Man, people — including, and especially, the Browns and way too many members of the media who should know better — are failing to recognize a huge part of this whole Deshaun Watson saga.

That is, let’s just say that Broens head coach Todd Monken names Watson as the starting quarterback. Everybody is worried about the reaction from fans of Shadeur Sanders, who believe their guy is the right man for the job. The Sanders people will yell loudly.
They certainly will, I don’t think there’s any question about it.

But nobody — absolutely, positively nobody — is considering the reaction from many other fans who have a sound foundation of morals, and are incredibly upset that the Browns are even considering Watsonfor the job. In fact, they wish he wasn’t even on the roster. Their displeasure will outdistance any of the other factions, including the Sanders group.

People seem to forget how angry people were — a lot of people, really — when Watson joined the team after living a life that, let’s just say, was a little off the beaten path, and we’ll leave it at that. This is their team, the Cleveland Browns, and they don’t want somebody with that kind of background being the quarterback — not really just the quarterback, mind you, but also the face of the team because that’s what the quarterback is — of their club. That is going to be an unbelievable tsunami of reaction that the Browns are going to
have to deal with. I get it, because I am also of the firm belief that doesn’t belong here, or anywhere. I don’t think you can do what he did off the field and just erase it away and expect that he’s goong to make good decisions on the field. A lot of coaches will tell you that they can’t trust guys who can’t make good decisions off the field. that is who they are in their life. They aren’t going to change.

Can you imagine a home game if Watson starts and he’s just horrific for a period of time? The fans would be on somebody like that no matter what their background was, but with the personal resume of Watson, that reaction would make the foundation of Huntington Bank Field shake.

The Browns have to have a way to handle that. This isn’t something where he’s just coming back from an injury. Rather, this is something where he’s coming back from a nightmarish string of seasons during which he made a lot of poor decisions and then proved bryonf
any shadow a doubt that he can’t play anymore.

Now, the Browns can select
whoever they want for quarterback. That is their decision. But it is the decision of the fans, both those of the Sanders faction, and also the faction of people who live their lives a little bit more decently than Watson has, to conveniently oppose that decision

Cleveland is a Midwestern town, filled with people with Midwestern values and beliefs. They’re not ready to have a guy like Watson as the quarterback. I can tell you that without any hesitation. The Browns are going to be surprised, I think, by the reaction. With all the supposedly smart people in Berea who sit around and think and talk, for them not to see the very obvious freight train ready to chug on down the tracks toward them is almost beyond belief.

Stay tuned, for this thing is far from over. It could last all season or even into next season.

Steve King