Deshaun Watson appears to have suffered a season-ending injury on Sunday afternoon, going down with a non-contact injury that the Cleveland Browns believe to be a torn Achilles tendon. As he was carted off late in the first half of the team's 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, some Browns fans continued what they started earlier and booed the injured quarterback.
This did not sit well with anybody in the organization and especially not superstar defensive end Myles Garrett. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year expressed his displeasure with the sequence to reporters after the loss, saying no player deserves that treatment before calling Watson a "model citizen" for "most" of his pro career.
"No one deserves that," Garrett said. "I've seen him work his ass off to get back in here and put a smile on his face. Try to put everything that's outside the facility behind him. Death threats, people coming to his house, going after his family. No one deserves that... Man does pretty much everything right. He's been a model citizen through college and most of the pros. He plays the game as hard as anyone I've ever seen."
"We can't look down on a guy because of any mistakes on the field or anything off the field," Garrett continued. "We don't have any moral high ground to look down on a guy."
Myles Garrett clearly upset with fans booing Deshaun Watson’s injury. Said Watson “does pretty much everything right. He’s been a model citizen through college and most of the pros.” pic.twitter.com/gElBYyI2Ym
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) October 20, 2024
Watson was drafted by the Houston Texans in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. He demanded a trade following the 2020 season and held out in an effort to play elsewhere. During this time, 22 lawsuits were filed against Watson accusing him of sexual assault. He was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 season by the NFL as a result of those allegations. Earlier this season, he was again accused of sexual assault and battery in a civil suit filed by another woman; Watson has since settled that suit, along with the others.
The Browns traded for Watson during his legal saga and gave him a fully-guaranteed $230 million contract. In six starts this season Watson led Cleveland to a 1-5 record and threw for over 1,000 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Myles Garrett Calls Out Browns Fans for Booing 'Model Citizen' Deshaun Watson After Injury.
