The Deshaun Watson story isn’t fully written because this Cleveland Browns season isn’t over and neither is his career. But Amazon Prime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels figures he can tell the tale without mentioning the most important and disgusting parts: The sexual misconduct and abuse allegations, and the dozen lawsuits Watson settled afterward to keep his career afloat.
The Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers were on Thursday Night Football this week and that, of course, put Watson in the spotlight.
Some would want him put in crosshairs, given his history with the 27 women who filed civil lawsuits against Watson alleging sexual misconduct and assault, mostly during massage appointments between 2017 and 2020 while he was with the Houston Texans.
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Those allegations were the primary reason the Texans sat Watson the entire 2021 season and traded him to the Browns in 2022.
Those allegations and Watson settling all the lawsuits were the reason the NFL suspended him for 11 games his first season in Cleveland.
But Michaels expects NFL fans to know these details. And he cannot be bothered with mentioning any of them even when discussing Watson’s history.
“If you follow football, you know the story,” Michael said. “We don’t have to go through the whole Deshaun Watson thing.”
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We don’t. But you should go through some of it because you brought it up, Al.
You started the discussion about Watson’s history and how it has affected his relationship with Browns fans.
“It’s great, all of a sudden he’s got these issues,” Michaels said. “We all know what they were. They make the trade for him. It looks like a terrible trade. He’s hurt. Hasn’t played that much. Can he win the fan base over?”
So, Michaels mentions a terrible trade, suggesting the Browns overpaid. Check. He mentions Watson’s injuries. Check And he asks if Watson can win fans over as if the only stuff they have to get over are the facts their team paid a steep price, he’s been injured, and hasn’t played well when healthy.
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But the part about allegedly forcing some of those massage therapists to fondle him against their will, or the NFL successfully proving Watson committed “sexual assault” against multiple massage therapists is something about which football fans should be fully versed, according to Michaels.
Look, the point here is not to demand that every mention of Watson’s name be followed by a comprehensive detailing of his misconduct history.
But when deciding to explain his history and his relationship with the Browns’ fan base – which at varying times over the years has booed him and flooded radio call-in shows complaining about his alleged misdeeds, settled lawsuits, and suspension – then it behooves Michael to provide that context.
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And Michaels didn’t merely skip the full story but seemingly minimized the allegations of assault.
He called it all a “thing.”
He said it’s not necessary to mention otherwise.
This “thing” probably hasn’t been forgotten by Watson’s victims. Whatever you think of their stories, profession, anything else, the sheer number of women who shared their similar experiences with the quarterback is hard to dismiss.
Except if you’re Al Michaels.
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