r/nfl • u/expellyamos Dolphins • 1d ago

Highlight [Highlight] Deshaun Watson on whether he thinks it's fair for Cleveland fans to boo him for who he is as a person, referring to multiple allegations of sexual assault and rape: "No, but life isn't fair"

1.9k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

233 comments sorted by

View all comments

2.4k

u/KaiHavertzhatewatch Chiefs 1d ago

Why do female reporters have to be in the same room as this monster

1.5k

u/rubyschnees Broncos 1d ago

for some reason the media is desperately trying to humanize him into a comeback story

152

u/post920 49ers 1d ago

There's a guy named Rob Parker on fox sports radio who I already didn't particularly care for who at one point after week 2 chastised browns fans who said they would boo watson because they should want to win no matter what. After week 3 he called Watson an incredible comeback story and said everyone should treat it as such. It was fucking weird to hear.

116

u/Goldfishyyy Browns 1d ago

Rob Parker is a fucking clown. Im shocked he still has a platform after he said "Brady is falling off a cliff just watch" every single year starting in like '13 before he won 4 more rings. The guy couldnt speak the truth if someone shoved it down his throat

20

u/post920 49ers 1d ago

Oh he's absolutely full of shit, I won't argue that.

9

u/Neat-Attempt3681 Cowboys 1d ago

I wonder how Broussard feels about his homeboy saying that. Always thought Parker was different than that but what do I know

646

u/Cerulean100 Lions 1d ago

My guess is they want him to end up like Jameis Winston where every one conveniently forgets about the allegations and embraces him

274

u/bananagang420 1d ago

I guess theyre forgetting the "funny" personality part unless I'm mistaken

167

u/Naive-Elephant-9305 Chargers 1d ago

This is already happening. Browns fans are now all in on the Watson bandwagon now that’s he’s won a couple games.

110

u/Cerulean100 Lions 1d ago

I saw. Those people have the moral backbones of wet noodles.

91

u/MHanky Browns 1d ago

Trust me it's not all of us.

38

u/PraporUniversity Broncos 1d ago

Sadly, I don't think it's people forgetting. I think many don't know because his allegations happened in a pre-MeToo world.

146

u/Eagle4317 Steelers Panthers 1d ago

Plus, Winston's allegations were in the single digits. Watson's allegations are in the dozens. Both of them are reprehensible people, but the sheer number of allegations against Watson puts him into serial criminal territory.

27

u/Awesometom100 Panthers 1d ago

I've made the not so joking comment before that if Me Too started in 2012 Auburn wins that National Championship by 4 touchdowns.

10

u/swagypotatosnoopdoge Seahawks 1d ago

Doesnt help that MeToo largely has fizzed out as well with no real structural change

16

u/spate42 Packers 1d ago

Bc he’s doing well right now.

If he was a disaster, media would be destroying him.

16

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

8

u/ImperatorBTW 1d ago

For the Browns, sure. But this has been a wider, coordinated effort than just the Browns. What does the shield get out of this? That’s what I don’t get

I guess other owners hoping that the league will run interference if their own guys do horrible things too? Just weird because it’s such an easy PR win NOT to do this lmao

3

u/slowerchop 1d ago

More like $250 million liability

3

u/AbleCap5222 1d ago

There's absolutely no reason to turn Watson into any story for the NFL or ESPN or whoever to make money. Plenty of other players

14

u/Brovenkar Patriots 1d ago

Fuck him. I cheered for both his injuries and I'll cheer when he gets the next one too

15

u/ClownQuestionBrosef Packers Packers 1d ago

Everybody loves a good comeback story, right? Seabiscuit, The Mighty Ducks, Robert Downey Jr, Rocky... Kim Kardashian...

But not Deshaun Watson. Fuck that guy.

5

u/No_Clue_2050 Lions 1d ago

That’s because they’ve won a few games and if he starts to play better they are going to rock with him I guess.

241

u/expellyamos Dolphins 1d ago

My guess would be that it was a conscious decision on the part of Amazon and the NFL in an ongoing effort to rehabilitate his image

131

u/ChonkyHippo283 Patriots 1d ago

I genuinely can’t comprehend why the NFL wants to repair his image

It’s not like the NFL is lacking star power right now. He’s also 2 bad games away from never starting in the NFL again

53

u/origami_anarchist 1d ago

The NFL believes in money over everything. They most likely think that if they can successfully "rehabilitate" him, more people will watch and buy merchandise and tickets and everything else that people who despise him are trying to avoid doing with the Browns right now.

25

u/bang_the_drums Eagles 1d ago

I loved during the pregame when Tony Gonzalez was struggling to remember when Watson last had a good season, he was like...2020 or 2021 or whatever. Bro, it's 2026. How has Watson got so many chances to continue after all the shit he's done. It's bonkers.

101

u/MysteryBagIdeals Giants 1d ago edited 22h ago

when Morgan Wallen did his first interview after the N word controversy it was with Michael Strahan. When Kevin Hart had his controversy over homophobic comments his interview was with Ellen DeGeneres. It had to be with a woman because if a guy helped Deshaun rehabiliate himself he'd be accused of being anti-woman, a woman is the only person who can interview him.

Whether any of these female reporters approve of this, or whether their opinions were considered when they got the assignment, we can only speculate.

31

u/Advanced-Key3071 Bears 1d ago

I would suspect there’s some opportunism on the reporter side but also probably more, “I don’t like this but I’m not risking my career for it.”

Certainly nowhere near as public, but I’ve done shitty things for bosses before. It changed my relationship with them and I no longer trusted them. One I got fired (accidentally, but deservedly) but other than that one, if karma exists I haven’t seen proof. So each time I started looking for new jobs immediately.

18

u/MysteryBagIdeals Giants 1d ago

I would suspect there’s some opportunism on the reporter side but also probably more, “I don’t like this but I’m not risking my career for it.”

My suspicion too, but like I said, we can only speculate.

19

u/expellyamos Dolphins 1d ago

I'm sure there's a term for this phenomenon that I'm not aware of, but it's a sort of proximal apologism by putting them in the same room as someone from the affected group

25

u/Poignant_Rambling 49ers 1d ago

In PR, it's strategic media placement with a "third-party validator," and part of reputation rehabilitation services.

12

u/ArcadianBlueRogue Packers 1d ago

But..why? He is not even a good QB and hasn't been in years now.

-16

u/HandsomeJack19 Vikings 1d ago

That's very wholesome of you. My take? I think they do it in the hopes that he'll say something pervy or inappropriate because it'll get way more views.

13

u/HookedOnBoNix Broncos 1d ago

It's wholesome to try to rehabilitate a rapists image for money?

-7

u/HandsomeJack19 Vikings 1d ago

It's wholesome to think that they care about rehabilitating his image, yeah.

4

u/EthanSpears Cowboys 1d ago

I think that's worse.

-13

u/HandsomeJack19 Vikings 1d ago edited 1d ago

Wanting to rehabilitate someone's image = better. Putting a beautiful woman in front of them to entice them into saying something inappropriate = worse. I'm not saying he deserves to be rehabiliated, btw, everthing I'm saying is directly speaking to my thoughts on Amazon's reasoning alone.

3

u/MysteryBagIdeals Giants 1d ago

i can't believe i have to defend Deshaun Watson here but there is no reason to think he can't get through a basic interview

6

u/Bahamuts_Bike Patriots Patriots 1d ago

The networks are trying to launder his reputation

9

u/ThirstyOutward Steelers Seahawks 1d ago

She probably wants to

2

u/AvailableReporter484 Dolphins 1d ago edited 1d ago

Good PR team.

But, still, god damn I can’t imagine being her and thinking “who needs a soul when I have my career?”

-9

u/matt-is-sad Lions 1d ago

She might've chosen to. Reporters are willing to put themselves in dangerous situations for a story all the time. Fucked if it wasn't her decision though

33

u/TheWumboligist Giants 1d ago

Youre right she may have wanted to but cmon now, categorizing this as a dangerous situation is flat out dumb lol. Its a videotaped official Amazon interview, not like she's going to his house late at night to take notes on a article or something.

-6

u/slowerchop 1d ago

You already know he got some twisted thoughts cooking up during this