CLEVELAND (WJW) — Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam spoke to the public on Friday afternoon shortly after Deshaun Watson made his first statements as the team’s new quarterback.
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- Dee: This has been a really hard and difficult journey for us and our family.
- Dee: Spent a ton of time learning about Deshaun as a person. “That really helped us get more comfortable with it. And talking to a tremendous amount of people who know him.”
- Jimmy: We got strong recommendation from legal council not to reach out to the 22 women
- Jimmy: Third parties did research the situation
- Dee: He is a community guy. He wants to be involved in communiy, and I think he will work really hard to gain trust in the community and within the organization.
- Jimmy: We understand it will take time. We know some people may not get over it.
- Dee: We do respect individuals who have strong feelings.
- Jimmy: Says they expect “very high performance levels” on and off the field from their players and that Watson knows and understands that.
- Dee: “This was a journey I had to get comfortable with, and I got more comfortable the more people we talked to about who Deshaun is as a person. It definitely took some time and was defintely a process, not just on behalf of myself but on behalf of my family and our daughters for sure.”
- Dee: Says they got comfortable with and trusted the legal process.
- Jimmy: Empahasized two different grand juries decided not to move forward. “We have to trust that process.”
- Jimmy: Says he knows Deshaun learned from the process.
- Jimmy: Says they think highly of Baker and did “not get down on him.” Says Baker “gave it everything he had” while he was in Cleveland.
General manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski spoke alongside Watson earlier on Friday as the team officially introduced him and answered the media’s questions.
Watson is still facing 22 civil lawsuits from women accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions.
The Browns announced they were acquiring Watson last week from Houston after Deshaun initially said he would not be joining the team.
The Haslams released a statement on Sunday saying they stand by the team’s decision:
“We spent a tremendous amount of time exploring and investigation the opportunity to trade for Deshaun Watson. We are acutely aware and empathic to the highly personal sentiments expressed about this decision. Our team’s comprehensive evaluation process was of utmost importance due to the sensitive nature of his situation and the complex factors involved. We also understand there are still some legal proceedings that are ongoing and we will respect due process.
It is pivotal that we, along with Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski, meet with Deshaun to have a straightforward dialogue, discuss our priorities and hear directly from him on how he wants to approach his career on and off the field. He was humble, sincere and candid. In our conversations, Deshaun detailed his commitment to leading our team; he understands and embraces the hard work needed to build his name both in the community and on the field.
Those in-depth conversations, the extensive evaluation process, his dedication to being a great teammate and devotion to helping others within the NFL, within the community and through his charitable initiatives provided the foundation for us to pursue Deshaun. We are confident in Deshaun and excited about moving forward with him as our quarterback and supporting his genuine and determined efforts.”
FOX 8 will live stream the press conference at 3 p.m.
