"Heading to" - JJ Watt sends fresh Burnley FC message over James Trafford bet | OneFootball

Burnley investor JJ Watt has hinted at an NFL return after James Trafford maintained his 12th consecutive clean sheet in the Championship

Burnley investor JJ Watt has joked that he is working towards an NFL return after Clarets goalkeeper James Trafford maintained yet another clean sheet on Friday night, as the Turf Moor side defeated Sheffield Wednesday 4-0.

A first-half strike from January loan signing Marcus Edwards opened the scoring for Scott Parker's men before further goals from Josh Brownhill, Connor Roberts and Manuel Benson secured an emphatic victory.

Most impressively, second-half substitute Brownhill scored with his first touch of the evening, while Clarets supporters will be delighted to see that their side are within two points of the automatic promotion spots ahead of Monday night's crunch clash between second-place Sheffield United and league leaders Leeds United.

JJ Watt drops NFL return hint following James Trafford and Burnley's continued excellence

Incredibly, Trafford has now maintained 24 clean sheets in 33 Championship appearances for the Clarets this season, having kept 12 shutouts in a row.

Parker's men also prevented their opposition from scoring during the only second-tier game the England Under 21 international has missed this term, as usual second choice Vaclav Hladky kept a clean sheet during a 5-0 victory over Cardiff City last August.

Clarets investor and former NFL star Watt, who hung his boots up back in 2022, had previously vowed to come out of retirement and sign for the Cincinnati Bengals if Trafford did not concede another goal for the rest of the Championship season.

Burnley's 4-0 win over Wednesday marked theirs and Trafford's 12th consecutive clean sheet in the second tier, which prompted Watt to post on X: "Heading to the gym..."

Watt is widely said to be one of the greatest defensive linemen in NFL history, having plied his trade for both the Houston Texans and the Arizona Cardinals during a 12-season career.

The current Clarets investor was named as the NFL defensive player of the year in 2012, 2014 and 2015, which helped cement his name in the sport's history books.

Clarets are on the brink of history

The Turf Moor faithful will be delighted to see that their club have a strong chance of obtaining automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, while Monday night's aforementioned match between Sheffield United and Leeds at Bramall Lane guarantees that at least one of the current top two will drop points, thus handing the Clarets a boost in the race to book a spot in next season's top-flight.

Meanwhile, largely thanks to Trafford's heroics between the sticks, Parker's men are now just three successive clean sheets away from breaking Manchester United's record of 14 consecutive league shutouts in the English professional game, a feat they managed during the 2008/09 Premier League campaign.