How Deshaun Watson lost Browns fans and why winning the starting job couldn't win them back
Watson initially called the reaction from Cleveland fans "disrespectful" and "personal," but returned two days later with a very different message
D eshaun Watson finally got something he had been fighting nearly two years to reclaim : the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback job. But before he could completely celebrate beating out Shedeur Sanders , Watson had another problem to address his increasingly complicated relationship with his own fans.
Watson was booed by sections of the Cleveland crowd during Saturday's 31-7 preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills , his first game at home in 22 months. His performance did little to change the mood. Watson completed just 5 of 12 passes for 36 yards and threw an interception.
Afterward, Watson suggested the reaction went beyond football. He described the boos as "disrespectful" and "a little bit personal," while recalling how some Browns fans had cheered when he suffered his devastating Achilles injury in 2024. Watson even suggested that at times he had felt more love playing on the road than inside his own stadium.
Why are Browns fans booing their own quarterback?
The tension didn't begin Saturday. Cleveland made one of the biggest gambles in NFL history when it traded three first-round picks for Watson in 2022 and handed him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract . He arrived while facing allegations of sexual misconduct from more than two dozen women and was subsequently suspended 11 games by the NFL.
The football return hasn't come close to what Cleveland envisioned either. Injuries and inconsistent play have limited Watson to just 19 regular-season appearances for the Browns over four seasons. That combination of controversy, enormous financial commitment and disappointing results has created a fractured relationship between quarterback and fan base.
Two days after calling the boos disrespectful, Watson returned to the microphones with a noticeably different tone. He acknowledged that he had hoped for a warmer reception after everything he endured during his rehabilitation and admitted that disappointment affected what he said after the game.
"My emotions got the best of me. I'm human," Watson said, taking responsibility for his reaction and acknowledging that Browns fans have every right to be frustrated after waiting years for the return Cleveland expected from its massive investment.
And now Watson gets another chance to change the conversation. Coach Todd Monken officially named him Cleveland's starting quarterback over Sanders to begin the 2026 season, saying the decision was based on the entire offseason, training camp and preseason rather than one performance.
But the decision only appeared to deepen the divide with the fan base. A day after Watson was named QB1, angry messages were taped to the statue of Browns legend Jim Brown outside Huntington Bank Field.
One declared that the situation had caused "permanent damage to the city and franchise," while another attacked the enormous financial investment Cleveland made in Watson.
A Browns employee later removed the signs, but the message from some fans was difficult to miss: naming Watson the starter hasn't ended the controversy, it may have intensified it.
That means Watson's biggest challenge may no longer be winning the quarterback competition. He already did that. Now he has to win back a Cleveland crowd that has made it painfully clear that simply wearing a Browns uniform isn't enough.
