While the hate for the Cleveland Browns star quarterback Deshaun Watson was already on par among the Browns fans, his return to the league after nearly two years has not helped him win back fans. He showcased poor performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in a 34-10 loss.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Watson returned to regular-season play for the first time since his October 2024 Achilles injury, which he re-injured during rehab. But what was supposed to be a comeback game turned out to be a disaster for him, as he completed 16-of-22 passes for 205 yards, including one touchdown and an interception.
But what was more intriguing was the fact that a couple of Cleveland fans wore Deshaun Watson shirts supporting him during the game, with “B**** I need a massage” and “Deshaun f****** Watson” texts written on them, according to an X post by NFL analyst Lindsey Ok.
This didn’t sit well with football fans, who are against Watson for many reasons, including him being the starter.
The incident comes after Watson faced 27 misconduct allegations tied to massage appointments, leading to an 11-game suspension in 2022 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, though most of the lawsuits against Watson were settled in 2022.
This was the same year when Browns supporters drew attention for publicly backing Watson after his legal controversies. A man was seen selling T-shirts in the team’s colors featuring similar phrases, “B**** Give Me A Massage” and “Free Watson.” The displays sparked criticism from fans who felt the messages were inappropriate given the allegations surrounding Watson.
In addition to that, the player was also fined $5 million dollars and had to undergo a mandatory evaluation before being reinstated by the league. He won the starting job over Shedeur Sanders in camp and preseason. The fans made clear they disagreed.
Watson had to deal with booing during a preseason game last month. He called the boos “personal” and “disrespectful,” insisting they had nothing to do with his on-field play. But that wasn’t it, as he faced the same treatment in this loss against the Jaguars, with fans booing him at EverBank Stadium while also chanting for Sanders to be on the field instead. Watson was also critical of his performance amidst all the hate he received during the game.
“Of course everyone’s gonna look at the quarterback in this situation. Overall, I haven’t even looked at the box score or whatever, the stats, so I don’t even know what that looks like,” Watson said after the game, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “But yeah, we gotta put points on the board. That’s what you gotta do in this league.”
Watson also said that there were “a lot of emotions” going into the game, with “two years off, back against the wall,” he said he didn’t know if his body was capable of playing at a high tempo for an hour or more.
The quarterback is currently in his final year of the five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract. The Browns general manager, Andrew Berry, hinted at a potential contract extension but also made clear that they “are expecting Deshaun to play well,” as the extension will heavily depend on his performances.
Despite Watson and his supporters trying their best, the QB had a rough day. The Browns fans’ support, with their Watson shirts, sparked outrage among NFL fans.
“How embarrassing,” one fan wrote, highlighting how bizarre the situation was on so many levels.
The fans argued that even putting Watson’s off-field controversies aside, supporting a player who struggled so much on the football field was embarrassing in itself.
“Deshaun Watson walks to the locker room with some fans screaming expletives at him ‘F*** You Deshaun, F*** you.’ Shedeur Sanders walked out of Locker Room and the same fans started cheering ‘it’s time,” another added.
“If the NFL really cared about bringing more women into the fan base, they’d do something about s–t like this,” someone wrote.
Another football fan tried to give a reality check, saying, “The Browns have a fanbase that somehow manages to be easily hatable despite being a historically terrible franchise.”