Nick Wright always seems to add the needed nuance and context to the sports media conversation of the day.
The host of First Things First is known for his no-holds-barred approach and has often challenged conventional narratives. And on his What’s Wright? with Nick Wright podcast, he delved into the Deshaun Watson controversy, offering a thought-provoking analysis.
Wright scrutinized the reactions of Browns players who came to Watson’s defense despite his lengthy history of sexual misconduct allegations. And in doing so, the FS1 personality noted a troubling disconnect in how their support seemed to prioritize team loyalty over accountability, revealing an unsettling tendency within sports to overlook serious allegations (and issues) when it suits the narrative of a “family” environment.
.@getnickwright reacts to the defense of Deshaun Watson after he tore his achilles: pic.twitter.com/PISHIpG6Xr
— What’s Wright? with Nick Wright (@WhatsWrightShow) October 23, 2024
“The reason people are so galled at the vociferous defense of Deshaun Watson after he pops his Achilles. I shouldn’t say people are so galled; the reason I was so galled, is the very simple fact of this,” says Wright, “and this is the only thing that I think people haven’t put a real voice to — and if they have, I’ve missed it. So, I’ll say it, and if someone else said it before me, my apologies.
“The only class of people Deshaun Watson could have been accused of doing what he did to those people are women. And you might be like, ‘Well, how many classes of people are there?’ Here’s what I mean: if Deshaun Watson was credibly accused of abusing two dozen children, his teammates would not embrace him. And if Deshaun Watson was accused of using his power, influence and physical stature to sexually abuse two dozen male masseuses, his teammates would embrace him. That’s why it’s so galling.
“You can say, ‘Oh, it’s a family. They’re not going to worry about off-the-field.’ I am here to tell you right now — and everyone listening and watching knows it — that if what Deshaun Watson was accused of doing and settled lawsuits, and there are new lawsuits and incredibly incredible allegations if any of that involved children, no team would’ve touched him. And if it involved men, no team would’ve touched him because they’d been worried, ‘Um, will the locker room accept him?’ But because it involved grown women, there was an understanding, ‘Eh, if he’s good, I think it’ll be OK; I think guys will be fine with it.
“And then, as it turned out, even though he was the worst quarterback in the league, when the guy pops his Achilles and fans have an unfortunate reaction, we have folks (Myles Garrett), for instance—standing up there saying, ‘He’s been a model citizen for most of his career.’
“OK. I mean, John Wilkes Booth was a model theater patron for most of his life. What are we talking about, ‘Model citizen for most of his career,’ except for those for there two or three dozen times? So, I think at its core, it is about the lack of regard and respect people have for women as a human class, and that’s my takeaway on it.”
Winning often takes precedence over ethics, and yet those ethics were nowhere to be seen, even with Watson being statistically the worst quarterback in the NFL. Not only were fans told with a straight face that he was their best option to win, but after the cheering of his injury, which Wright called “unfortunate,” they were also told he was a “model citizen” with a similar straight face.
For Wright, the defense of Watson reveals a troubling lack of respect for women — and that’s the core of his message in his three-plus minute impassioned rant that took aim at what he believes to be the real takeaway and issue(s) here.
