It’s not unusual for Browns fans to boo. However, on Sunday, they didn’t just boo poor play on the field; they booed their starting quarterback Deshaun Watson as he was carted off the field with an apparent Achilles injury.
In his postgame press conference, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett attempted to defend his injured quarterback by saying he has been a “model citizen.” Watson has been accused of sexual assault and/or harassment by 22 women.
“Man does pretty much everything right. He’s been a model citizen through college and also in the pros,” Garrett said. “We can’t look down on the guy because of any mistakes on the field, or anything off the field. We don’t have any moral high ground to look down on the guy.”
Understandably, Garrett would want to defend his quarterback. Deshaun Watson was accused of sexual assault and/or harassment by nearly two dozen women after contracting with them for massage services. Yes, none of those accusations have risen to the level of criminal charges, arrest, or sentencing. However, Watson is spending a considerable amount of his $235 million contract to settle those suits. Something it’s impossible to imagine him doing if he had nothing to hide.
Garrett added, “We don’t boo guys that are injured on the field, especially when the cart comes out. We should be ashamed of ourselves, as Browns and as fans, to boo anyone in their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury, the man’s not perfect, he doesn’t need to be. None of us expect to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does on the field or off the field because I can’t throw stones from my glass house, but we need to do better.”
On this point, Garrett is far more correct. No one should boo an injured player, no matter how much of a “model citizen” he is not.
