00:00You know, what is your why?
00:01And I'm not trying to throw any shade towards Kaylee.
00:05I think she's fantastic and does a great job.
00:08But it's like, what are we selling here?
00:11Like, have we collectively, and I don't think it's Cleveland,
00:16but maybe nationally, are we trying to set up the dominoes here
00:20for a Deshaun Watson comeback story?
00:22Because if you're going to be telling that story,
00:25you can't just tell the parts of that story that make him seem sympathetic.
00:30All right, not to just offend Kaylee's question.
00:31I think it's a good question, only because I don't know
00:34that he's going to have a great answer for it.
00:35Now, that was a fine answer, and that sets him up
00:37for what you're describing, this heroic comeback story.
00:40But based off of how he's answered questions in the past week
00:42about whether or not he can handle confidence,
00:44whether or not he has all sorts of different stuff around the game,
00:47I actually think it's a very fair question,
00:48and one that he had a chance to fumble.
00:51And dare I say, last week, he might have.
00:53If after that second preseason game, if he went to the podium
00:56and someone said, so what's your why?
00:58Like, why do you want to do this football thing?
01:01I don't know that he would have answered it as well as he did last night.
01:04All right, so here's also Deshaun Watson
01:06talking about what the fans don't know, also courtesy of NFL on Prime.
01:10How much work do I put in?
01:11I think just the work I come in each and every day,
01:13the opportunity that I have, you know, being able to come in
01:17and lead this group.
01:18And, you know, I really just put the work in
01:20to try to come out here and win games for this city,
01:22for this organization.
01:23And we just want to continue to, you know, try to improve on that.
01:26I think it's really tough for me to buy
01:28that Deshaun wants to win for this city.
01:31And maybe he does want to win for the organization
01:33because I know he has, you know, friends in the organization.
01:36It's not like he is, you know, disliked in the organization.
01:39But in terms of winning for this city
01:41or doing it for the reasons that we're used to,
01:43I just don't think I can buy that
01:44when it was very apparent that he sat on bitterness
01:47about his injury being cheered for two years.
01:50Okay, that's a good catch by you.
01:51He said for the city right there and that.
01:53I didn't catch that the first go around.
01:55It's a good point out by you because that is,
01:57you can't say what you said last week
01:59and then try to make this claim of it's for the city.
02:01I don't think he knew what he was saying.
02:02I think he's gone through the cliche machine so often
02:05and he does it so consistently that in his mind,
02:07he's like, all right, so what do I spit out?
02:09Oh yeah, I'm doing this for the city.
02:10I'm doing this for the fans.
02:11I'm doing it for all these things
02:12that he went up against last week.
02:14I actually would go, I'm going to push back on that.
02:17He is in the cliche machine,
02:18so there's no refuting that.
02:20I don't think it's a coincidence that on Monday,
02:22he talked about winning for this city
02:24and winning for this fan base.
02:25I think that's the part of the damage control
02:28that I don't really find annoying.
02:30I just find it needless.
02:31So you mean like if you say it enough,
02:32then people will believe you're actually for the city
02:34despite what you said last Saturday.
02:36And a mountain of evidence we have now gathered
02:38on the idea that you don't really care about the city.
02:40You just care about yourself.
02:41And the entire damage control starting on Monday
02:44tells me that as much as the Browns want to say,
02:47hey, if he just plays good football, you're all going to forget.
02:50The doubt has to be creeping in for the Browns
02:52because they've just done,
02:53last night was a giant PR push on behalf of Amazon Prime
02:57for the Cleveland Browns.
02:59Monday was a giant let's change the conversation.
03:02Oh, I didn't mean any of that.
03:04No, that was the emotions of the game talking
03:07for an organization that has told anyone that will listen,
03:10hey, if he just plays good football,
03:12they haven't said this part of it,
03:14but the implication is you idiots will turn code on this
03:17and you're going to love him.
03:18If that's really what you truly think in your heart of hearts,
03:22you put a lot of PR work into trying to soften the blow
03:25if that guy starts week three with what they've done this week.
03:27All right, you've convinced me.
03:28That was very intentional yesterday.
03:30The use of City was not just him going through a cliche machine,
03:32even though it sounded cliche.
03:34That was intentional.
03:35It's all part of the big motive that he's trying to put out
03:37that everything he said last Saturday just wasn't true.
03:40Everything he said last Saturday was,
03:42basically he's trying to give himself a mulligan
03:45on the entire press conference and rewriting it.
03:47Unfortunately for him, he already said it.
03:48Now, while you and I have been fairly critical of this idea
03:52of Deshaun Watson starting again for the Cleveland Browns,
03:55going so far as one show on the station labeling you
03:58the biggest Deshaun Watson hater in town.
04:01Which I could not be more thrilled about, guys, by the way.
04:03As if that is like a negative thing five years in.
04:06Oh, no, please come after me for that.
04:08Well, one half of that show.
04:09Don't tell more people that I strongly dislike Deshaun Watson.
04:12One half of that show, honorable man he is, Anthony Lima,
04:16this morning talked about maybe we need to look
04:19at a different perspective from the Watson booing side of things.
04:24I also don't think he was attacking the fans for getting booed.
04:26I think we've got to get this straight.
04:28I mean, he's attacking the fans for cheering when he got injured.
04:30The fact that it was the booing,
04:32that gives him immediate recall to the worst day of his,
04:37honestly, the worst day of his life.
04:39That was a surreal moment that doesn't happen in sports.
04:42No player thinks that's going to happen.
04:43And now that that happened, and remember, at the time,
04:47you know, Miles Garrett, Jameis Winston,
04:49his teammates were all like, what are you doing, Cleveland?
04:52When I hear, well, his apology wasn't the right,
04:55didn't hit the right note.
04:57Deshaun Watson, you got to look at it from his perspective.
04:59I know we don't want to.
05:00But yeah, Deshaun Watson's like, well, where's the fan apology?
05:04You cheered me when I got injured.
05:05That's not cool.
05:06That's not part of the deal.
05:07That's not part of, you know, you buy the ticket.
05:10Yeah, you can cheer a boo, but you don't cheer injury.
05:12I understand contrarian is like Lima's bit,
05:15and that insincerity is a part of Lima's bit.
05:19I never thought in a million years that anyone that has grown up in Cleveland
05:24would say the words into a microphone,
05:27you have to consider Deshaun Watson's perspective.
05:30So whatever the Browns are paying Lima,
05:32or whatever information they're giving him for having that absolutely insane take,
05:36I hope it's enough.
05:38Because quite frankly, when Deshaun Watson shows his ass in two games,
05:41which is all anyone should expect,
05:43it's going to be a real hard pivot for a guy who honestly,
05:46half of his analysis about the Cleveland Browns quarterback spot is,
05:50Deshaun's fans will mean to me.
05:53No, it's ridiculous.
05:54I got to do the Ken thing now.
05:55The guy has no credibility on Shador Sanders,
05:57and he baits Ken into it every day.
05:59And honestly, Shador fans have been so mean to him on social media,
06:03which he has then egged on,
06:05that he's going to support Deshaun Watson.
06:07Why?
06:08Because it's the one lane?
06:09Because nobody else is going to take that lane?
06:11Have the I'm a Deshaun Watson apologist lane all you want.
06:14Stand for Deshaun Watson, please.
06:16Please, no one's going to stop you.
06:18I'm not going to do it.
06:19You're not going to do it.
06:19That's your territory, not mine.
06:22Everything that Deshaun stands for in Cleveland,
06:24including a massive F for failure,
06:27you want to stand for that for about two games worth of content?
06:31I applaud you, sir.
06:33I applaud you.
06:34You are a braver man, and you are more craven than I am.
06:37The Deshaun perspective side of this series,
06:40you've got to see Deshaun's side.
06:41It's like, well, first off, I don't have to see Deshaun's side,
06:43but Deshaun is going to go to that in his brain always,
06:46that idea that they booed, they cheered,
06:48whatever you want to say with the injury,
06:50because it's the only time in this whole entire relationship
06:53between the fans and Deshaun
06:55where the fans have looked like the bad guy here.
06:57It's the only time.
06:57So he's going to go to that because he's going to think to himself
07:00that offsets five years of bad football
07:02and wasting all these picks and everything that we've done,
07:05and in my opinion, it just doesn't.
07:06It's just nowhere close.
07:08You know, I think what's frustrating about this is
07:10when you start saying, consider Deshaun's perspective,
07:15or, hey, what is your why, Deshaun?
07:19Beep, beep, beep, beep.
07:20When you start saying that kind of stuff,
07:21you're already insulting my intelligence by saying,
07:24Deshaun Watson is going to give this team the best chance to win.
07:27You're already insulting my intelligence
07:29that this is about football and only about football,
07:32but now I've got to eat a crap sandwich and like it?
07:35And now I have media people who work on this station, by the way,
07:38who want to go ahead and say,
07:40oh, why don't you consider Deshaun's feelings?
07:44No.
07:44I just don't care about Deshaun's feelings.
07:46I don't have to like any part of this.
07:48I think the whole thing's a kangaroo court,
07:50and I think you're insulting people's intelligence.
07:52I think Browns fans are being gaslit by anyone saying,
07:57oh, think of his feelings.
07:59How does he feel?
08:00Why don't we get him?
08:00Nobody says this about any of the great,
08:03complicated football people in history.
08:06Nobody does this.
08:07But for some reason in 2026,
08:10we think we should do this with Deshaun Watson?
08:12That's funny to think about.
08:13Like all the bad quarterbacks we've had
08:15and all the quarterbacks that have gone through the Browns,
08:17have we ever thought to ourselves,
08:18oh, no, but I really, I just,
08:19can we think of Johnny Manziel's feelings in this one?
08:22My God.
08:23So it's a weird way to go to.
08:25Listen, if you say Deshaun's the starting quarterback,
08:28get over it.
08:29I think that's a fair take.
08:30That honestly should be the take.
08:31The take should be,
08:32there's nothing you can do about it.
08:34The Browns have made their decision.
08:35You're going to have to,
08:36if you want to see Shador,
08:37you're going to have to wait on it.
08:38But for right now, Deshaun's the quarterback.
08:39But if you then pivot to,
08:42what about the sympathy for Deshaun?
08:44Yeah, you're just not going to get any sympathy.
08:45To engender sympathy from people,
08:49he has to have owned his side of the road.
08:52And that is, yes,
08:53part of what he's been accused for and sued for,
08:55which he never has.
08:56Deshaun, the entire time he's been here
08:58has been hidden away,
09:00even yesterday at the stadium.
09:04I'm not trying to play
09:05amateur armchair psychologist here.
09:07The guy had a towel on his head
09:09as if to say,
09:10please don't look at me.
09:11He was trying to be invisible on the sidelines
09:14while being the face of the Browns team.
09:17All right?
09:18Like, I get it.
09:20I get he has to start
09:21and that we have no say over that.
09:23And the Browns, quite frankly,
09:24do not care
09:25that they are starting a quarterback
09:28that despises Browns fans
09:30who despise him right back.
09:32I get that I got to deal with that.
09:34But to say I got to like it,
09:35to say,
09:36oh, I really got to empathize with Deshaun,
09:38I have a bounty of empathy
09:41for almost anyone on the planet.
09:44I am out of it with Deshaun Watson.
09:47And the suggestion that I should have it
09:49is honestly about the peak hackery
09:52of look at the contrarian that I can be
09:54bending over backwards
09:56for a quarterback
09:57who will disappear
09:58in about three weeks time.
10:00All right.
10:00That felt good?
10:02Yeah, it did.
10:03You seemed livid.
10:04You seemed livid.
10:05I just think it's really insulting
10:07to people's intelligence.
10:08And I get it.
10:09You don't like Shador Sanders.
10:10I don't care.
10:11I'm not asking you to go out
10:13to dinner with Shador Sanders
10:14or Boog or whatever
10:16the complete machinery
10:17that supports Shador Sanders.
10:20But to then go,
10:21well, they were mean to me,
10:22so I'm going to support Deshaun Watson.
10:24All right.
10:25I think there's an expression that goes,
10:26two wrongs don't make a right.
10:28Yeah, yeah.
10:28It's an odd twist.
10:30I don't understand
10:32why we have to have
10:33some sort of empathy
10:34for Deshaun Watson.
10:35And I don't think we should be asked
10:36to have empathy towards Deshaun.
10:38And Deshaun's going to go back
10:38to that one moment
10:39and that's what he's going to do
10:40so he can sleep well at night.
10:42But it doesn't make sense to me.
10:43Maybe that's what frustrates me
10:44is I do feel like Deshaun
10:46thinks he's a victim here.
10:47No, he doesn't.
10:48Victims don't get paid
10:49$235 million guaranteed.
10:51And he uses that one instance
10:52and that's why he keeps bringing it up
10:53any chance he can get,
10:54it feels like,
10:55because it's his only leg to stand on.
10:58So when he sleeps at night,
10:59he can say,
11:00I was done wrong by the Cleveland fans.
11:02Here's my example.
11:03And it lets him feel good
11:05about the whole thing
11:05where, again,
11:06in this whole process,
11:07three people have benefited
11:08from this whole entire deal.
11:09The Texans benefited,
11:10Moogetta benefited,
11:11and Deshaun Watson's benefited.
11:13No Browns fan has benefited.
11:14The Browns themselves haven't benefited.
11:16You, me, Jax,
11:18none of us have benefited.
11:19I do think, though,
11:20that I think in their heart of hearts,
11:22the Browns think they can spin this
11:24into a place where,
11:26be it two games, eight games,
11:2917 games from now,
11:30that we can just have a nice parting
11:32of ways with Deshaun Watson
11:34and, hey, it didn't work out, pal,
11:36but you know what?
11:37We'll try another day.
11:39And that is just not reality.
11:42That's not how this works
11:43when you pull off the most brazen move
11:45the Browns have played
11:46in my adult lifetime.
11:47Here's the thing, though.
11:48If he hadn't come back
11:50and tried to make this whole entire deal
11:51and get in year five,
11:52if he had just kind of disappeared
11:54into the shadows after year three
11:55and we'd left him,
11:57where, honestly,
11:57we were the ones looking
11:59maybe not the greatest
11:59as a collective
12:00with the situation at the stadium
12:02and the injury,
12:03there's a world that exists
12:04where Deshaun would not be
12:05nearly as brought up
12:06with the hate
12:07as he's going to be
12:08for trying to make this comeback.
12:09The comeback,
12:10it's stoked the flames.
12:11It's gotten all the conversations
12:12back going
12:13and it's reminded people
12:14just how much
12:15he's wronged this franchise.
