It didn’t get any more picturesque than the wedding of T.J. Watt and Dani Rhodes.
Watt and Rhodes, the Waukesha County sports power couple, wed at a private resort before family and friends Saturday night in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
With the sun setting and the rocks catching the waves slowly coming in, the former University of Wisconsin star athletes walked hand in hand on the beach of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, according to social media posts.
To cap off the night, in something made for the movies, fireworks shot off as couples danced on the terrace overlooking the ocean.
The wedding came about a year after the two became engaged.
The Watt family gave us a glimpse on social media of the week’s festivities in what looked like paradise.
From days on the boat to fancy dinners overlooking the clear blue water, it didn’t get any more beautiful than this.
Wedding guests included T.J.’s current and former teammates in college and the NFL, including Alec James and Joe Schobert at Wisconsin and the likes of Joe Haden, Ryan Shazier and Cam Heyward at Pittsburgh.
T.J. Watt is coming off Defensive Player of the Year season
The wedding comes a few weeks before training camp begins for Watt, who is coming off a historic season. He not only won his first Defensive Player of the Year award, but he tied the league’s single-season sack record with 21 ½.
Watt and Rhodes have been together since their days at the University of Wisconsin, where they shined in their respective sports.
Watt overcame early injuries and a position change to become an All-American linebacker. After a breakout junior season, Watt was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s been a dominant force since Day 1 and last year signed the largest contract in NFL history for a defensive player.
He’s already a three-time NFL All-Pro as he enters his sixth season with the Steelers in 2022.
During his acceptance speech for the Defensive Player of the Year award at the NFL Honors in February, Watt thanked Rhodes for being his “No. 1 supporter.”
Watt, 27, graduated from Pewaukee High School in 2013, while Rhodes, 24, was a 2016 Waukesha West grad.
Dani Rhodes was an All-American soccer star at Wisconsin
Rhodes was a multi-sport star in high school. She was an all-state basketball player and left West as the school’s career scoring leader. Soccer is where she really left her mark. She was a two-time Gatorade State Girls Player of the Year and led the Wolverines to three state appearances.
She then went on to have a banner career at UW, where she earned All-American status her senior year and was the Big Ten Forward of the Year in 2019. She scored both of the team’s goals in two NCAA Tournament victories in 2019. Rhodes also holds the school record for most goals (four) and points (eight) scored in a game, which she did in an NCAA Tournament contest in 2018, and is No. 4 in program history for career goals (38).
She played professionally in Iceland last year.
Watt brothers having fun in Mexico for wedding
The wedding is the latest personal milestone for the Watt family this offseason. Oldest brother J.J., who is about to enter his second season with the Arizona Cardinals, and wife Kealia announced last month that they’re expecting their first child this fall.
While on location for the wedding, J.J. made mention that even while six months pregnant, Kealia doesn’t take days off from her work out, while poking fun at his younger brothers and a couple of his NFL buddies.
The couple, who had their own destination wedding in the Bahamas in February 2020, sure delivered in their “beach chic” looks throughout the trip.
The Watt brothers also gave us one of the best looks from the week. T.J., J.J. and Derek, who in 2020 all played in an NFL game together for the first time, wore matching tropical-themed shirts and bucket hats before taking a ride on a boat.
Derek, who teams up with T.J. in Pittsburgh, also looked sharp throughout the week.
While posing for photos with wife, Gabriella, Derek, who is entering his seventh season in the NFL, joked on Twitter earlier in the week that “Mom and Dad still got it.” Derek and Gabriella have two young boys.
Contact Christopher Kuhagen at 262-446-6634 or at christopher.kuhagen@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ckuhagen and our newsroom Instagram accounts at MyCommunityNow and Lake Country Now.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: T.J. Watt, Dani Rhodes get married in resort wedding in Mexico