Terrance Williams/AP
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has likely paid tens of thousands – if not hundreds of thousands – of dollars in legal fees and crisis PR services, but he didn’t have to pay a dime for the most effective rehabilitation services he’s received so far: An appearance on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football, during which announcers and analysts glossed over his substantial “off-field” issues. Specifically, they avoided the existence of allegations by some 27 women that Watson exposed himself to and forced them to touch his intimate parts.
It’s not that anyone expected or desired a detailed discussion of the case. Kirk Herbstreit is no more capable of a sensitive dialog about sexual assault than his dog. No, wait: An argument could be made that Peter Herbstreit is more capable of such a conversation. A golden retriever wouldn’t participate in this deliberately context-free exchange with co-host Al Michaels:
MICHAELS: He’s got this career in Houston, it’s great, all of a sudden he’s got these issues — We all know what they were… [C]an he win the fanbase over?…Winning is the best deodorant.
HERBSTREIT: This is an extreme case because of what you laid out with Deshaun Watson, but if you convert on third downs, you hit passes, you lead this team to victories, those boos turn into cheers.
Postgame, analyst Tony Gonzales went further in predicting Watson’s restoration, referring to Watson as having endured “adversity” and “everybody doubting him.” Considering “the stuff that he’s gone through,” Gonzales said, “You have to take your hat off to him and say wow, because he looks fantastic.”
“These issues,” an “extreme case,” “adversity,” “the stuff,” and a history of sexual assault as a scent that can be dispersed: These are euphemisms designed not to trouble anyone, I would guess Herbstreit and Michaels specifically. Michaels’ passive-voice chronology of Watson’s departure from the Texans might be an even more grievous offense against the truth: “All of a sudden he’s got issues” makes a civil suit over interpersonal violence sound like a torn ACL.
This waltz around the facts followed the steps laid down in a pre-game interview with Watson, during which correspondent Taylor Rooks positioned Watson’s history as simply a hurdle to overcome in his relationship with fans – a general “character” issue. Two Texas grand juries declined to indict Watson over the allegations.
Some fans, she said, were displeased with his performance, while others booed “because of who you are as a person.” Watson himself described his experience as a hero’s journey. “Everything that happened, I rose through it,” he said. “I have that grit, I have that determination.” Have the Browns picked their Walter Payton Award nominee yet?
I am not asking for the Thursday Night Football team to attend sensitivity training (though I am quite sure they would benefit from it). I do not need them wearing “Time’s Up” pins (though that would be nice). I certainly do not desire Michaels to get granular about what Watson allegedly did (it’s pretty gross). The problem with describing or talking about Watson’s past in such overly polite terms is that it lays the groundwork for Watson’s desired narrative to take hold. They are aiding and abetting Watson by keeping “issues” secret and, worse, implying that those “issues” are easily overcome by a 2-1 record (especially since one of those wins was against the Buccaneers!).
The solution is to just not talk about Watson’s “case” at all. Don’t delve into his relationship with the fans. Don’t mention his “struggles.” For the love of all that is holy, don’t grant him a softly lit solo interview and let him prattle on about the adversity he’s faced. Michael Vick faced more pushback than Watson has so far.
I do not often advocate silence in the face of violence against women. In an ideal world, Amazon shouldn’t have to face the decision about how to talk about Watson, because he wouldn’t be on the field at all. But here, silence is the only substitute for justice that we have.
Some fans noticed the disconnect between Watson’s indecent past and the Amazon team’s ginger vocabulary. Here are some of the best reactions:
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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
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