Tag: Deshaun Watson

It’s time to stop making excuses for “elite” quarterbacks

If we are truly being honest with ourselves, hearing the news about Tom Brady retiring, only to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers five minutes later, should come as no surprise. Besides, it’s not like Brady’s game was falling off from the standard we’ve become accustomed to. The seven-time Super Bowl winner threw for 5,316 yards, with 43 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season, which is not bad for a 44-year-old. It’s no secret the National Football League was shaken up by what Brady was able to do in leading the Buccaneers to a title in 2020. As a result, franchise quarterbacks everywhere felt it was time to flex their muscle and demand more say-so in personnel decisions. It’s one thing to demand that, but it’s another to make the sacrifices necessary to get what’s desired. Too many times, the other QBs want money and power, and that turns into a never-ending chase for glory that often ends in disappointment. As we move forward, it’s important to remember teams win championships, not individual players. The quarterbacks I will mention are supposed to be in the elite category with Brady, but have not elevated their respective teams when it matters most. Therefore, it’s time to call them out for coming up short.

Let’s start with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for the first example. We can all agree Rodgers is one of the most talented people ever to play the position, and the two straight regular season MVP awards add to the verification. When Rodgers and the Packers won the title in 2010, it was almost a certainty it would be the first of many coming in his career. Here we are in 2022, and the 38-year-old drama king is still stuck on that one title. When the failures occurred, many media members and fans were quick to point out the team, or the coaches, around Rodgers as to why he couldn’t get over the hump. That might have been a legitimate point in years past, but not in the last two seasons. Green Bay had the best record in the NFC in both, but were knocked out in the conference championship game (by Tampa Bay) and divisional playoff (by the San Francisco 49ers), respectively. Against the Buccaneers, Rodgers could not take advantage of three Brady second-half interceptions, and the 49ers won without scoring an offensive touchdown. The league’s MVP stunk in the playoffs, and even the biggest Rodgers supporters would have to dig deep to deny that.

For the second example, lets look at the new quarterback for the Denver Broncos, Russell Wilson. Wilson was acquired via trade from the Seattle Seahawks, and the thinking for the Broncos is the 33-year-old is the missing piece for the team to be a legit Super Bowl contender. A common phrase heard for the last couple of years is “Let Russ Cook.” Well, letting the chef cook has produced mixed results, with the bad seeing him get sacked 427 times in his career. It got to the point Wilson ran to “The Dan Patrick Show” to voice his frustration about getting hit too much. The Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll, received much criticism for trying to establish a running game. If his quarterback is on his back all the time, who can blame Carroll for wanting to provide a little balance? While it might be true Seattle’s offensive line hasn’t been the best, Wilson does hold the ball too long at times, which contributes to the sack total. It’s also worth pointing out since the Seahawks decided to gear the offense more towards Wilson and the passing game (around the start of the 2015 season), the team hasn’t made it past the divisional playoff round. Now Wilson arrives in Denver, and there’s a lot of chatter about the Broncos being a Super Bowl favorite. That might be the case, but it’s also possible even with the upgrade at quarterback, Denver might not even be the best team in their own division.

Finally, let’s take a glance at current Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson. Yes, Watson’s off the field troubles are well-documented, but we can keep things about football for the sake of this article. Most people (including myself) would acknowledge the 26-year-old is a top-5 quarterback at his peak, but his individual success hasn’t contributed to much in terms of team wins. In 2020, Watson led the NFL in passing yards, but the Texans went 4-12 that season. Since he was drafted by Houston in 2017, Watson has one playoff win, which came in 2019. Looking forward, there are a good amount of teams willing to trade for his services, but the Texans are going to ask for a lot in return. That means there’s a good possibility the club Watson goes to won’t be too far away from what Houston was (and is) record-wise. As bad of a situation the Texans have on their hands, there’s no guarantee the grass is going to be greener on the other side, especially if Watson is running for his life from lack of protection.

So what does Rodgers, Wilson and Watson have in common? They all want to be like Brady, but they aren’t willing to do the things the greatest winner in league history does. For starters, Brady routinely takes less money on his contracts, which gives the team he’s on more flexibility to build around him. The other three have large contracts that eats salary cap room for their respective squads. While I would never fault anyone who fights for their payday, the flipside is the team around them might lack in other areas. If that’s the case, said quarterback has to elevate the club to championship heights. Rodgers, Wilson and Watson have all failed in this category in recent years, but they’re constantly called elite QBs. Is it fair to call them just elite regular season players? Maybe not, but if this is the quarterback-driven league I keep hearing about, then lets call a square a square. It’s time to question who is truly elite, and for me, there’s only one QB that at the level. That man resides in Tampa.

What we should learn from Deshaun Watson allegations

Not that long ago, one of the biggest developing stories in sports was trying to figure out which NFL team might attempt to trade for the services of Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. The 25-year-old said he doesn’t want to play another game for the Texans due to dysfunction within the team’s management, but according to reports, Houston was not entertaining any trade offers. This means along with trying to dissect which team Watson could end up with, we had an old-fashioned standoff developing because the Texans had just signed Watson to a long-term contract extension. Yes, the football aspect was front and center, but that would quickly begin to change when a civil lawsuit, accusing Watson of sexual misconduct, became public March 16. The number of lawsuits are now up to 22, and the question of Watson’s future now extends much further than what happens next on the football field. Through this saga, three things have stood out in my mind, and I believe they blur the lines in terms of how we view not just athletes and celebrities, but society in general.

The first is the perceived relationships we have with people who have achieved lofty status in the social hierarchy. In the case of football players, we see them perform weekly, conduct interviews and have a presence on social media. Because of the attention that’s paid to the players, particularly someone with Watson’s star power, the thinking is we know how they are off of the playing field. Before these lawsuits became public, Watson had an image of someone who was squeaky-clean and very generous in terms of charity work within the city of Houston and elsewhere. Because of this portrayed image, shock would be the overwhelming reaction when lawsuits claiming Watson repeatedly committed acts of sexual misconduct reached the news wires. We all have to wait for the process to play out in court, but the lesson should be one of realizing we don’t know these athletes…at all, regardless of whether or not Watson is innocent. We have no idea what they do in their private time outside of the spotlight, so we shouldn’t act like we do. This goes both ways, because we can think a person is a complete a**hole, and be proven wrong about that also. That simply can’t be known unless we are hanging around them regularly, and even then, there’s no telling.

Speaking of the process playing out, that brings me to my second point. In the court of law, a person is to be innocent until proven guilty. In the court of public opinion, it’s guilty until proven innocent. When all of these lawsuits started to come out, it was automatically assumed in most outlets Watson was guilty. My hope is he didn’t do these things, because I have been a fan of Watson’s ever since his days with Clemson, where he led the 2016 Tigers to a national championship. If it’s proven the lawsuits filed by these women are fraudulent money grab attempts (which is possible), that actually would be even sadder because it’s people like that who ruin the creditability for the women who are actual victims of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct. Looking at what we know, it does not look good for Watson because a pattern of disturbing behavior during numerous massage therapy sessions has been painted. All I’m saying is during my days in the military, I have seen cases like this get thrown out because the woman couldn’t provide evidence due to the fact the events she claimed happened never transpired. That’s where the innocent until proven guilty phrase comes in, because it is up to the plaintiff to provide the burden of prove, not the defendant. If we do see that day where proof lines up, then Watson should be thrown in jail no questions asked, but excuse me while I wait to exercise judgement.

Finally, I mentioned Watson is named in 22 lawsuits alleging he committed acts of sexual misconduct. What has also been introduced by Watson’s defense team are 18 women saying the Texans’ 2017 first-round draft pick was a model citizen during their sessions of massage therapy. So that brings the count to 40 women, almost split down the middle on the conduct of Watson. I can only speak on my behalf, but I would think once a person finds a good massage therapist, they would want to stick with that person because there’s a trust and chemistry built that says the best treatment for the customer’s body is the expectation. Dealing with multiple massage therapists, let alone 40, seems abnormally high to say the least. Another part that’s baffling about these allegations is where it’s said Watson flew one of them in from Atlanta. I know there have been cases where athletes fly over to countries to get stem-cell treatment, or employ a personal massage therapist to be with them during the season, but when it’s considered Watson resides in the nation’s fourth most populous city, I’m having a tough time figuring out why he would have to fly someone in. Everything about these allegations seem weird and disturbing, and if proven true, this would be another sad case where a player, who had a great career and a bright future, threw it all away because of bad decision-making.

There’s no telling where this story is going to go in the coming days and weeks. Most of the women who filed the lawsuits against Watson are now required to reveal their identities, which would be a telling sign of how far these suits will be pursued. Even with that, it doesn’t seem like Watson’s defense team has much of a defense as of now. At any rate, one thing is for sure. Watson, regardless of the results, needs to take a serious look at how he’s going about things. Most people would worry about the football player, and endorsers such as Nike and Beats by Dre have distanced themselves from him, but Deshaun Watson the human being is what should be the priority. If proven guilty, the person will lose more than his career and endorsements. Just remember…we don’t truly know these people, and it’s innocent until proven guilty. Those lines have to remain clear, but unfortunately, they often aren’t.