FMIA: A Divided Cleveland Reckons With Deshaun Watson Reality and Why Rams Trust in Raheem Morris
CLEVELAND—On the 300 level of First Energy Stadium, in the concourse a half-hour before kickoff of the Browns’ preseason game, I observed the scene.
In the Cleveland Browns Pro Shop, four jerseys were for sale, two on top of two. Top two: Myles Garrett’s 95 and Nick Chubb’s 24. Bottom two: Denzel Ward’s 21, Deshaun Watson’s 4. I asked a shopper, young woman, if she’d buy a Watson jersey. “Too soon,” she said.
Outside, I posted up to count the passersby for 15 minutes. Of 163 jerseys I counted on fans, I saw Kosar, Manziel, Mayfield, Garrett (the most), Chubb, Beckham Jr., (Jim) Brown, (Joe) Thomas, even an Owusu-Koramoah. Zero Watsons.
Guy passed me in the concourse with a NEXT YEAR DAMMIT Browns T-shirt.
I stopped a 30-ish fan in Browns garb, Quinton from Lorain, Ohio, and asked if he supported the team acquiring Watson. “I thought it was a good deal,” Quinton said. “It’s tricky. On the one hand, he never got found guilty of anything in a court of law, so what do we really know? But I’m conflicted because I feel for the women if something really did happen.”
“City seems divided,” I said.
“It really is,” Quinton said. “Lots of people have strong feelings on both sides.”
“What’ll it be like when Watson plays for the Browns in December?” I asked.
“What do they say? Time heals all wounds? If he wins, it’ll be forgotten.”
South of the city, an architect and former mega-Browns fan, Kyle Marvin, was not as forgiving as Quinton from Lorain. Marvin hates the Watson trade and signing. He ignored the Browns-Eagles game on local TV Sunday. He’s been a religious Browns’ watcher and tailgater, the kind who gets to the tailgate lot at 6 a.m. on gamedays and delights (before Steeler games) in catcalling anyone wearing a Pittsburgh jersey.
“I have loved this team,” Marvin said from his home, “but I will not be a Browns fan this year. It’s going to be hard for me to be a Browns fan again. I’ll watch the NFL on TV, but not the Browns.”
I asked what his biggest issue with Watson and the Browns was.
“The lack of contrition by Watson,” Marvin said. “He continues to lie about what happened. Nobody’s being honest. If he’d just come out and say ‘I’m sorry,’ it’s a different story. And the Browns just keep supporting him.”
The Lead: CLE reacts
Now that the Watson reality has set in—he’ll be suspended for the first 11 games of the season, and fined $5 million, and made to undergo counseling to address what Roger Goodell called “predatory” behavior—closure allows the Browns to plan for the season and Watson to plan for an uncertain future that will include five weeks when he can have no contact with his team.
This, as one person in the middle of this maelstrom told me Sunday, “is a complicated, complicated, complicated story.”
There is closure, but there is not satisfaction. Watson issued a statement when the settlement was announced saying, “I take accountability for the decisions I made.” Shortly thereafter, before the press, he said, “I’ve always stood on my innocence … I never assaulted anyone or disrespected anyone.”
How does one person say—sort of—
I’m sorry, and two hours later say,
I’m not sorry for anything? It’s disingenuous absurdity. A few things I learned reporting on the Browns:
Watson has begun the league-mandate counseling, a source told me. My sense is the Browns hope that at some point Watson will understand what he either doesn’t understand or a denial he has been continually fed by his enablers—that he did nothing wrong. Very likely, the Browns believe counseling can help Watson get to the bottom of why he sought treatment from 66 massage therapists in 18 months, per the
New York Times. That he has begun the counseling is a step in the right direction.
I would expect the Browns will look hard at adding a quarterback to supplement Jacoby Brissett. But tamp down the expectations that
Jimmy Garoppolo is on the way. Not saying it’s impossible, but I don’t sense the Browns think the conditions are right for it. Too much money (unless the Niners pick up a ton of the obligation), lack of certainty on Garoppolo’s health with him coming back from shoulder surgery, and the difficulty of learning a new playbook overnight. Those are real issues. I doubt Cam Newton is in play either. But I do think the Browns will search for a challenger to backup
Joshua Dobbs around the final cutdown next week.
I think the Browns gave Watson the $230-million guaranteed contract because they figured it was the only way they had a chance to get him. The Haslams have been pilloried for the contract, and rightfully so; Watson, even after his fine, will earn from the Browns $40 million in 2022. This is just my gut feeling, not something I was able to verify. But my gut tells me they felt they had only one chance after Watson told the team he was likely headed elsewhere after interviewing with four teams. Watson had Atlanta (near his home of Gainesville, Ga.), Carolina (near Clemson, his college) and New Orleans ahead of Cleveland on his wish list. How could the Browns differentiate themselves? A fully guaranteed contract. If you’re Jimmy Haslam, who had been through a slew of failed quarterbacks in his 9.5 years as owner, you might think: Taking an avalanche of criticism for a year will be worth it if I have my long-term QB on opening day 2023.
The league doesn’t like the 11-game suspension, but they wouldn’t have liked the continuing soap opera of this story if Watson had been banned for a season. I bet 90 percent of football fans, asked what they think of Watson being banned for 11 weeks with a $5-million fine, would have some significant problem with it. Either it’s too severe, not severe enough, or the league is soft, whatever. All of those positions can be argued. But the league just wanted this to end. Could they, would they have triumphed if the appeals office, Peter Harvey, had banned Watson for the season and the NFLPA fought it in court? Probably. At what cost? Two more months of Watson headlines? No thanks, they thought.
The plan for Watson during his suspension has some question marks. Mileposts along the way: Watson has to have no contact with the team from Aug. 30, when the suspension begins, until Oct. 9. He can return to the Browns facility on Oct. 10 and can be in meetings but can’t practice with the team for the next five weeks. On Nov. 14, 20 days before he is eligible to play, he can begin practicing with the team.
I asked coach Kevin Stefanski Sunday about Watson’s work—presumably with private QB coach Quincy Avery—in the 41 days he’s away from the team with no supervision. “We can’t really direct that program,” Stefanski said. “Can’t check in day to day. Can’t watch him throw. He has a really good quarterback coach, Quincy Avery, so I know that they’ll have a plan of attack. It will be important for him to make sure that every day will count for him when it comes to the psychological part of this.”
I got the feeling that Watson will almost certainly start Dec. 4 in Houston, when he’s eligible to play, almost two years since he last played in a game. How ready will he be?
Stefanski: “It’s a totally fair question. There’s not a lot of examples of guys doing this. But Deshaun’s played a lot of football in his life. He’s played in a lot of big games, national championship games, playoff games. I think that he’s a player… that… say this the right way… in his young career, he’s had so many big moments that I think he’ll be ready to go. I’m not naive enough to say there won’t be some rust or whatever it may be because that’s a long time.”
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