Between football seasons, T.J. Watt has co-hosted a reality show of “Ultimate Tag” with older brothers J.J. and Derek. He also has appeared in a national commercial for a fast food chain that featured his siblings and parents.

What Watt hasn’t done is forgotten the highly skilled work as one of the NFL’s top outside linebackers that has made such side gigs possible.

“It’s very important to me to be a football player first and to be the best football player I can possibly be and make sure nothing off the field interferes with it,” Watt said Tuesday, “whether it’s the commercial shoots, the TV shows.

“All that stuff doesn’t matter if I’m not performing on the field. First and foremost, it will always be me being a football player.”

Watt has become a pretty good one in his first three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Selected as a first-round pick tasked with rushing the quarterback, Watt has increased his sacks total in each of his years in the league.

In 2019, Watt emerged as an NFL Defensive Player of the Year contender when he tied for fourth with 141/2 sacks, ranked third with 36 quarterback hits, tied for first with eight forced fumbles and tied for second with four fumble recoveries. He finished third in the voting, trailing winner Stephon Gilmore and runner-up Chandler Jones.

He also was named a first-team All-Pro for the first time in his career and to the Pro Bowl for the second time.

Watt has set his sights higher for 2020, but whether it’s winning awards or reaching a specific number of sacks, he’s not saying.

“I’ll never publish my individual goals. I just want to be able to be a game-wrecker,” Watt said. “I want to be able to be somebody that the other team has to scheme around.”

Without the benefit of preseason games, it’s difficult to gauge Watt’s progress as he enters his fourth NFL season. Based on his practice performances, though, Watt has remained true to his word. His play against the first-team offense has included making life miserable for right tackle candidates Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner, the tandem that has alternated lining up across from Watt in 11-on-11 sessions.

“Watt is a handful for one man on NFL playing surfaces,” coach Mike Tomlin said Monday after Watt matched up with Banner in practice. “What a great opportunity for those young right tackles vying for that spot. There’s no guess work in terms of where they are in terms of overall global readiness.

“Watt is one of the very best in the business, and they get an opportunity to sharpen their sword against it every day.”

In 2019, Watt stepped out of his oldest brother’s shadow. J.J. Watt is a three-time defensive player of the year, but his career has been beset by injuries in three of the past four years. Since 2017, J.J. has accumulated 20 sacks, with 16 coming in a healthy 2018 season.

T.J., meanwhile, has taken down the quarterback 341/2 times since entering the NFL. He also leads all NFL players with 15 forced fumbles.

“T.J. is still advancing in his pass rush,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “He’s a problem for a lot of people because he does a great job of using his hands when he rushes the passer, does a good job in recognizing the difference between pass and run and play-action and stuff like that.”

Watt credits his success with having fellow outside linebacker Bud Dupree rushing the passer while coming at the quarterback from his blind side. The two switched sides before the 2018 season, and last year combined for 26 sacks, which ranked second in the NFL.

“We push each other each and every day,” Watt said. “He’s learned some new moves throughout the offseason, and so have I. Just making sure that there aren’t many times in practice where we are just sitting on the sidelines not working on our game. If it’s a special teams period, and neither of us are out there, we’re trying to be on the sidelines and trying to be the best players that we can possibly be.”

Watt and Dupree helped the Steelers not only lead the NFL in sacks last year but register a league-high 38 takeaways, the franchise’s most in a season since 1992. Watt, in fact, doesn’t see a weakness at any of the three levels of the Steelers defense, which is why he doesn’t think offenses can limit his productivity in 2020.

“I think that’s the amazing thing about our defense,” he said. “You can’t really pinpoint one player. Otherwise, three others are going to take advantage. I’m just very fortunate to be able to be on this defense and be part of something bigger than just myself.”

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