Tough as Nails: J.J. Watt Played Through Multiple Muscle Tears

Everybody knows that Houston Texans star J.J. Watt is one tough dude, but this is crazy. Apparently, he played with some serious injuries last season... and still made an impact.

His injury was said to be a "groin" injury, but was much worse. A source tells ESPN that he actually had five partially or fully torn muscles in his torso, groin and upper legs, which needed to be surgically repaired.

The source said Watt had a partially torn right adductor longus, a fully torn left adductor longus and a fully torn left adductor pectineus in his inner thighs and groin. He also had partial tears in his left and right abdominals.

Despite the pain he must've of been in, Watt played through it... only missing part of the final game the Texans played.

He finished the season with his third defensive player of the year award ... his third in four seasons. He became the first player since Lawrence Taylor to win the award in back-to-back seasons... and both are also the only players to win the award three times.

Last season, Watt led the league with 17.5 sacks. He also recorded eight batted passes, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.