Karma remains undefeated as Deshaun Watson, Browns finally get their comeuppance
Well, isn’t that too bad about Deshaun Watson. And by too bad, I mean a giant dose of much-deserved karma for both Watson and the Cleveland Browns.
Before you come after me for reveling in someone else’s misfortune, let’s remember that Watson is an unrepentant sexual predator, having settled lawsuits with more than 20 women who detailed unwanted touching and/or sexual harassment by the quarterback. Despite this, the Browns gave him a $230 million contract that was fully guaranteed, the most guaranteed money ever for an NFL player, and then defended the move by saying what Watson had done wasn’t that bad and the women weren’t worthy of sympathy, anyway.
So spare me any outrage at not feeling bad for Watson or the Browns following Wednesday’s news that the quarterback will miss the rest of the season with a fracture in his throwing shoulder. His career isn’t over and he’ll still get paid, and the Browns will lose like they always do — though at least this time they’ll have an excuse.
The women Watson harassed and abused, however, had their lives combed through and their motives and characters questioned. The pain of that will be with them forever, as will the anger and frustration that Watson was able to go merrily on his way without any real repercussions.
And no, an 11-game suspension doesn’t count when you’re still getting your fat paychecks and no one requires you to make amends for your abysmal behavior.
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“We’re devastated, we’re disappointed for Deshaun,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said Wednesday.
Actually, some of us have been waiting two-plus years for the universe to exact its payback on Watson and the Browns.
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Watson’s misdeeds weren’t minor, regardless of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s attempts to portray them that way. He wasn’t caught speeding. He didn’t break team curfew. He didn’t get into a fight at a bar. He sexually violated women. Dozens of them.
According to the complaints against him, Watson exposed himself during massages and touched therapists with his genitals. He threatened at least one of the women, suggesting he could ruin her career if she told anyone.
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While it’s true two grand juries declined to indict Watson — do some research on the difficulty in bringing charges in sexual-abuse cases before you think that clears him — a police detective said in a deposition in one of the civil cases that she believed his behavior was criminal. The NFL’s independent disciplinary officer, a former U.S. district judge, determined Watson had a “sexual purpose” for the appointments.
“Watson reached out to women whose professional qualifications were unknown and unimportant to him,” Judge Sue L. Robinson wrote in her August 2022 decision that Watson had violated the NFL’s personal-conduct policy.
“He insisted on using a towel, increasing the probability of exposure. He insisted on having the therapists focus on areas of his body that not uncommonly triggered erections. And he engaged in this pattern of conduct multiple times,” Robinson wrote.
“I find this sufficient circumstantial evidence to support the NFL’s contention not only that contact occurred, but that Mr. Watson was aware that contact probably would occur, and that Mr. Watson had a sexual purpose — not just a therapeutic purpose — in making these arrangements with these particular therapists.”
Had Watson not been Watson, an elite NFL quarterback capable of leading a team to the playoffs, a damning finding like that probably would have cost him his job. Maybe even his freedom. Certainly his reputation.
Instead, the Browns rewarded him with a historic contract and, after an NFL-imposed timeout that didn’t even last three-quarters of a season, he returned as if nothing had happened.
“I’ve always been able to stand on my innocence and always said I never assaulted or disrespected anyone,” Watson said, defiantly, in August 2022. “But at the same point I have to continue to push forward with my life and career.”
Watson is not the first athlete to do wrong. Michael Vick spent 21 months in federal prison for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring. Ray Rice lost his career after punching his then-fiancée out in an elevator.
The difference is Vick and Rice recognized what they had done was wrong. They apologized and have spent the time since trying to make up for it. Watson has learned nothing. He hasn’t tried to make amends because he doesn’t see a need to. These women were disposable to him. Their only value was to give him pleasure and sexual gratification, and he did not care that he did not have their consent and was doing them harm.
And Watson thought he got away with it. Until his season ended because of an injury suffered during his best game in a Browns uniform.
Karma, as the old saying goes, remains undefeated, and Watson earned every bit that he got.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.