You don’t get more tone deaf than this.
In response to a question about what he has altered entering the 2024 season compared to his previous two years with the Cleveland Browns, Dehsun Watson said he’s focused on blocking out the noise. But what noise?
“Honestly, it’s really just blocking out all the bulls— outside. Stuff coming in two years, different environment, different team, different all that,” Watson said. “So, you come in and your character is being mentioned this way and it kind of flip on you and you’re trying to get people to like you or improve. But now it’s like, at the end of the day, it’s two years in and if you don’t like me or you have your own opinion, it is what it is.
“[I’m] blocking out all the noise and focusing on me, focusing on what I need to do to be the best Deshaun Watson I can be for myself, for my family and for my teammates.”
Watson was suspended 11 games in 2022 after more than 24 women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions. Two grand juries in Texas declined to pursue criminal charges against the Browns quarterback, but he served the suspension after the NFL and the NFL Players Association reached a settlement in his disciplinary matter.
Reporters followed up Watson’s comments by asking if it’s been “tough” to block out all the external noise and his response was even more tone deaf than his original quote.
“Of course. My character was being challenged. Like I said, I know who I am. A lot of people never really knew my history or knew who I really was, so they’re going based off other people’s opinions and whatever other people are saying.”
“I’m a person that likes to have people like me and I feel like a lot of people are like that. So, sometimes things in your brain, you’ve just got to churn and you’ve got to just be like, ‘Forget it.’ It is what it is.”
The suspension and injuries have limited Watson to just 12 games since the Browns traded multiple draft picks for him and followed it up by giving him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract in March of 2022. This offseason, Watson rehabbed the season-ending surgery to his throwing shoulder he underwent in November.
When asked what his motivation is for the 2024 season, Watson said, “Just being the best Deshaun Watson can be for this team, so we can get that ultimate goal and maximizing our potential and our talent.”
Asked in a follow-up whether he’s motivated by proving people wrong and quarterback rankings that no longer place him among the NFL’s elite, Watson responded: “I couldn’t give two f—s about what the people say, to be honest.”
Alrighty then.
