On second thought, a second chance?

By Steve King

The man – we’ll call him Mike — lives in a neighboring state, but his dad grew up in Marion, Ohio, played football at tradition-rich Harding High School there and was a big Browns fan.

So, like father, like son, he is a big Browns fan, too.

Every time our paths cross, Mike wants to talk to me about the Browns.

On one of those occasions a month or so ago, the subject of our conversation was Deshaun Watson. Imagine that, someone wanting to talk about the controversial Browns quarterback?

Mike led into that topic in a different and interesting way, revealing some painful memories of his own story along the way.

“I am a recovering alcoholic,” he admitted. “I used to drink all the time. I made a lot of money on my job, but I spent most of it on beer.

“One day I came home – drunk, again – and my wife was waiting for me at the door. She had had enough of my drinking. She looked me right in the eye and said, ‘It’s either that bottle or me and the kids. You’ve got to pick one. It can’t be both. Get some help or the kids and I are gone.’

“I sobered up at that very moment. I love her and the kids so much and I didn’t want to lose them, so I checked myself into a rehab facility. It worked. I cleaned myself up. I quit drinking entirely. It changed my life, and I kept my family.

“So, I guess the point of me telling you this is to say that I got a second chance and without it, I would have lost my marriage. I would have lost everything important to me.

“Steve, you say that you don’t like the fact that the Browns traded for Deshaun Watson. You don’t like all that stuff he did. Are you, like me, a man of faith?”

I told him I was.

“OK, so as Christians, and really just as human beings, we’re told to forgive others. Why can’t we, then – and why shouldn’t we – forgive Watson and give him a second chance?”

I stood there speechless. Of all of the aspects of Watson coming to the Browns that I written about and thought about, the possibility of granting him forgiveness and giving him a second chance had never crossed my mind.

It’s a great point, and certainly something to at least consider, don’t you think?