Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett called out the team’s fans on Sunday for their reaction to quarterback Deshaun Watson’s injury.
Watson suffered an apparent Achilles injury during the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland. Despite the severity of the injury, some Browns fans could be heard booing Watson even while he was down on the field.
Some Browns players were yelling at fans who were cheering the Watson injury. Ugly scene.
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) October 20, 2024
Browns players were aware of the boos, and Garrett was highly critical of the fans that responded that way when he spoke after the game.
#Browns Myles Garrett calls out fans for booing Deshaun Watson while he was down on the field: pic.twitter.com/GyT8UKdNh6
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) October 20, 2024
“Whether it’s an opponent that goes down or one of our own, we don’t boo. We don’t boo guys that are injured on the field, especially when the cart comes out,” Garrett said. “We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. Could be (a) season-altering, career-altering injury. Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. 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 on the football field and we need to do better as fans for having some empathy for a man who’s doing the best he can, and did the best he can up to this point.”
The unusual response from Browns fans was likely fueled by Watson’s immense struggles since he signed a fully-guaranteed 5-year, $230 million deal with the team after being traded there in 2022. The combination of bad production and his incredibly high salary has had fans fed up with him, and many had called for him to be benched long before he got hurt on Sunday.
In addition to his poor play, Watson has been a widely criticized figure after being accused of sexual assault by multiple women, including a new allegation that emerged earlier this year.
Garrett is right that Watson might have suffered a career-altering injury in Sunday’s game, and his reaction to the boos is totally understandable. Some Browns fans, however, just are not going to feel much sympathy for their quarterback.
