays for the United States national team.
Kealia and JJ Watt first announced they were expecting baby No. 2 in a Feb. 3 Instagram post.
“Can’t wait to welcome new love into our lives,” the couple wrote in the caption alongside a photo of Koa kissing his mom’s growing baby bump.
In the comment section, JJ Watt’s superstar brother, TJ Watt, wrote: “Let’s Go!!”
One month later, TJ Watt announced the birth of his first child with his wife, Dani. The couple gave birth to a baby girl named Blakely Marie Watt.
“Welcome to the world Blakely!!!!!” JJ Watt wrote in the caption of his brother’s March 10 post.
Now three months later, Koa has a little brother and Blakely has a new cousin.
JJ Watt says he and his wife are already exposing Koa to sports
JJ Watt’s newborn baby is the football player’s first child since retiring from the NFL at the end of the 2022 season. At the time, his son Koa was just a few months old.
In a December 2022 press conference, JJ Watt opened up about his decision to retire.
"I've added some incredible new pieces to my life with my wife and my son that certainly take a lot of my focus and my energy," JJ Watt told reporters.
“I'm ready to watch my son grow up. I'm ready to spend more time with my wife. I'm ready for a new challenge, whatever that new challenge may be,” he added.
It turns out that challenge JJ Watt was looking forward to was cleaning up after his toddler.
"I did not realize how exponentially messy our house would get. It is like a constant cycle of make a mess, clean up, make a mess, clean up," the NFL star joked in a January 2024 interview with People.
"But it's the most fascinating thing in the world — if it's my mess or if like one of my friends or my brothers makes a mess, I'm furious,” he added. “But if Koa makes a mess, I'll clean it up all day long."
JJ Watt also revealed that his son Koa is already taking an interest in sports.
"He's got his own little basketball hoop and he loves to put the ball in the hoop,” he told the outlet. “He's got some mini hockey sticks and he's finally learning how to use two hands on the hockey stick.”
When asked if Koa will be a soccer player (like his mom) or football player (like his dad), Watt digressed.
“Unfortunately, I think he's probably going to be a little too big for — he's a big boy right now, so I don't know if his endurance and stamina are going to be there for soccer,” he explained at the time.
“But I can only hope that he gets his mom's quickness and speed because she's a hell of an athlete,” he added of his wife.
Either way, JJ Watt says he’s excited for his son to learn what his parents took away from sports.
“They teach discipline, they teach hard work, they teach teamwork. They teach how to deal with winning and losing, how to deal with adversity," he told People.
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"We've experienced that our whole lives,” he continued, “so we're really looking forward to him participating, as long as he wants to, and it seems so far like he's interested."
