It must have happened at some point during last night’s game.
There’s no way the Cleveland Browns could have played in a nationally televised game without Deshaun Watson’s sexual assault allegations discussed. In spite of Monday Night Football is not a news program, it would be irresponsibly responsible for ESPN to broadcast the Browns, their fans and even Brownie the Elf, without mentioning the ethically questionable decision to transactions for Watson.
The Browns had a comfortable 25-6 lead, with less than 10 and a half minutes left in the fourth inning, when the production team decided it was the perfect time for Joe Buck to give it to Lisa Salters to discuss Watson back to the Browns family.
A graphic showing an extremely succinct timeline of the outcome of what has happened to Watson’s state of play since he went out of action last season. Salters explained that Watson was allowed to return to the Browns facility but was not allowed to join his teammates on the training ground. Also, he’s on track for Week 13.
Buck later came back and said that Watson had been accused of sexual misconduct during the massage sessions, and that 23 of the 26 lawsuits against him were settled out of court before questioning. asked Troy Aikman, “What is [Watson] looks like back in two years basically after the game? “
Aikman talked for about six seconds before a 53-yard bomb from Jacoby Brissett to Amari Cooper ended all Watson talk for the evening.
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Hopefully, that moment is not a harbinger of what the media coverage around Watson will look like once he likely returns to the field on Dec. 4, against his former team — the Houston Texans — in the town where much of his alleged misconduct took place. Watson continues to deny any wrongdoing. A big play, maybe a few, had better not end the conversation about Watson’s conduct.
Watson is not incarcerated, so once he serves the punishment that the league levied on him, there is no further reason to keep him off of the field. That being said, what has been alleged, as well as the cases in which the NFL’s investigation concluded that Watson was in the wrong, should not merely be addressed for one minute or two when he lines up behind center for the Browns.
Watson still has three sexual misconduct lawsuits pending against him, and those certainly need to be mentioned any time that someone talks about him. Just because he’s not facing criminal charges does not mean that he has been exonerated. He most certainly has not been.
Also, the media can’t let Watson’s situation fade come time for the playoff chase, because the Browns must not be allowed to go back to business as usual after condoning and encouraging his behavior.
They did so by giving him an unprecedented contract, that allowed for him lose as little money as possible during a potential suspension, shaking the quarterback market guaranteeing him $230 million, and eventually lauding him for his “dedication to working on himself both on and off of the field,” in a statement after the 11-match suspension was completed in the weeks following the NFL’s investigation. That investigation concluded that Watson had grossly violated the league’s individual conduct policy.
That fact couldn’t be allowed to run away with a Browns pass catcher when Watson dropped a pass in their arm during a big game.
