Typically when we share stories of famous people encountering reptiles, it is because they ended badly and stupidly.

Today I want to pay tribute to footballer and hometown boy to me, JJ Watt. If you know me, you know my stance on football. I gave it up for Vick, but JJ here, might get me to buy a Jersey. See in Wisconsin we don't have many rattlesnakes. We only have two species and running across them does take effort and knowledge. We just don't happen upon them in our homes. On occasion, snakes do get into homes, but more often than not it is your basic garter snake or occasionally a milk or fox. Every single rattlesnake call I have gotten to my rescue has been a Fox Snake. But JJ recently joined up with the Arizona Cardinals and had a bit of excitement when a baby snake was in his bathroom. He went to the internet for advice and then promptly disappeared for several hours.

"Alright, here's an update on the snake situation," Watt said. "For those of you who don't know, woke up this morning, went into the bathroom. Found a baby rattlesnake in the corner of the bathroom, curled up in the corner. I'm from Wisconsin, I don't have a lot of experience with snakes. Couple garden snakes here or there, couple in Houston, but don't know a lot about snakes. Don't know how to handle snakes. Not a big fan of snakes. When I got down here to Arizona, everybody said 'watch out for the scorpions and watch out for the rattlesnakes, they live close to the mountains, there's going to be snakes. Monsoon season brings out the snakes. Stay away from rattle snakes. Babies are the most venomous rattlesnakes because they don't know how to handle their venom. They shoot it all in their first bite.' So I got all of this stuff in my head. So I call a guy, I don't know what to do. So, I call this guy and he comes out to the house and he takes a look at it and he just picks it up with his bare hands. And he goes 'ah, it's not a rattlesnake. It's a long nose snake. Completely harmless.' And then he left.

"So, if you ever want to feel like a wimp, that's the way to do it."

Hey JJ, from one cheesehead to another, it isn't being a wimp. It is called being smart. You gave the animal the respect it deserved not knowing what it was. You called an expert in to properly remove and relocate it. You didn't harm the animal in any way. Lastly, you learned a little bit along the way. Next time you are up visiting your folks, hit a sista up. I'll meet up with you and take you somewhere that you can learn some basic stuff to help you out in the future. And thank you for respect that snakes like and not killing it. We need more good guys like you.

If you want to see JJ's tweet about this, click here.

Inset photo from kingsnake gallery user NDokai - see image at http://gallery.kingsnake.com/photo.php?id=381028