Julius Cambell to Chicago Cubs? When J.J. Watt sent NFL Twitter into meltdown with fake trades

J.J. Watt once played an incredible prank on the sports world with a few expertly worked fake trades. Watt took to Twitter in 2015 to report (even though he's a player and not a reporter) on a few absolute blockbusters.

The first was a three-team trade, which immediately got fans' attention. These are pretty rare, so followers were eager to find out who was going where.

Watt tweeted:

"SOURCES: 3-team, 3-sport trade. Adam Banks to T.C. Williams Titans, Henry Rowengartner to Mighty Ducks, Julius Cambell to Chicago Cubs."

For the unfamiliar, Adam Banks is a character in "The Mighty Ducks," a fictional youth hockey team. Henry Rowengartner is a pitcher in the hit classic film "Rookie of the Year" and Julius Campbell hails from "Remember the Titans."

Watt didn't stop there, though. He went even further with another hilarious fake trade.

He then said:

"I'm also hearing from sources that there are talks of a two-team swap for Benny 'The Jet' Rodriguez and Jesus Shuttlesworth."

Benny "The Jet" is from "The Sandlot," while Jesus Shuttlesworth is a fictional basketball star from "He Got Game."

Other superstar athletes got in on the fun, too. MLB star Bryce Harper responded with another fictional trade offer for Watt. He and Watt went back and forth on what the trade should entail.

Kyle Long and T.J. Yates, Watt's former Houston Texans teammate, also joined in on the fun. It quickly became apparent to fans that these were not real trades, but that didn't stop JJ Watt and his athletic friends from having a great time with it.

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Why did J.J. Watt retire?

After just 12 seasons in the NFL, J.J. Watt called it a career. The former Defensive Player of the Year and likely Hall of Famer retired after the end of the 2022-2023 season, his second with the Arizona Cardinals.

J.J. Watt officially retired

He retired likely because he wanted to spend time with his family, which just welcomed another child into the world. The timing worked and Watt and his family believed this was a good time to call it a career - and what a career it was.