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JJ Watt Zooms with St. Agnes Academy

By Angie Frederickson, Staff writer | May 2, 2020

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They were shocked! St. Agnes Academy faculty and staff were thrilled that Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt (bottom left) attended their Zoom meeting.

Last week, the St. Agnes Academy faculty and staff were each at their own homes, queued up for their weekly “water cooler” Zoom meetings that they have had since quarantine began. The scheduled videoconference calls have been a great way for them to catch up and stay connected to one another. But on Wednesday’s call they had a surprise participant: Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt.

Kaitlin Kelley, St. Agnes head swimming and water polo coach, happened to look at her Twitter feed during the Zoom call, and came across Watt’s tweet, offering to join people’s videoconferences that day. “Dropping in on Zoom calls. Who’s meeting?” Watt tweeted.

The tweet that started it all. JJ Watt took to Twitter to tell his followers that he would drop in on Zoom calls. Thanks to quick-thinking St. Agnes coach Kaitlin Kelley, he joined their call.

Coach Kelley wasted no time in responding to the tweet, and came up with the perfect words to entice a professional football player. “Come join us NOW. St. Agnes Academy: undefeated in football since 1906!!”

And just like that, JJ Watt joined their Zoom call. He was impressed with the football record, and then the faculty let him know that St. Agnes is an all-girls’ school without a football team. “You got me,” he said, laughing.

After some star-struck small talk, St. Agnes wellness counselor Debbie Sieck asked Watt if he would say something to the seniors who are missing the end of their high-school days. He gave a heartfelt shout out to the seniors and acknowledged how difficult it is for them to miss their sports, graduation and everything else that goes along with being second-semester seniors.

The Texans’ JJ Watt joined the weekly faculty call, and sent a message of hope and encouragement to the graduating class of St. Agnes Academy.

“I know it’s not easy by any means, but I want to wish them well going forward,” Watt said. “I hope you can find a way to make something good out of all of this.”

It was a bright spot in an otherwise routine day, stuck at home, and was a real morale booster to the St. Agnes community during this difficult time. Watt wrapped up the call with a wish that all of the St. Agnes seniors hope comes true. “Hopefully the teachers give you all A’s on exams,” he said.