Deshaun Watson Booed by Browns Fans in Return Home, Calls It "Personal" and "Disrespectful"
Deshaun Watson heard boos from his own fans in his first home game since tearing his Achilles tendon in October 2024. By the time the Buffalo Bills finished off a 31-7 demolition of the Cleveland Browns on August 22, Watson had heard them four times in the third quarter alone, in front of a sparse preseason crowd (The Athletic).
His numbers did not help. Watson went 5 of 12 passing for 36 yards and threw an interception. He had come off the bench in place of Shedeur Sanders, the rookie who is competing with Watson for the starting quarterback job — the most prominent position battle on the roster. Head coach Todd Monken has not yet decided who will start the season opener in Jacksonville on September 13 (The Guardian).
After the game, Watson made clear the boos cut deeper than a bad box score. "It has nothing to do about the performance," he said. "It's a little bit personal. I think that's a disrespectful thing" (The Guardian). He pointed to a previous wound: some Browns fans cheered when he tore his Achilles on the same field in October 2024, an injury that threatened his career. "When a person gets hurt, especially for your own city and they cheer," Watson said, trailing off before finishing the thought.
The quarterback, who said he is not sure he can win back the Cleveland fanbase, even joked — or half-joked — about the contrast between home and away. "I feel like I get more love in road games than I do home games," he said. "So if it is my spot and he [Monken] does make me the (starter), maybe it's 17 away games then" (The Guardian).
The estrangement between Watson and Cleveland's fans long predates this preseason. In 2022, the Browns traded three first-round picks to the Houston Texans for Watson and handed him a $230 million fully guaranteed contract — the richest guarantee in NFL history at the time. The NFL then suspended him for 11 games that season following its investigation into sexual assault allegations made against him by dozens of women. On the field across four seasons in Cleveland, Watson has thrown 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions — a modest return on a record investment (The Guardian).
Three days before the Bills game, Watson told reporters he did not care how fans might react to him. "I don't care," he said (NFL.com). After the boos rained down four times, he struck a different tone.
What makes this situation so tangled is that the Browns are still paying for the trade, the contract, and the suspension — and now they are paying for a quarterback who may not have a home crowd behind him. Monken's decision on a Week 1 starter will not fix that. It will only determine who takes the first snap of a season that, for Watson, already sounds like it is being played on the road.
