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More than winning
Can you love your team if you don’t like the players?
The 16 lawsuits by massage therapists alleging sexual assault and misconduct against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson create a dilemma for the franchise. The first were first filed a couple of weeks ago and have been pouring in since. Before then, Watson had demanded a trade and appeared willing to sit out the season if Houston refused.
Unless this is resolved quickly and Watson’s name is cleared, the price tag of a trade has also been substantially reduced. Other teams wouldn’t want the public relations backlash of having Watson as their leader. While some people have wondered if the Texans created the scandal to “get back” at Watson for bad-mouthing the franchise, I doubt it. Destroying Watson’s reputation doesn’t help the Texans at all.
From what we know right now, which is very little, I wouldn’t want Watson on my team. For different reasons, I also wouldn’t have wanted Ben Roethlisberger, Jameis Winston, Greg Hardy, and several others that have had legal issues, whether or not they were innocent.
In pro team sports, different employees have different priorities.
- Players play to win the game. They are evaluated on their effort.
- Coaches coach to win championships. This means winning each game, but with a view of the team…
