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NFL star JJ Watt helps pay funeral after fan tweets about selling shoes to cover costs

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  • A Houston Texans fan who lost her grandfather turned to Twitter in the hope of raising some money for his funeral.
  • Jennifer Simpson said she is willing to sell some of her JJ Watt gear, including the Reebok JJ Watt shoes and jerseys.
  • Arizona Cardinals defensive end, J.J. Watt responded by telling her not to sell the items and he’ll help with funeral costs.

A Texas woman who tried selling her JJ Watt sneakers to raise money for her grandfather’s funeral service costs got some unexpected help from the Arizona Cardinals defensive end.

Jennifer Simpson lost her grandfather a day after Father’s Day and her family had been struggling for weeks to come up with the money to put him to rest. To gather funds, Jennifer tweeted that she was putting a women’s edition of the Reebok JJ Watt shoes up for sale for $30. 

“They are great shoes, I’m only selling [them] because we are raising money for my grandpa’s funeral,” she wrote on Twitter, adding that she was also selling Houston Texans jerseys of Watt. 

Twenty minutes later, the former Texan star responded with some good news.

“Don’t sell your shoes and jersey, we’ll help with the funeral,” J.J. Watt wrote, adding “I’m sorry for your loss.”

According to a local news outlet, Watt quickly sent the money over PayPal. The family told the station that Watt “lifted a burden off of us,” and they also expressed gratitude to the hundreds of people that have helped them. 

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“These people don’t know us or our story,” Jennifer said. “They don’t know what we’ve been going through this last month. It reminds me there is good in the world.”

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

It’s not the first time Watt has proven his generosity. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, he donated $100,000 and set up an online fundraiser to help victims. It eventually brought in nearly $42 million which all went toward more than 1,100 homes.

Source: TODAY

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