Hey Vers, you've made a couple references to Watson in the locker room. I really don't know much about his "leadership" and wasn't really sure if you were just speaking to the fact that it would (by definition) be a huge upgrade over Baker.
I was gonna just ask you, as you may know, but didn't want to sound snarky.
Google is a b*%ch as I imagine that even if you searched "Deshaun Watson chicken noodle soup and crayons", the first twenty pages would still be about allegations.
Finally ran across this:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2858342-deshaun-watson-has-no-off-switchIt's a pretty long piece, so I just grabbed a few excerpts about work ethic and leadership, starting with this viral tweet after a tough loss in which he missed a couple deep passes that could have secured a win...
WORK ETHIC:
Seconds after the presser, he asked a Texans official to contact Avery to get him to the stadium. Avery has worked with Watson since his junior year of high school and typically flies into Houston every Sunday, gives Watson his notes to study, leads him through a swim workout Monday and watches film with him on Tuesday. This day, however, Watson wanted Avery here ASAP because he was consumed by a disgusted "achy feel." A "very, very ... hard feeling," he says.
So Watson rewatched every single snap of a game he had just played in, then hit the field.Avery wasn't even sure if this was the best thing for Watson but didn't ask questions.
Watson grabbed his cleats and a couple footballs and worked on the exact post route he missed from the same yard line for an hour. The clock ticked past 8 p.m. The diagnosis? He was moving a tick too much on those throws. He could've "gotten on base" better, Avery says. The throw to Will Fuller was six inches from a touchdown, from a win.
"Time waits for no man," Watson says. "I have to correct that now."The next game, Watson completed 28 of 33 passes for 426 yards with five touchdowns and no picks against Atlanta. His deep ball? Sublime. His cleats? Sent to Canton. The game after that, he outgunned Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City.
LEADERSHIP:
To Watson, leadership is simple. "Being able to take ownership," he says, of "not just the offense—the whole team." And Watson chucking deep balls after a loss in September was only one minor (albeit very public) look into his endless obsession with perfection, one that included sitting down with Kobe Bryant for an hourlong one-on-one when the NBA legend visited the team in August. Watson grew up idolizing LeBron James, but after this, he is unquestionably a Kobe guy now.
"His mindset, the way he thinks, it changes everything," Watson says.
They talked life, talked finances and kept coming back to that "Mamba" mentality. Those close to the QB rarely hear him curse. Kobe? Not so much. Yet the F-bombs and bombast and midgame death stares always distracted the world from Kobe's true intent through his 20-year career, an intent that's really sticking with Watson.
"Trying to achieve greatness is life or death to him," Watson says. "It was him not allowing anything or anybody to stop him achieve that greatness. He wanted to win everything. He would compete with everyone. He would have to be an assh--e to people to get the full greatness out of them. So a lot of people say he wasn't a great teammate, but in reality, he really was because he wanted the greatness out of each and every person on the team. From a guy who's never on the court. From a coach that don't say a word. He wanted everybody to be great. And if everybody can be great? You can win a lot of championships."
Watson has 52 teammates instead of 14, but he's still trying to bring this Kobe effect to the Texans locker room. His way. He's learning who prefers a one-on-one setting and who can take getting yelled at in front of everyone. Some people enjoy getting called out. That brings out the best in them.In response, teammates universally praise Watson's willingness to approach everyone on the team, like safety Justin Reid, who says Watson recently explained to him after practice how he could've disguised a coverage better, could've created a better trap, to confuse him if he was across the line of scrimmage.
"We all believe in him immensely," Reid says. "I don't know how much people think he knows ball, but he knows ball."
Indeed, the manner in which Watson talks to anyone one-on-one is the exact opposite of so many stars in any pro sports league. So many view all relationships in life through one prism only:
How does this person help me? If the answer is "very little," then that person is ignored and often cast aside entirely. That's never been Watson. Dozens who've known him swear that if Watson is speaking to you, he prioritizes you, because he wants to make a real difference in peoples' lives. From donating his first game check to three Texans cafeteria workers whose homes were demolished by Hurricane Harvey to creating his own foundation earlier this month, the stories are legendary. Twelve years after ex-pro Warrick Dunn helped give Watson's family a home, Watson wants to pay it forward. Avery outright dares anyone to find anybody with a bad word to say about Watson.
It seems like those kind of leadership qualities are solid, but reserved for those with great talent... Kobe can call teammates out because he outworks them and out-performs them. Deshaun can probably do the same.
Here's a question though as we imagine a very real possibility...
Deshaun is suspended for the first few games, offense gets off to a rocky start, Deshaun doesn't perform very well when he returns, losses are piling up.
What kind of leash do teammates and media give him when he has no "capital" in Cleveland yet as far as shining on the field?
I hope there is immediate success, but
this is Cleveland lol. (BTW, check out the full article, I think you'll like it)
