J.J. Watt bewildered by Stephen A. Smith encounter at Christ the Redeemer
J.J. Watt is taking a page out of Grant Cohn’s book.
Cohn, a 49ers On SI reporter, squeezed every tourist ounce out of his trip to Melbourne to cover the San Francisco 49ers’ season-opening win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Roughly two weeks later, Watt is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the NFL’s first-ever Rio game between the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys. Watt will call the game alongside Jim Nantz on CBS on Sunday.
On Saturday, Watt gave the play-by-play of his adventures in Brazil.
Watt recorded himself at an outdoor gym by the beach and relayed that, while seeking shade, he unknowingly stood in “the piss corner.”
Not one of my finer moments… pic.twitter.com/vJd1JJ9sGg
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) September 26, 2026
“Most tourist, foreigner, idiot — you don’t even have to be a tourist,” Watt said. “Just [the] dumb[est] move probably that I’ve done in a while.”
A few hours later, Watt upped the ante by sharing a story about his unexpected run-in with Stephen A. Smith at Rio’s famed Christ the Redeemer statue.
Brain was in an absolute blender… pic.twitter.com/6yzWKhzNxT
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) September 26, 2026
“We have a second interesting story out of Rio for me here,” Watt said in his second video posted to X on Saturday afternoon. “Unbelievable, beautiful, gorgeous. Very long drive. Way up there, obviously. But just spectacular. Overlooks all of Rio. Beautiful statue. I took some pictures with people and wanted to take a second to pay my respects.”
Watt said he moved off to the side and found a quiet spot to close his eyes, and Tarantino couldn’t have scripted a better back half to a story than what Watt delivered next.
“I’m just having a moment. And as I’m having my moment, somebody taps me on the stomach. Hard. Like, a buddy would do. Like, one of your high school buddies. And I’m like, ‘What the hell?’ I look down, Stephen A. Smith.”
Bewilderment in his eyes and voice, Watt continued: “Why is Stephen A. Smith in Brazil? The game is on CBS. How were we there at the exact same time? Just a whole lot of questions, and my brain was not prepared to handle Stephen A. Smith tapping me on the stomach in the middle of a silent moment with Christ the Redeemer. It was a blender in my head.”
Stephen A. Smith: “Bom dia! That’s good morning in Brazil!”
Shae Cornette: “Suddenly Brazilian has become a language. I didn’t know until today!” pic.twitter.com/zn4QTmz1Oy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 24, 2026
Smith doesn’t have a readily apparent professional reason, so it seems he just wanted to go to Rio. On Thursday and Friday, Smith participated in ESPN’s First Take live from Maracanã Stadium in Brazil. Shae Cornette, Marcus Spears, and Louis Riddick were just as confused by Smith’s Brazilian cosplay as Watt.