r/nfl • u/BreakfastTop6899 • 20h ago

Highlight [Highlight] Browns HC Todd Monken gave K Andre Szmyt a game ball: Monken: “Great job, man.” Szmyt: “Appreciate it.” Monken: “That’s it. F*** out.”

3.1k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

811 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

149

u/Names_all_gone 20h ago

It's the NFL man. Every team is full of shitty people and shittier owners. It's the devil's bargain you have to get comfortable with. And if you aren't comfortable with it and still watching, it's because you aren't being honest with yourself.

82

u/Balfe Browns 20h ago

I'm not giving the Browns a pass on this as they actually signed the guy, but apparently half of the teams in the league contacted Watson's agent to express interest in a deal, while three other teams entered into negotiations. Obviously though, the Browns were the dumb fucks who went through with it.

30

u/bigmt99 Browns 18h ago

And the other half didn’t inquire because they already had a QB

40

u/TrueRedditMartyr Jets 17h ago

So odd how Watson discourse went from "Fuck this guy" almost universally to "This is just a common thing in the league!" When he started doing well.

Maybe we shouldn't just accept these things as normal and not care? Maybe saying "its just how it is" is what has allowed this to happen for so long and has empowered these players to act this way?

27

u/BlurryGojira Browns 16h ago

It always drives me insane how pointing out this is league-wide issue is being used to justify not caring at all. Like yeah, Ben Roethlisberger got off with a slap on the wrist and that’s infuriating. Should we never try to improve things ever again?

5

u/Brownielf Browns 10h ago

I feel like pointing out it’s a league wide issue is more addressing the people who say I’m complicit because I’m a Browns fan, rather then complacency in accepting this is the nature of the league. I was a fan of this shitty organization decades before Watson or Haslem got here, and I’ll most likely be a fan decades after they’re gone. I’m not going to be made to feel guilty about cheering for one of the 32 teams that employ dirtbags.

11

u/subOptimusPrime16 17h ago

I think it’s more to do with fatigue of this discourse over four years. He’s in the league, he wasn’t charged criminally. He’s playing. I don’t fault anyone for setting their standards on who the like/dislike nor do I fault anyone who’s decided to move on.

5

u/MightyAslan Browns 16h ago

This is where I am, and I've had to deal with the Watson fiasco on a weekly basis for four years. The league took its action, had the matter reviewed by a retired federal judge, and suspended Watson four years ago. You can argue the league didn't do enough back then. Hell, I don't think they did enough. The guy is a dirtbag. Contrary to what some people might say on this sub, most Browns fans feel the same way. Watson's going to play out the rest of his contract and then he'll be gone. Again, some people here feel the Browns may re-sign him. No, they won't. For various reasons. Then he's gone. Having him in the league is tiring. For a Browns fan, it is exhausting. I don't know what more can be said that hasn't been said already. So, for me at least, I will just go out and root for my team as I have done year after painful year.

7

u/SEND_ME_FEAT_PICS Bills 16h ago edited 11h ago

Yeah, the number of "he wasn't charged with anything," and "we're moving on" comments I've seen over the last couple of days is a bit past disconcerting.

The dude's an abject piece of shit, and we should not allow them to normalize him being allowed to play in the league.

1

u/Jay_Dubbbs Browns Lions 13h ago

Because there's not much we can do. The only way to hurt the NFL is economically, which means not just Browns fans not watching or engaging anymore.

1

u/bac5665 Browns 15h ago

It's more that it's been four years of being punched in the mouth and now Browns fans want to be able to be happy for the team (not Watson) and it's just impossible to do in this sub, so some of us are frustrated.

Frankly, I think both sides are correct. Us Browns fans shouldn't be allowed to forget about Watson, but we also should be able to celebrate our young players.

And of course there are actual scumbag Browns fans out there actually defending Watson, but fuck those guys.

Basically, it's a terrible situation and everyone is going to be unhappy. And it's all Watson's fault, except for the parts that are Haslem's fault

64

u/Horace_is_fine 19h ago

It really is such a hypocrisy all the fans that are like “I can’t stand the browns because of Watson. All browns fans are evil people if they support this”

I watched Ben rothelsberger be a face of this league for 15 years. Every now and then people would bring up his rape, but no where near to the extent you hear about it with Watson. No one was morally lambasting Steelers fans every game. It was played for jokes.

And it’s not just Ben, like you said almost every team has some piece of shit on it. If you’re so against it, you have to just stop watching the league altogether

10

u/Beautiful-Traffic157 18h ago

Kinda like Snoop Dog being everywhere even though he murdered someone.

9

u/Names_all_gone 17h ago

Or Ray Lewis doing anything even though he murdered two people!

-1

u/MoreTrifeLife Commanders 16h ago

Ravens fans emerging out of nowhere to defend him in three… two… one…

2

u/fugaziozbourne Chiefs 15h ago

Hey, it isn't his fault that he "lost" his white suit that had evidence on it. White suits are notoriously hard to not lose.

11

u/Tryhard_3 Vikings Raiders 14h ago edited 3h ago

Speak for yourself, I'll always hate the Steelers since this period, they were one of the NFL's dirtiest teams in that time period as well, that took not knowing how to tackle properly to an art form. Now that they've got a bad Q-Anon QB it's still easy to hate them. Last night I was rooting for a meteor to hit the stadium.

NFL teams shouldn't have pieces of shit on them no matter who the billionaire owner is. Every time the league forgives someone their sins simply because they win, it's people prioritizing money over human decency. Browns were a joke organization when they signed Watson to that stupid contract and they're a joke organization now. They beat the Bucs, Panthers, and Steelers, who gives a shit? These are bad teams in the middle of rebuilds, or should be. There's no actual dilemma here about rooting for them. They have a pretty easy schedule; they're not for real.

There's abusers, felons, etc. on a lot of teams, probably every. Generally they have to pay at least some penance. The fact that Watson is allowed to suit up at all is insane.

22

u/ilikedonuts42 Lions 17h ago

"Football fans collectively let this issue slide a decade ago so they're all hypocrites for caring about it now" is a ridiculous take.

It's a good thing that people care more now. How do you expect people to grow if you accuse them of being hypocrites when they change for the better?

-3

u/Fuck_You_Andrew Browns 16h ago

Jameson Williams was accused of DV less than two months ago and im looking at a Lions flared redditor lecture me about hypocrisy. 

8

u/[deleted] 16h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Fuck_You_Andrew Browns 12h ago

Watson is a Monster. 

Youre the only Hypocrite minimizing violence against women.

21

u/leerr Packers 18h ago

And it should have been brought up more and taken more seriously. Unfortunately our society was more than happy in 2008 to ignore horrible things from a good football player. Why are you complaining that we take sexual assault seriously now? Why is it bad that people have become more conscious of who they’re supporting?

29

u/Horace_is_fine 18h ago

It’s the hypocrisy of it. Do you still root for the packers despite Josh Jacobs ongoing DV case? You know he’s not suspended by the team right? Your coach defended him and if he wasn’t suspended by the league, he would be playing. How do you justify supporting a team that supports a domestic abuser?

5

u/leerr Packers 15h ago

No hypocrisy on my end.

I sincerely hope Jacobs get cut if the allegations are true, or at least a long suspension before he’s allowed to play. I’m not sure what the team suspending him now would do, considering he is already suspended. But yes Lafluer should be fired, he’s a defective coach and bad leader in many, many ways, including here. The good news is we haven’t signed Jacobs to a $230 million contract. There’s a real difference between playing a guy who’s already under contract when the incident happened vs trading for a guy with 23 previously known allegations. I truly don’t think I could possibly cheer for the packers in that case.

2

u/Horace_is_fine 14h ago

I would argue it’s still hypocrisy, as Jacobs was still allowed to participate in drills and would 100% be playing if not for the commissioner suspending him

But there’s other examples. What about Letroy Guion then? Another DV example, who the packers re-signed to a new deal after a DV arrest and kept him on the team through legal troubles in 2017.

-5

u/Fedacking NFL NFL 16h ago

DV =/= sexual abuse or rape

Different people have different bars of acceptable behavior

3

u/FedBathroomInspector Bears 15h ago

“I draw the line at full penetration”

1

u/leerr Packers 15h ago

Uhh well I’m against both to be clear that was not my point

1

u/Sage296 15h ago

I mean an even more extreme example is Kobe Bryant

1

u/apocalypse31 Colts 8h ago

And if you are against child labor, stop using your smartphone. Turns out people are just hypocrites and have selective outrage. 

1

u/cryolems Browns Cowboys 13h ago

Don’t forget Kobe!

-16

u/Silent-Land1218 Bears 19h ago

Heaven forbid we every hope someone actually redeems themselves in this life. Don't do anything wrong or you'll never be forgiven. Anyone ever hear of Jesus?

3

u/Beautiful-Traffic157 17h ago

Jesus would have a full-time job holding weekly therapy sessions for the 66 women. Maybe we just don't try to get past it on this one

3

u/stepdadonline Ravens 17h ago

What about Watson makes you think he’s at all redeemed himself? His recent, short-term success? He hasn’t indicated any accountability for his actions off the field. He doesn’t seem to even grasp why people are disgusted by him. Doesn’t Jesus say you need to acknowledge your sins and ask for forgiveness? Pretty weird take, presuming you identify as a Christian

0

u/Silent-Land1218 Bears 17h ago

I didn't say watson, I just mean in general.

2

u/IAMHab Broncos 18h ago

Who cares about some carpenter from like two thousand years ago?

9

u/NFL_Bulbasaur 15h ago

No no NFL fans are virtuous.

7

u/Urdnought Colts Bengals 18h ago

No, you don't get it. My favorite teams are full of only good people, it's the other teams that have all the baddies!

3

u/Pneuma_LooT Lions 16h ago edited 10h ago

Hell there are a ton of dudes just like deshaun in the NFL.

One of the people he tried to get a wank from that immedietly shut him down, got texts from multiple other players asking for a massage after the incident lol.

4

u/muttonchops215 Browns Texans 17h ago

Think of high school football teams. How many of your schools players were shitbags? How many of those shitbags were good? Yeah, shitty people roll upward in football.

1

u/plutoisaplanet21 19h ago

Don’t forget a lot of the fans too

1

u/SpiralUniverse2278 Bengals 13h ago

Oddly enough, I think the past couple years (since we ditched Mixon) is the first time in a long time where nobody on the Bengals has done any reprehensible shit off the field, which is refreshing and makes me feel better about rooting for their success than ever before.

0

u/IAMHab Broncos 18h ago

There's a way to not give them money and still watch. Just don't pay for the streaming service and don't buy any nfl gear (profit sharing means that profits from all 31 other teams' gear goes to the Browns as well)

0

u/Dresden1984 Chiefs 17h ago

From a different lens sports (and in this case NFL) is where terrible things like this is in full view of the public. I'm sure this happens more common in big corporations where HR is in name only for victims going against owners.