One of the things people were most worried about when Deshaun Watson returned from his 11-game suspension related to the multitude of sexual assault and misconduct accusations against him is that Cleveland Browns fans would forget about all of that as soon as he started throwing some touchdown passes. In the case of famous Browns fan LeBron James, that appears to be the case.
It might seem wild that James, who carefully crafts his public persona, would want to throw his support behind Watson, who has been credibly accused of assaulting 20+ women. Still, he was more than happy to celebrate the quarterback’s big day on Sunday with some high praise for his three-touchdown day.
Yessir D Watson!! Another one. That boy getting his rhythm back! #Browns
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 1, 2023
“Yessir D Watson!! Another one. That boy getting his rhythm back!,” wrote King James on Twitter.
It’s one thing to silently support Watson because you love the Browns and you don’t have a choice in that regard. It’s another to offer praise for the QB, who has never truly apologized or taken responsibility for the reprehensible accusations against him.
LeBron would later post more support for Watson on his personal Instagram account.
LeBron got some strong pushback from readers and followers, many of whom called out how he said he stopped rooting for the Dallas Cowboys because of their lack of social justice support.
“Yikes,” said KC Sports Network’s Kent Swanson.
“LeBad Look,” said Homestand Sports’ Noor Zainab.
“Can’t support the Cowboys though,” added Silver Screen & Roll’s Anthony Irwin.
Even the NFL appeared to be distancing themselves from Watson on Sunday, not showing him during two of the three touchdown passes on the day.
The #NFL account usually shows the play highlights completely in full.
Deshaun Watson threw 3-TDs today
All are zoomed in to focus on the WR in action, without showing the QB throwing the ball, which is odd
Only in the 2nd do they show Watson for a moment, but not him throwing pic.twitter.com/NyV9Qyls2V
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 1, 2023
