JJ Watt will be forever grateful to Yousef Salech.
The minority owner of Burnley was the only person connected to the club relieved when the Cardiff forward scored against James Trafford.
In December, the 36-year-old made a playful wager with the Clarets No.1 goalkeeper to reverse his NFL retirement.
Watt agreed to suit up for the Cincinnati Bengals – if Trafford didn’t concede a goal for the remainder of the season.
However ridiculous the odds, England U21 star Trafford made an incredible fist of delivering his end of the bargain.
The 22-year-old went on to keep 12 straight clean sheets in the league when no other club in Championship history had even reached double digits in consecutive games.
Burnley went 1,214 minutes without conceding a goal from December 21 until Salech struck for Cardiff in a 2-1 win in Match.
During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com, former club captain and current Clarets academy coach Jack Cork has revealed it was far from just Trafford devastated with the bet ending.
He said: “That was a massive thing [within the club]. That was a huge thing.
“It’s only been one goal since then as well, hasn’t it? It’s been really close to getting done.
“It would have been so interesting. I think everyone was just a bit gutted that it didn’t make it because it would have been so interesting if he actually would have seen the bet through.
We were having staff days with all the staff at the club, and that was all everyone was talking about. It’s disappointing.
Most Consecutive Clean Sheets
- 14 – Manchester United, 2008-09, Top Flight
- 12 – Burnley, 2024-25, Second Tier
- 11 – Reading, 1978-79, Fourth Tier
- 11 – York City, 1973-74, Third Tier
- 11 – Millwall, 1925-26, Third Tier
- 10 – Chelsea, 2004-05, Top Flight
- 10 – Torquay, 2009-10 & 2010-11, Fourth Tier (across two seasons)
- 10 – Charlton Athletic, 1997-98 & 1998-99, Top Two Tiers (across two seasons)
“I feel like it’s helped drive a big excitement and commitment towards keeping the clean sheets that the defenders have been on.
“I feel like it’s been really good to focus on, and it has definitely massively helped.”
Watt himself admitted that he was starting to get a little nervous when Trafford saved two penalties in a goalless draw with Sunderland to preserve his clean sheet streak in January.
A month later, after Burnley thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-0, the former three-time Defensive Player of the Year conceded it was time to head to the gym.
Cork has been one of the people who has seen a Watt workout in the flesh and was in utter awe of the American’s strength.
Cork told talkSPORT: “He came to use the gym here. Honestly, you’ll see him.
“He put the heaviest weights on each side of the squat rack, and the bar was bending all the way down.
“Obviously, he was huge. He did two rows. He got the two separate machines put on the highest weight and did two rows.
“He’s just an absolute monster in the gym.”
Watt played 12 seasons in the NFL for the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals before hanging up his cleats after the 2022 season.
During his career, he established himself as one of the league’s most dominant defenders, winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards and earning five Pro Bowl nods.
He also made seven All-Pro teams and was the NFL sacks leader twice, in 2013 and 2015.
And thanks to Salech, he won’t be returning to the field anytime soon…
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