The Draw Play

The fall of Deshaun Watson is endlessly fascinating in a morbid way. This past week, in a press conference after another dismal performance, Watson called out the fans who had been booing him. He claimed it was personal, not based on his performance. Honestly it might be the first time since the scandal that he seemed to acknowledge the main reason people dislike him, even if he was coy about it. He’s right. We boo Watson and cheer his demise. We do so because we have a very low opinion of him as a person.

At the same time, he’s also wrong. He fucking sucks at football. If he didn’t suck at football, there would be less booing. There might be very few boos, relatively speaking.

I sometimes think about an alternate world where Watson pulled a Roethlisberger and actually stayed good at football instead of becoming the greatest black hole in sports. He was the center of a bidding war for a reason. Watson got that contract for a reason. The Browns sold their soul and traded their reputation as lovable losers for being the most despicable garbage dump. For some, Watson would never be forgiven. But for many? If he played well? It would be an often-brushed-over footnote in his legacy.

You can see it with Big Ben. That turd took the Steelers to a Super Bowl and played elite-level ball for half a decade longer, and Yinzers ate that shit up. His transgressions would never get mentioned by announcers or commentators. It was up to regular people like you and me to keep the flame lit. Roethlisberger wasn’t even a “cool guy” off the field. He was a noted dick and nobody seemed to like him as a person anyway. He still got away with it because he played good football. The Hall of Fame isn’t going to mention the bathroom incident on his plaque, and he will be cheered at his induction speech.

When Watson went to Cleveland he was cheered by a portion of the fanbase, and a large portion of those still skeptical would have come around to tolerance if he balled out. It’s just an unfortunate fact. All Watson had to do in Cleveland was not suck and be humble. This was a good team he joined, just two seasons removed from a playoff win. Instead, he seemed to lose all interest in being a football player to begin with.  I don’t know what is going on in that building. Watson is not the answer and it was clear years ago. He doesn’t seem to care. If he does care, and this is him putting effort in, his regression should be studied.

Now Watson sits at the bottom of the reputation pile. He has to know it. He has to know that a legion of fans will never forgive him, and that those who would have also won’t forgive him because he couldn’t even be bothered to do the one thing they needed from him to look the other way. There is simply no reason for anyone not to boo. So yes Deshaun, we are booing you for personal reasons. You’ve given fans nothing else to cheer for except your demise.

EDIT: Oh my god they named him the starter this morning
My guess is the Browns know how little value he has, so they’ve decided to give him a joke of a last shot so they can pivot and bench him early on for Shedeur as a face-saving move instead of risking them having to bench Shedeur for Nasty Man