Deshaun Watson is the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback again, and the team's passionate fan base isn't taking it well. 

Since Todd Monken's announcement, anti-Browns messages (specifically, messages aimed at Watson and team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam) have been seen throughout Cleveland. Messages were also posted on the statue of Browns legend Jim Brown. 

The treatment of Browns' statue is evidence of just how disenchanted the team's fan base has become. The frustration is certainly understandable, given everything they have endured since Brown and his teammates won the franchise's last championship way back in 1964. 

Browns fans suffered through three heartbreaking playoff losses during the 1980s, the move to Baltimore in 1996 and the disastrous run of futility since the team's return to the NFL 1999. In addition to their 62-year championship drought, the Browns haven't won a division title since 1989 and have won just three playoff games over that span. Cleveland has won just one playoff game this century with only two playoff appearances. 

Now, Browns fans -- at least temporarily -- will be subjected to watch a quarterback who criticized their treatment of him following Saturday's dismal performance in Cleveland's preseason loss to Buffalo. Making this more painful for Browns fans is the fact that Watson is playing over Shedeur Sanders, an immensely popular player in Cleveland who possesses a much higher ceiling than the 31-year-old Watson.  

If there's a positive in Cleveland, it's the fact that there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of Watson's expiring contract, which all but guarantees that he will no longer be on the team at the end of the 2026 season. 

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