J.J. Watt, the legendary former defensive lineman, spent 12 years of his career with the Houston Texans before he retired in 2022 with the Arizona Cardinals. Recently, he took his family to a friendly soccer match, but didn't know that they would end up in a controversy.

The MLS franchise, Real Salt Lake, was accused of overlooking Kealia Watt, J.J. Watt's wife, who was also a decorated soccer player, by referring to the visitors simply as "J.J. Watt and fam" during their visit to the match between MLS squad Real Salt Lake and the EFL's Burnley FC on Thursday, July 16.

"We made an honest mistake yesterday, and we are sincerely sorry for that," wrote the Real Salt Lake on its official X page on July 16. "When we welcomed the Watt family to America First Field, we should have recognized Kealia Watt for exactly who she is."

Real Salt Lake made an apology on its official X page by acknowledging Kealia's achievements. Real Salt Lake recognized her as one of Utah's best soccer players, stating her accomplishments from youth soccer through college, the NSWL, and international.

The franchise was also thankful for the couple's contribution to the sport. Kealia has won four state championships in high school, earned two Utah Gatorade Player of the Year awards, and won a national title with North Carolina.

She was selected No. 2 overall in the 2014 NWSL Draft by the Houston Dash and became the club's first-ever draft pick. Kealia made 114 appearances while scoring 28 goals, and later played for the Chicago Red Stars.

She represented the USWNT after scoring the winning goal in the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Final. Currently, she works as a soccer analyst for Amazon Prime Video.

Watt accepted the club's apology, replying that he respected the franchise for being accountable for their mistake. However, he took the stand first for his wife.

J.J. Watt calls out when the MLS club fails to recognize the USWNT soccer player

As Real Salt Lake's social media account failed to recognize Kealia, her husband did not let it go.

"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," wrote J.J. Watt on his X post. "Could probably be worth a mention, but idk."

Kealia Ohai Watt is a former midfielder and forward who built one of the state's most accomplished soccer resumes. The post quickly went viral, drawing millions of views and criticism of the MLS Club for overlooking Kealia's achievements.

This was not the first time Watt had called people for disrespecting his wife. Even in 2020, Kealia was traded to Chicago, referred to as "J.J. Watt's fiancée" in a headline.

What are your thoughts on Kealia Watt's not getting the recognition? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at the Cleveland Browns Community.

Written by

Hetal Moleshri

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar