The DeShaun Watson Effect: Were You Tested in These Ways?

As a Cleveland Browns fan my loyalty to the team I’ve cheered on since I was a kid back in 1979 and those Kardiac Kids has been shifting like a never-ending pendulum you see that never stops swaying back and forth. Most of you reading this today are fans of the Browns and most of you would probably agree this season has taken on a new level of loyalty. But many of us have also thrown our hands in the air and said, “Enough of this… I’m done being a fan…I just can’t do it.”

Before this past off-season, if you were a Browns fan you could always look to blame someone like the late owner Art Modell for your miseries. Or maybe it was John Elway, the former Denver Broncos quarterback that ruined my teenage years as he stole three Super Bowl appearances from the Browns.

But now the news every day that comes out of Berea isn’t about the team as much as it is about their quarterback Deshaun Watson because of his never-ending list of civil cases that are pending because of actions he’s been accused of from various people.

The Browns have shared many times over that they were aware of all of this and still went on to trade for the quarterback.

The Browns have had other controversial characters in the past. Look no further than Johnny Manziel. The quarterback from Texas A&M was drafted by the team in 2014. Manziel spent time partying in Las Vegas and then learning the Browns playbook. The whole fiasco was embarrassing to the fan base, and we are still trying to recover.

Let’s look now at why this whole story on Watson has been likely the most difficult situation to digest. It’s difficult for this writer too. While we want to look at things objectively, it’s hard to avoid opinions. That gets more complicated because you’re ultimately a fan of the team.