The character of Batman turns 80 on Saturday, and these five NFL players could totally be The Caped Crusader.
On Saturday, March 30, it will be 80 years since Batman made his debut in DC Comics. Through multiple iterations, via comics, television shows (live action and animated), movies (live action and animated) and novelties (toys, lunch boxes, etc.) the character is legendary and timeless.
Also legendary, but in a different way, we have athletes. More specifically, NFL players worthy of the status are immortalized with a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. When considering active players, a long list of future Hall of Famers can be formed.
But being a superhero is a different kind of elevated status, even possibly in a fictional form, as the characters carry a level of immortality that can’t be replicated anywhere else.
If Batman exists, and let’s just assume he does, these five NFL players could totally be him.
5. J.J. Watt
Watt, listed at 6-foot-5 and 288 pounds, is a lot bigger than we envision Bruce Wayne or Batman being. But he is a fantastic athlete, and clearly open to old school training methods when he has headed to his cabin in the backwoods of Wisconsin during the offseason (assuming he still has it now).
As with most of the players on this list, maintaining a residence near Gotham City or making the commute on a nightly basis to become Batman would be a challenge for Watt, coming from Houston, or Wisconsin or wherever he might be without anyone noting his absence.
Though he’s more outward with it publicly, Watt is philanthropic like Bruce Wayne has proven to be. So it’s not a huge stretch that Watt could actually be The Dark Knight.