Second thoughts

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt made a young fan happy recently, getting pretend married to 6-year-old Breanna Bartay after proposing with a Ring Pop during a tour of Reliant Stadium.
Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt made a young fan happy recently, getting pretend married to 6-year-old Breanna Bartay after proposing with a Ring Pop during a tour of Reliant Stadium.

— How does a guy top Ring Pop?

OK, we’ll admit it.

Sometimes we’re just big old softies in the sports department.

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt reminded us of that this week after he took the time to cheer up a 6-year-old fan.

Breanna Bartay melted the hearts of thousands earlier this month when she appeared heartbroken in a YouTube video, crying and lamenting the fact that she wasn’t old enough to marry her favorite football player.

It all started when Breanna’s mother, Lindsey, saw Watt on television talking about how he was having a hard time finding the right girl because of his fame.

Knowing how much her daughter loved Watt, she called Breanna in to watch the video and told her that Watt was looking for a girlfriend.

Lindsey told ABC News that Breanna told her and her grandmother that she was going to marry Watt, but her grandmother told her that she had to be at least 25 before getting married.

Grandma’s news didn’t go over well. Breanna broke down in tears.

“I wish I was 25,” the lovestruck little girl says sadly in the video. “I want to marry J.J. Watt.”

Her mother wanted to send the video to relatives and ended up posting it on YouTube.

More than 300,000 people have viewed the video.

One of them was Watt, who decided to do something about it.

The Texans star sent out a message on Twitter asking if anyone knew the girl or knew how to get in touch with her, and he eventually reached her mother.

He set up a tour of Reliant Stadium for the family, then surprised his young sweetheart after her family had told her that Watt wouldn’t be able to make it because of an early flight.

Watt gave Breanna flowers before kneeling down on one knee and “proposing” to her with a Ring Pop, asking her to be his pretend wife for the day. He also gave her a white, No. 99 jersey that she wore as her wedding dress.

“It was awesome and it was great, and we had our first dance to her favorite artist, Justin Bieber,” Watt told Sean Pendergast of Yahoo! Sports Radio. “It was really, really cool.”

He’ll get no argument from us.

Drive for show ...

Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times brings up a good question: “Since golfer Vijay Singh gave deer antler spray a try, does that mean he putts for doe now?”

Plan for the worst

New Orleans has been busier than usual lately.

The Big Easy is playing host to the Super Bowl on Sunday, with Mardi Gras festivities getting back into full swing Wednesday.

“Luckily there’s good coordination with the government,” comedian Argus Hamilton noted. “FEMA promised that the morning after it’s all over, they will bring in emergency supplies of tomato juice and vodka.”

The inside scoop

Katherine Webb, the now famous girlfriend of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, is covering the Super Bowl for Inside Edition.

“Considering how many people go to Inside Edition for their Super Bowl news,” wrote Brad Dickson of The Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, “they may as well hire Manti Te’o’s girlfriend.”

Quote of the day

“We need the energy for the game.” Arkansas basketball Coach Mike Anderson, on Friday’s short practice in advance of today’s game against Tennessee

Sports, Pages 22 on 02/02/2013

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