When a player in any sport suffers an injury, the crowd in attendance typically goes silent. Then, a muted applause occurs if the player can get up or as they get helped off of the field.
That wasn't the case when Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered what the team fears to be a season-ending Achilles injury at the end of the first half of their 21-14 home loss against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7. Boos broke out as Watson lay on the field motionless.
As to why his own fans might be booing, well, he has completely underwhelmed as the Browns starting quarterback since he arrived in 2022 via trade with the Houston Texans and signed a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract extension. Cleveland is still the only team in the NFL to fail to score at least 20 points in 2024 through Week 7, and Watson didn't throw for at least 200 passing yards in any game this season. That's on top of being hit with more than 20 lawsuits alleging sexual assault and/or misconduct.
However, Myles Garrett didn't approve of his home crowd's reaction to Watson's injury. He declared that both the team and its fans "should be ashamed" with Watson's downfall being booed.
"With the reaction that the fans gave, whether it's an opponent who goes down or one of our own, we don't boo," Garrett said, via Cleveland.com. "We don't boo guys that are injured on the field, especially when the cart comes out. We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. Could be season-altering, career-altering injury. Man is not perfect. He doesn't need to be. None of us expect to be perfect. Can't judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can't throw stones from my glass house. We need to do better. We need to do better on the football field, and we need to do better as fans for having some empathy for a man who is doing the best he can and did the best he can up to this point. We have to be better."
Crowd cheering an Achilles injury on Watson, these people hate their QB. pic.twitter.com/OQAaGjTWr9
— Brandon Murphy (@BrandonMMurphy) October 20, 2024
Garrett also said Watson "does pretty much everything right." He also labeled the quarterback "a model citizen" despite Watson's legal issues and allegations.
"No one deserves that," Garrett said, via Awful Announcing, postgame. "I've seen him work his ass off to get back here and put a smile on his face and try to put everything that's outside the facility behind him. Death threats, [people] come to his house. People going after his family. Like I said, no one deserves that. I hate using the word deserve. I'm usually consistent saying earned. He hadn't earned it, and he doesn't deserve it. Man does pretty much everything right. A model citizen through college and also the pros. Plays the game as hard as anyone I've ever seen. Puts everything on the line, willing to throw his body out there. He plays the game at 100 miles an hour, and there's a risk of being injured, and he took that risk. We have to be there for him as a team and as an organization. We can't look down on a guy because of any mistakes on the field or anything off the field. We don't have any moral high ground to look down on the 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
The Browns next two quarterbacks in line to start are 10-year veteran Jameis Winston, the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and second-year quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a 2023 fifth-round pick.
