We’ve never seen anything like it
By STEVE KING
I wonder if the two guys at the top of the football side of things for the Browns, General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski have thought about this.
They have to have thought about it, right? I mean, how could they not have thought about this?
Thought about what?
That this will be the strangest — and very likely also the most challenging — season of their careers. And we’re talking not just to this point of their careers, but also even if they stay in the business for the next 40 years, or more.
There will be nothing else even close to it. There can’t be.
Berry and Stefanski have spearheaded the move to acquire DeShaun Watson and to install him as the starting quarterback and thus the face of their franchise for years to come.
This is the same Deshaun Watson who is up to his waist in off-the-field trouble, with 22 civil lawsuits filed against him for alleged sexual misconduct and the NFL seemingly ready to drop a big suspension on him.
From the moment it happened a little over two months ago, the story has been front-page news. Everything about it is steeped in controversy. And that will continue.
As such, then, this season really isn’t about football for the Browns, but rather about Deshaun Watson all the time.
Every day, the media will put its laser focus on Watson. No other player, nothing else, matters.
The story is Watson and all this alleged sexual improppreity. Period. End of statement.
As the GM and head coach, Berry and Stefanski are going to be peppered with questions about Watson. Even when they say they’re not talking about it, the questions will still come — in droves.
It is the issue that has swallowed up not just the locker room, but the Browns themselves and in a lot of ways also the league.
Berry and Stefanski can’t lose their cool because of the bombardment, They have to maintain their cool. After all, they brought this onto themselves, so they have to accept this as the new normal.
Can the two men — the two smart men who always seem to be in control of their emotions, and never seem to sweat — handle it?
Yes, they can, but will they? It’s not just a lot — but a whole heckuva lot, more than they’ve ever seen in their lifetimes, combined.
Watching it play out will be as interesting — probably in a negative, disappointing way because of the topic — as has ever been seen in the NFL, if not pro sports overall.
Buckle your seatbelt. Here we go!
