Insider Is Asking Browns Fans For One Thing Sunday

On Sunday, Deshaun Watson will play a regular-season home game for the Cleveland Browns for the first time since Oct. 20, 2024. That afternoon, some fans cheered as Watson was carted off the field after tearing his Achilles tendon.

Watson surely remembers that, as he referenced it in his postgame comments after he was booed during a preseason game last month. At that point, the relationship between him and the fan base was so bad that it was considered inconceivable that the Browns could send him out there again as the starting quarterback for their 2026 home opener.

Then, after a humbling Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Browns reportedly were already planning that Watson would not get such an assignment. Yet, after playing well in an upset win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the polarizing veteran will lead the offense onto the field for its first snap against the Carolina Panthers.

How much goodwill one victory can create remains to be seen, so insider Tony Grossi has a request for Browns fans about Watson, asking them to be patient before potentially turning on him.

“I would hope that the Browns fans just give Watson a chance, at least at the start of the game,” Grossi said.

"I would hope that the Browns fans at least give Watson a chance, at least at the start of the game," – @TonyGrossi on Deshaun Watson's first home game of the season. pic.twitter.com/coj4McrdXz

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) September 22, 2026

There will always be a troubling personal component surrounding Watson, who has been the subject of multiple sexual assault allegations. That sordid past is enough for some fans to boo him always and forever, and he will never play well enough to win them over.

For those who may have been willing to let him prove himself, his churlish comments after the preseason game, and more to the media about unfair expectations being placed on him, probably used up that leeway. Still others may dislike him because he just hasn’t played well enough in his limited time available.

So now, fans have to weigh how badly they want Watson to win games for the Browns against all of these other issues. How that plays out on Sunday will be a talking point during and long after the game.

Watson is well beyond a second chance with the Cleveland fan base, but a path to redemption remains if he can stay on the field long enough to earn it.