The Cleveland Browns’ decision to name Deshaun Watson their starting quarterback this season has an obvious impact on the team and the path its season is likely to take. But even more than that, it has had a tremendous effect on the fan base, which is being forced into the position of having to root for someone it definitely does not like or want.
That has been the case since 2022, when the Browns acquired Watson in a trade with the Houston Texans. A desperate team made a costly move, and the fans had to stomach the sexual assault allegations that were surrounding Watson with the hopes that he could make their team better.
He did not. In the 19 games he has played for the Browns, Watson has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. Despite all of that, he will be back under center against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2026 season opener.
With this uncomfortable history in mind, NFL Network analyst Kyle Brandt revealed why he sympathizes with Browns fans, who can’t fathom that they are back in the same place again.
“In the last five years, Deshaun Watson’s entire tenure as a Cleveland Brown, in front of these fans, he has been either bad, passable, awful, injured, pouting, or suspended. That’s the only modes he’s ever been in. And again this year, he was awful in the preseason. He openly antagonized the fan base, and they said, ‘Deshaun, you’re our guy.’ Imagine you are a lifelong Browns fan going through this. I can’t. I really don’t know how you guys do it. I sympathize with you,” Brandt said.
I took some time this morning and imagined I was a Browns fan.
Out of respect. pic.twitter.com/YLBHJ1OXTp
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) August 25, 2026
After the start of Watson’s Cleveland career was delayed by a long NFL suspension, when he did play, he was not very good. That problem seemed to solve itself when Watson tore his Achilles tendon in October 2024.
The following offseason, owner Jimmy Haslam called the trade a “big swing and miss,” and he spoke of Watson’s time in the past tense, leading fans to believe they were finally done with him once and for all. But once Todd Monken was hired as head coach this offseason, things changed dramatically.
Monken immediately declared that incumbent Shedeur Sanders would not be the starter and there would be an open competition for the job. After many twists and turns, Watson was declared the winner on Monday, two days after he was loudly booed during a preseason game and whined about the fans’ treatment of him afterward.
Now, Watson has a lot to prove in two road games to open the season before returning to face them in the home opener at Huntington Bank Field in Week 3.
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