Thursday night’s Steelers-Browns broadcast on Prime Video was wild, but not for the reasons you’d think. It was a clinic in tiptoeing, dancing around the massive elephant Deshaun Watson dragged into the room himself. Seriously, the way they skirted his past issues was almost impressive.
The Broadcast’s Dance Around Reality
You watched it, right? From the sit-down interview with Taylor Rooks to Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit’s periodic, super vague references, there was zero direct mention of the self-created adversity Watson has been dealing with since 2021. It’s like they all got the memo: “Don’t poke the bear.” But come on, everyone knows what we’re talking about here. This whole approach, or lack thereof, just perfectly matches Watson’s own strategy for handling the whole mess.
Watson’s History, Unfiltered
Because let’s be real, the guy has never, ever shown true, consistent remorse for the more than 25 civil lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. Twenty-five! Sure, a grand jury didn’t indict him in the criminal cases, but the NFL’s own process, their in-house judicial system, slapped him with an 11-game suspension under the Personal Conduct Policy. That’s not nothing. And remember what he said? Twice in 2022, Watson stated he had “no regrets” about the situation. No regrets. Think about that for a second.
He finally offered an apology in August of that same year, saying, “I want to say that I’m truly sorry to all of the women that I have impacted in this situation. The decisions that I made in my life that put me in this position I would definitely like to have back, but I want to continue to move forward and grow and learn and show th.” But when you’ve said “no regrets” twice, does that apology really hit the same? It leaves you wondering, doesn’t it? This whole “redemption” arc feels like it’s missing the most crucial piece: genuine remorse. And until that shows up, the narrative just won’t stick.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.
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