Deshaun Watson insisted Monday night that “there was no contact with the ref,” which is technically true. But he clearly made contact with an umpire. As Deshaun Watson defenses go, this was more credible than when he settled lawsuits from 23 women who described misconduct ranging from forced groping to oral penetration, then claimed he had done nothing wrong. But it was still not all that credible.
Watson had two facemask penalties against the Steelers. He put his hands on umpire Bill Anderson in a way that easily could have led to ejection and suspension. (Officials did not penalize him, and the NFL announced it will not suspend him.)
This was not the behavior of a franchise quarterback, but then, Watson hasn’t played like a franchise quarterback for one game since Donald Trump was president.
