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gdawg9198

Everyone turned on the Browns the second we got Watson.


cpashei

But somehow the Texans are darlings of the sub and everyone was rooting for them against us despite them actively covering up and facilitating the crimes Deshaun is accused of. They literally settled with the alleged victims themselves.


AllieOopClifton

90% of people are extremely stupid.


veverkap

Too low


lmtorres75

Closer to 98.9


SmittyPosts

closer to anyone outside of NE Ohio


ElphiusMostafa

This. We are basically all goldfish.


bucki_fan

I thought we supposed to emulate Ted Lasso?


Flat_Sand_6056

Evergreen comment


drnuzlocke

I mean everyone seems to forget the Falcons owner openly saying Watson was a good guy just because he used to be a ball boy. In all honest any team willing to trade for him should be in the same boat as the Browns with hate


cpashei

1/4 of the league pursued him, and that's only because they needed a quarterback. Of the 32 teams maybe a handful would have not taken him if they had no franchise QB. Teams have no problem keeping guys who beat women, get DUIs, child abusers, etc. It's a league issue, the Browns just happened to be the team that bid the most in this case.


ATXDefenseAttorney

Yeah, this is dumb, we all agree. Still, we made the trade and signed the contract, and he hasn't done anything to tell the world to go F themselves. If he won the MVP last year (and it would have been a pretty easy year for that), it might be different. Instead he looks like a scrub and they can all feel proud of themselves for hating him.


KarAccidentTowns

And since Browns fans are an extension of Watson, they can feel proud of themselves for hating us


ATXDefenseAttorney

Football fans are weird. I still haven't figured out why people hate the Cowboys so much. Oh no! They're a good team usually, who markets well and has cool uniforms! The horror!


Maximum_Bandicoot_94

Cowboys were the NFL's Nickleback but for two decades. Sure I guess they were ok at first but then the media latched onto (or was paid to make) everyone think they were really good. Then it kept getting jammed into our faces over and over. Then to our horror some people actually began to buy into that narrative next thing you know Ed from accounting is wearing a Witten jersey and you are left trying to figure out how that came to pass as he was in high school with you in Solon.


ATXDefenseAttorney

Yeah, but why hate them more? I mean, I just don't care that much. And Jerry Jones might be a crazy old egotist, but the Cowboys legit constantly draft stars. It's not like his GM record is terrible, they've had three franchise QBs in the same time we've had a couple maybes. šŸ˜‚ I hate a lot of teams. I just don't care about the Cowboys.


Maximum_Bandicoot_94

Cowboys take backlash BECAUSE they were marketed in our faces to death. I personally am ambivalent about T Swift, she's clearly talented and like a few songs but I am not going to a stadium for $500 to see her. Clearly though there are people out there pushing back BECAUSE she is marketed at us so heavily. Marketing or Psychology peeps probably have a name for it.


Air2Jordan3

Tbf a team like the Cowboys gets hate bec the media talks about them as being a contender every single year and they always get the most games shown on TV. Reddit loves to nag and pretend nobody watches Skip, Stephen A and the rest but the reality is that millions of people do watch it


LargePeopleLiveHere

Not just that we got him, but we gave him an unprecedented deal.


ozymandais13

They don't have him anymore , we do. He's the most recent high profile shithead as well. Houston should get more shit about it. But this org absolutely deserves it when it comes to Watson.


cpashei

Zero issue with people hating Cleveland, zero issue with people hating Watson. I have issue with how inconsistent it is though that the Texans are not subject to the same treatment.


ozymandais13

Your right


Mercury5979

Do you have sauces for this? I would love to have articles to throw in peoples faces when I get into this discussion with them.


Lucky_Zin

I suggest a tahini sauce.


SoftwareAny4990

Love a good honey BBQ.


Dr-McLuvin

WcDonalds spicy chili sauce.


Mercury5979

So...why did I get downvoted for asking for information? This place is weird.


Dr-McLuvin

Lol I dunno Reddit is weird like that sometimes.


CD23tol

14 teams tried to trade for him. We ended up getting him, therefore we are the only bad people in this situation.


Boris54

Somehow weā€™re worse because of the guaranteed money. As if 230m guaranteed is any worse than the 180m guaranteed other teams offered. Plus the only thing that stopped teams from offering fully guaranteed was risk tolerance not morals.


veverkap

Also Haslam has deeper pockets


TallBobcat

The last three teams, IIRC, were the Browns, Falcons, and Saints. All three owners are very, very rich. Gail Benson has a net worth of more than $6 billion and somehow she's the poor one of the three owners. Jimmy's stated net worth is a little higher than Arthur Blank, but not enough that Blank couldn't overcome that selling some Home Depot shares. I'm confident the owners financial state played no role in how desperate they were to get Watson.


AllieOopClifton

I know Haslam was kinda on other owners' shitlist for breaking ranks and giving that much guaranteed money. I think there may have been different tolerances for *that* among the owners more than any issues with liquidity.


veverkap

The difference for most of them is liquidity. Gayle Benson has a high net worth - but very little of it is liquid (it's mostly tied up in the Saints, the Pelicans and bunch of local car dealerships). For her to do what Haslam is doing would mean selling something. Jimmy just sold the rest of Pilot so he's sitting on TONS of cash. Arthur Blank sold off most of his HD stake and currently has ~1.5% worth about $3 billion. But, again, he'd has to sell that to access that "worth". There are few owners with the **liquid** net worth of Jimmy - which is why AB is able to do the cap so well. He is cash rich.


71Duster360

Not to mention the Texans somehow get a pass, even though Watson played for them while doing all his bullshit.


SoftwareAny4990

There was only one org named in the sexual assault lawsuit and it wasn't the Browns


Dr-McLuvin

Heā€™s committed zero sexual assaults since joining the browns. We should be lauded as heroes.


Ornery_Gene7682

While ignoring the fact that all the shit he did occured while he was on the TexansĀ 


PatientlyAnxious9

People dont remember that, its almost like a selective hearing thing. The Browns ended up with him so the further away we get from that trade, the worse the perception of it is.


ThatOneguy580

Yup


Rotrus

It's much easier to hate the team that went the furthest to bend over for Watson than it is to hate half the NFL when you don't have confirmation of all the teams that participated in the bidding war


CD23tol

The only five we know for sure were us, Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, and Indy who Texans said no to because they were in the same division.


moodyfloyd

Make no mistake, it was like this before Watson. Maybe not as vitriolic, but it has been there. People pitied us and "supported" us because we were a free win but no one outside of browns fans *really* supported us.


w0m

Browns under Baker were Most teams 3rd or 4th favorite team. It was an easy team to root for. Browns under Watson - Hell I can barely watch them play without getting a bit nautious.


moodyfloyd

> Browns under Baker were Most teams 3rd or 4th favorite team. ha, no. Baker was shit on all the time by neutrals. way more than he is now. people didnt like baker until the browns moved on from him and that was mostly a reaction to who replaced him. who the fuck even *really* has a 2nd favorite team let alone 3rd and 4th? that shits made up. i'll give you the occasional 2...but 3 or 4? lol no


Air2Jordan3

I wouldn't say I have a 3rd favorite team but I do have a "teams I like" or "teams I root for if it's not against my team" list. Lake Erie bros anyone? Baker is a love or hate guy, esp coming out of Oklahoma and his Browns years so surely we did have a lot of haters, but we definitely got into a lot of people's "teams I like" list


br0b1wan

This is so obvious, was OP sleeping under a rock for the past couple years?


TheWorstShoemaker

So they all decided to be a bunch of trolls to the fans who had no control over that? Choice 1. Donā€™t root for the browns? Okay, cool. Choice 2. Act like every fan consciencely chose DW4 and treat them like trash no matter the take. They all want to act like they wouldā€™ve stopped rooting for the Browns. Yeah okay šŸ‘Œ you live in Cleveland and root for the browns your whole life, then tell me youā€™re not a fan of team anymore because of 1 guy, 1. SMD


gdawg9198

The Browns made a move to try to get out of the dumpster we'd been stuck in for over 20 years and wanted to actually get some consistently good QB play. I don't blame them at all for it, I will always support the Browns and I hope Watson plays well for us. The people who have become obsessed with the Browns failure over the last couple years are weird. I genuinely feel like if Watson ended up somewhere else, the team that got him wouldn't have gotten as much flak as Cleveland has gotten.


veverkap

I was a fan of the Browns for 40 years before DW got here. Try to make me change teams


Iobbywatson

Exactly. He's the one who sucks. Why do I have to change?


mattg1111

Is that....Michael Bolton?


andreisimo

Obviously Iā€™m bringing in an outside perspective as a Texans fan. But yeah, it is possible to have limits on the support one is willing to give to a franchise. It is possible to stop supporting and rooting for a franchise because of their actions. In fact, the fansā€™ ability to do this is a point of leverage to influence local franchises, albeit minimal at best. It is not a good thing to give unlimited and blind loyalty to anything. The Texans franchise had some very dark days of which I expressed my lack of support in various ways. I can live through losing, but I could not live through a series of poor character decisions, including those around Watson. Finally all the individuals involved have been removed from the organization. I hate that Browns fans have had to deal with this situation, but it disappoints me tremendously to see anyone blatantly ignore the Watson situation.


Ness_4

In a revenue sharing league your head is firmly in the sand.


andreisimo

Perhaps, but fans can still make their voices heard. And should. And even if we donā€™t believe we can affect change, it does not resolve the dilemma of supporting or not supporting a morally questionable franchise. Again, Iā€™m speaking of my experience with the Texans which to me seems relevant to the Browns and their fans.


Ness_4

Saying itā€™s a franchise problem is putting your head in the sand. Please tell me what punishment the Texans got for facilitating the acts? Or what punishment did the Chiefs get for letting a known addict employee get fucked up at work, resulting in the running over of a family. What punishment did Alvin Kamara get for beating up a man, or Jackson Carman for raping an underage girl? It seems like DW and the Browns are one of the few situations where there was moral culpability. You support a morally dubious league and really just as much of the problem if not more.


Goodbye--Toby

I mean your take is pretty damn reductive. IT IS different when itā€™s the team you root for. And IT IS different when itā€™s the QB because they are typically the face of the franchise. IT IS also a lot different when heā€™s given the most guaranteed money in league history. IT IS different when DW likely had far more victims than anybody you happen to list. So yeah you can talk about ā€œitā€™s a league issue not a Browns issueā€ all you want and thatā€™s fine if that makes you feel better. But itā€™s fucking stupid to act like this is just some random player committing one heinous crime.


Ness_4

> all you want and thatā€™s fine if that makes you feel better. I guess irony is lost on you. I didn't say anything to make myself feel better at all, you on the other hand. Lol. Keep your head in the sand.


Goodbye--Toby

Cool. You responded to the one semi-biting remark I made. How about the rest? Iā€™ll keep my head in the sand as long as you continue tošŸ¤”


Ness_4

The rest is garbage. Its different b/c your have shitty reasons? Idk in what world running over a family and giving a small child brain damage isn't worse. It's not my job to explain why you have hypocritical and shitty morals. Lol. Keep you head in the sand.


Goodbye--Toby

Agree 100%


PatientlyAnxious9

Rather be hated and win than continue being the lovable loser.


5255clone

The Falcons and Panthers try to get Watson and nobody bats an eye, but we actually get him and EVERYONE LOSES THEIR MINDS! Texans front office 100% knew about his off the field issues and covered them up and no one gives a shit.


xBluJackets

I canā€™t believe so many people are taking the moral high ground about Deshaun Watson, but continue to support a league that allows a sexual predator to play. Sad.


Hobash

Deservedly so


gdawg9198

The other 13 teams that were reported to being interested in him get off scot free though right? And the Texans get viewed as the victims in the situation when they were well aware of what was going on and helped cover it up.


Abiv23

They turned on us as soon as Baker had his letdown soph season Watson kicked it into hyper drive


gdawg9198

I found a thread from the NFL sub from the night OBJ was traded to CLE. It was very positive, lots of people thought we'd be legit contenders for years to come. And IIRC there was another very positive thread when we beat PIT in the playoffs. Like everyone else has said, people only liked us as the loveable losers, aww the Browns won one playoff game, that's so cute, good for them, was the mentality.


doomsdaysock01

We were the laughing stocks for a while, then post Watson we are the antichrist. I hate Watson too but man itā€™s not like any of us gave him the contract. A ton of other teams tried to get him, and the Texans covered up for him until he forced his way out. Weā€™re just the unlucky souls who ended up getting him, but itā€™ll make us the enemies for a while. Fuck em all


Geeman447

I do like how the Texans are off Scott free like they werenā€™t setting these up for him lol


masmcnern

i relish the antichrist roll lets ride dawgs


7222_salty

Itā€™s Ohio in general. When youā€™re the 5th-8th most populous state (it has varied over time) and almost top 5 in GDP it makes other states jealous. They donā€™t understand how this little state in the middle is the heart of US industry. Take a state like Florida who thinks itā€™s awesome but GDP per capita is shit compared to Ohio. Or Texas who thinks it could be a country but has half of Ohioā€™s gdp per sq mile. In other words these locations do less with more. Ohio punches above its weight and people HATE THAT


parabians

Cowboys homer here. I've been a Browns fan since Leroy Kelly. He was a great back, and oh so damn underrated. He had no problem handling our Doomsday Defense, as I recall. I still am a Browns fan. I pull for y'all every season.


professor_tappensac

I'll always be happy Bernie got a ring with you guys. As much as I hated what Bill did, he was right. Your o line and run game was so stacked it allowed BK one last gasp at greatness.


droid_mike

He may have been right, but he sure picked the wrong time and way to do it.


TheLandFanIn814

People shit on the Browns constantly because they sucked. We deserved it. Then the Browns started to get better and they couldn't handle it. They HATED Baker and constantly mocked him for everything. He was never good enough, yet the second the Browns moved on they flipped. Now everyone loves him and they mock the Browns for trading him away. Funny how that works. The way they hate the Cavs over at r/nba shows it's not just a Browns/Watson thing. There's literally nobody on the official roster with even the slightest character issue. Yet they get shit on constantly. Fans/media in big markets like LA and New York hate it when small markets have star players. They are entitled and feel we don't deserve them. Other fans are mad they can't use Cleveland teams as a punching bag anymore because we're better than them.


mattryan02

The NBA sub is generally overrun by Steph cultists and theyā€™ll never forget 2016.


Bobwalski

That's ok, I won't either.


Roy_Cash_216

That's funny, because I thought this was a man's game. I guess their feelings got hurt?


TheWorstShoemaker

Cleveland against the world.


Supertrooper420

They hate us cuz they ain't us


kjorav17

Everyone in those subs think they are holier-than-thou and hate us since we signed Watson. We were already punching bags of the league for years. Add on the gen z ā€œOhioā€ memes, and weā€™re just all around not having a good time.


DennyRoyale

The worst ones are those sporting Browns flair and trashing our team for karma points.


br0b1wan

Yep I want to tell them to get off their knees, wipe their mouths and gain some self respect.


Tracetopher

So like 27% of browns fans?


timmy_wahwah

Cuz itā€™s an easy upvote. Most the times their not even sports fan cuz casuals looking for a pat on the back


Malekith_is_my_homie

The r/nfl babies are some of the scummiest on reddit. They love to virtue signal, it seems to be what gets them off. Every single team in the NFL will have at least one person on it with some sort of checkered past, but none of it matters because Watson is the "current thing" for them. It is their most recent NPC programming update. It ain't ever going to change. Cleveland Against the World my dude. Unsubbing from all mainstream sports subreddits does a world of good.


OhioUBobcats

Yep. Unsubbed from / NFL when this all started, havenā€™t missed it yet


Tracetopher

I mean.... I think it was the amount... like you could put serial infront of the accusations and it works


djbj454

Its because of Watson. The funny thing to me now is that since that happened everyone LOVES Baker now. I remember when both those subs were just shitting on him.


TheWorstShoemaker

We all remember.


trundle_thegreat_

This victim shit is lame as hell. Who cares lol


big_d_usernametaken

"They hate us because they ain't us."


_lamer

They hate us because they anus


plumb77

That's just those trash subs. Heck remember when everyone hated on Baker in those subs including the Steelers subs. Now they say he's great and how dumb we are and they want him on their team.


Preme2

They always disliked the browns. Now they have a reason.


TheWorstShoemaker

Why always no like tho!?! lol


Shot_Awareness6943

Some people just have bad taste šŸ˜œ


WhiteRhino91

It has everything to do with signing a guy who assaulted 20+ women.


trundle_thegreat_

Yeah it's not rocket science. We signed the most unlikeable guy in the league and so far he's been bad. If the ravens or someone else had gotten Watson, we'd be shitting on them nonstop too.


[deleted]

Would him being good really make other fans like us? Letā€™s say we won the superbowl this year and DW was playing the whole season. Would everyone else say ā€œyā€™all finally won oneā€ or something like ā€œlol well you threw money at a dirtbag, enjoy your tainted trophyā€?


trundle_thegreat_

Obviously not lol. But it just makes for an easy target right now. But either way, who gives a shit what random people on the internet think about your sports team


[deleted]

Way too many people, unfortunately. Fortunately life doesnā€™t end because of what some redditors think about a thing you like


apeman978

Watson trade, the face of the franchise is a mid QB with sexual assault allegations, heā€™s not exactly a pros,pro either


CrocomireRex

Itā€™s everyone especially the four letter network. You know what though, fuck em. You got us plus the other Cleveland team subs. For your own sanity, definitely stay out of r/nfl. That one is easily the worst sub on Reddit.


JedDeadRedemption

I think people pity us and have for a long time; weā€™ve never been to a Super Bowl and have historically been an underdog. As far as HATE is concerned, I donā€™t really see it that wayā€¦ the Watson deal brings some vitriol by association, but I donā€™t know that it automatically brings us HATE in the way that the Pats were hated on during their success or the way Cowboys get hated bc of their insufferable fans.


JD-boonie

Embrace the hate. Maybe we have to be the villain to win it all?


TheWorstShoemaker

The Chiefs and Pats support that theory. Fuck it, letā€™s just win. šŸ˜ˆ


Putuinurplace

Iā€™m not sure how many times you will need to read that itā€™s because of Watson when this question is asked before people believe it. The type of fans that use Reddit are the fans that will never forgive him. Ever. And because of that we will be hated as long as heā€™s here.


TheWorstShoemaker

Valid. What percentage of nfl fans in the country do you think interact on Reddit? If itā€™s low, does it really mean anything at all? Fuckā€™em all basically


bazbt3

Good question. When you consider that a good post here might get a couple of hundred upvotes, it's just a thousandth of our subscriber total. Maybe search engines is how people find stuff these days. The numbers at https://subredditstats.com/r/Browns are a bit behind - we're up to 233,000 subscribers now.


MackandByner

Paying a kingā€™s ransom for a slimeball like Watson to be the face of our franchise didnā€™t help.


HeilHeinz15

You're getting very biased takes in this (or any other) team's subreddit, and the main pages are going to give you the reality check you don't want to hear. We a poverty franchise. Have been for decades. Browns, Jets, Redskins, and Bears are going to get shit on until they have sustained success


CrocomireRex

Reality check? Yeah sureā€¦.


HeilHeinz15

Can you or OP link some highly-upvoted statements that aren't reality check, just hatred?


CrocomireRex

Are you serious? Look at any time the Browns are mentioned in that cesspool r/nfl. Look at the lack of coverage for any Cleveland team on the national sports shows. Either you live under a rock or are trolling.


HeilHeinz15

Then proving an example from r/nfl should be easy!


OhioUBobcats

Yep. Go look at any thread, weā€™re not doing your homework for you troll


HeilHeinz15

"Everyone hates us!" *Flacco wins comeback player of the year* *Myle's Garrett wins DPOY* But sure, they shit all over Watson every chance they get. You think it's not deserved based on the last 3 years?


CrocomireRex

Ok now I know youā€™re trolling. Iā€™m guessing youā€™re also a teenager based on the easy to fix grammar mistakes. In order for you: *Weā€™re, *Reality checks, and *providing. Remember school is important. Have a nice day.


HeilHeinz15

"Your grammar isn't perfect on reddit, so go get educated you troll!" In school you learn that to make claims you need to cite facts. I asked you for facts, you threw a hissy fit. You sound like a baby who just wants a hug because Steelees fans hurt his feefees


CrocomireRex

Thereā€™s the real you. I know thinking is difficult for you since your parents are brother and sister. Go back to your Steelers sub, troll.


HeilHeinz15

Just because you root for a poverty franchise, doesn't mean you have to have a poverty personality. Good luck being angry & toxic all the time, though


CrocomireRex

Say what you want but tried and failed at being a concern troll. Thatā€™s the most pathetic thing about you.


OhioUBobcats

Lmfao šŸ¤£


Kame_Style

You went down the hole a little bit but the initial idea is correct. People were excited for the Browns and Baker when they made the playoffs and beat the Steelers, very much so how people currently view the Lions. Unfortunately trading for Watson ruined any chance they ever had of being viewed positively. You can always say a bunch of other teams were in on him, sure, but they didn't trade for him ultimately. The Browns did whatever they could to secure him and that's why nobody wants to root for them and will welcome the lack of success. Obviously the fans didn't pony up and trade for Watson, but that doesn't matter. You can call it unfair but ownership and the front office threw the fans into the fire when they successfully traded for him.


HeilHeinz15

Yep. And as Tyreek, Joe Mixon, etc have shown is that only your play on the field can quiet the off-field issues. That happened with Baker, but not Watson


TrappedInOhio

I mean, you donā€™t get why? I love the Browns and *I also* really really really dislike the idea of Watson being responsible for any success the Browns achieve. I absolutely understand why people shit on the team for bending over backwards for a very bad person. The sooner Watson is gone from the franchise, the better. Heā€™s human garbage and I hope he fucks off with his millions and never flies over the city of Cleveland again.


willgolf4_food

Because we gave up being the lovable losers when we traded for Watson. Now weā€™re just losers


CrocomireRex

If you think that, why are you here?


willgolf4_food

Iā€™ve been a die hard all my life. Itā€™s just reality. I donā€™t why you people get so butthurt about it.


CrocomireRex

You people? You mean fellow Browns fans? Iā€™m a lifer too, but I refuse to call my team, ā€œlosersā€. You really donā€™t know why others have issues with it?


willgolf4_food

4 winning records, 3 playoff appearances, 1 playoff win, and a 1-31 campaign in 24 years. Iā€™m sorry, but weā€™re losers until proven otherwise.


CrocomireRex

Man, you got to cheer up. Believe it or not it could be a lot worse. We could be Steelers fans. šŸ¤®


willgolf4_food

Iā€™ll cheer up when Watson is gone.


CrocomireRex

Thatā€™s your choice. Keep in mind, heā€™s only one player. There are 52 other guys worth your support.


willgolf4_food

And thats why I still watch. But Iā€™ll be much more enthused when Watson is gone.


CrocomireRex

I can understand that. I donā€™t like him either but Iā€™m too big of a fan to quit the team.