Hypocrisy. Dictionary.com defines it as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.” I argue the majority of sports media covering the Deshaun Watson situation suffers from this affliction. Let me bring you up to speed: About a year or so ago Watson asked to be traded and refused to play for the Texans. The organization has its own issues, which I will go into at a later date. What followed was, well, interesting…
The lawyer who brought the case forward is Tony Buzbee, a friend and neighbor of the Texans owner. Now that in of itself doesn’t point to a conspiracy. In fact, many articles (such as this) argue against conspiracy. However, the NFL has a predilection for protecting its owners. That has been on FULL display with the latest Washington Commanders debacle. So, we are left to ask this: Why these suits now?
Asking doesn’t change the facts. The facts, while unclear, suggest that Watson has repeatedly been very bad to women. Very bad indeed. 22 civil lawsuits still remain on the books and, despite all that, trade chatter about Watson, speculation about where he might land, and support for teams to trade for him (especially Miami) ran rampant. Of course UNTIL he actual was traded.
Half the news coverage is about the moral irresponsibility of trading for the man. Where was the outrage before? In truth, he was not found guilty of criminal wrongdoing and only after that was the moral story front and center. How’s that for hypocrisy?