We just witnessed one of the best sports weekends of the year — and, as always, it delivered.
The madness of March was real as the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament tipped off, bringing with them high-profile upsets, phenomenal storylines and some of the best basketball we’ve seen all year.
It was absolutely electric.
But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little bit tainted.
Last Friday, in the midst of the second day of the tournament, I saw the news that made my stomach turn.
The Cleveland Browns were trading for three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson, sending three first-round picks (among other selections) to the Houston Texans in a blockbuster deal.
And upon trading for him, the Browns planned to give him a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract — the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history.
Truthfully, it’s one of the most despicable things I’ve seen from a professional sports organization that’s so starved for wins, for championships and for relevancy that it would choose to throw away its morals and alienate an entire subsection of its fanbase for a shot at a Super Bowl ring.
In case you hadn’t heard, Watson — one of the young, talented faces of the NFL over the last few seasons — hasn’t played football since January 2021, not because of an injury, but because there are presently 22 active civil lawsuits against him from nearly two dozen women that have accused him of sexual assault or sexual misconduct during massage appointments.
Twenty. Two.
And while the Watson front has been mostly quiet for months, especially through the 2021 NFL season, things ramped back up last week.
On March 11, a grand jury in Houston came to the conclusion that there wasn’t enough evidence to criminally charge Watson in any of the cases against him — opening the flood gates to borderline disgustingly supportive tweets from NFL reporters, an influx of people thinking it proved his innocence and, of course, interest from a select few NFL teams.
But here’s the thing: a grand jury choosing not to move forward with criminal charges doesn’t prove innocence.
In fact, many people unfamiliar with the legal system have used language like, ‘A jury found him not guilty,’ when describing Watson’s recent developments.
But that’s just not true.
The jury, in this case, wasn’t looking to issue a guilty/non-guilty verdict — it doesn’t have that kind of power. It was simply assessing whether or not there was sufficient evidence to charge Watson with a crime (or dozens of them).
And it decided that there wasn’t.
A lack of evidence, however, also doesn’t prove innocence.
Victims of sexual abuse often face an uphill battle when it comes to pursuing their assailants, especially in court, as sexual assault is an incredibly tough thing to prove.
With that being said, the likelihood that the grand jury would proceed with criminal charges against Watson — aided by his financial and celebrity status — despite the overwhelmingly convincing allegations filed against him, were slim.
And now that criminal charges are off the table, it seems he’s now able to move on with his football life.
Watson, who had a no-trade clause on his contract with the Texans — meaning he had to approve any trade the Texans were to include him in — immediately got to work on what was essentially a free agency tour.
He was wined and dined by the Browns, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, all of which were in the running for the Watson sweepstakes — and all of which deserve equal blame for attempting to recruit him to their cities.
But in the end, he chose the Browns.
He got his wish.
He got his fresh start.
He got his money.
And like so many other abusers, he won.
The Browns visibly understand their choice to trade for him is a bad one. Or at least that it’s a bad look.
Over the weekend, the team’s Twitter account posted three separate, lengthy statements from Head Coach Kevin Stefanski, General Manager Andrew Berry and Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslem, all of which noted the extensive investigation process the team went through to ensure they were making the right choice.
“Would love, just once, for a team to actually explain what went into their ‘comprehensive evaluation process,’ wrote ESPN’s Mina Kimes on Twitter in response to the Haslems’ statement.
It was later revealed that Tony Buzbee, the attorney for the 22 women suing Watson, said that none of the teams interested in him — including the Browns — reached out to him to talk to either him or his clients as part of their “evaluation process.”
Yikes.
The statements were just a clear attempt at trying to calm an enraged fan base and justify the possibility that the team may have just mortgaged its future for a man that could be a serial sex abuser with nearly two dozen active lawsuits pending.
In addition, the Browns also chose to convert $45 million of Watson’s first year of his new contract into a signing bonus, leaving him with a base salary of $1 million this season, which means that if he’s suspended by the NFL — once the league’s investigation into the cases is over — then he’ll only lose around $55,000 per game while still pocketing $45 million this year.
Essentially, the Browns know he’s likely going to be suspended for a chunk of games next season, so they wanted to make it easier on him and his pockets.
Classy move.
I say all of that to say this: I have no clue whether or not Watson is guilty of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct — and I’d assume we may never know the truth about what happened during those massage therapy sessions.
But, at the end of the day, I’m choosing to believe the stories of 22 women who were brave enough to come out against and stand up to one of the most prominent athletes in the nation.
I just wish the Cleveland Browns would’ve done the same.
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.
