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On Wednesday, J.J. Watt and his wife, Kealia, brought their family out to watch Real Salt Lake take on Burnley FC, the EFL club in which the couple holds a minority stake. What should’ve been a nice, low-key outing turned into a small controversy.
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“We made an honest mistake yesterday, and we are sincerely sorry for that. When we welcomed the Watt family to America First Field, we should have recognized Kealia Watt for exactly who she is.” Real Salt Lake posted on X.
The team’s social media account posted a welcome message for the visiting family, but somehow only mentioned “@JJWatt and fam.” Kealia’s name never showed up. J.J. wasn’t having it. He quoted the post on X, laying out exactly why leaving her name off felt so wrong.
“The woman in the photo grew up literally down the road, won 4 Utah state championships (1 in this exact stadium), Gatorade Player of the Year twice, National Player of the Year, scored the fastest first goal in USWNT history…,” he wrote, “Could probably be worth a mention, but idk.”
Before the game, J.J. Watt had also pointed out why the outing held value:
“Showing Koa where mom won her 4th straight state championship. (7:30pm kickoff was a little late for Niko),” Watt wrote on X.
Kealia Ohai Watt is a Draper, Utah native who played high school soccer at Alta High, just a few minutes from the stadium where this all went down. As Watt mentioned, she won four state championships, two Gatorade Player of the Year honors, and secured three high school All-American nods.
She then took that talent to North Carolina, started all four years, and earned All-ACC and All-Freshman Team honors before turning pro.
Watt was the second overall pick in the 2014 NWSL draft, yet another proof of how talented she is. She played eight NWSL seasons with the Houston Dash and Chicago Red Stars, racking up 35 goals (per ESPN) along the way. In 2016, she was one of two winners for the Golden Boot.
Oh, and Kealia Watt is also a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Champion.
So yeah, the local hero angle wasn’t just a nice detail. It was the whole point.
To their credit, the $580 million-worth Real Salt Lake owned up to their mistake duly.
Their apology read, “@KealiaOhai, @JJWatt, we are deeply sorry. Thank you for all you do for the sport,” alongside a proper rundown of her accomplishments and her pictures.
J.J. appreciated the gesture, replying, “Respect and appreciate taking ownership of it. Best of luck the rest of your season.”
Kealia has moved into broadcasting, working as an analyst for Amazon Prime Video.
