"But what happens off the field doesn't matter. Got it."
I don't think you do.
It matters but I don't control it. Nothing I do changes a thing. How I feel about it? Matters to me alone.
If Watson is scum? How I feel does not change him. Likewise if he is a good guy. I don't feel a need to pass character judgement on every player.
I don't know these people. I am not on a jury to determine their guilt or innocence. When this all reaches a conclusion. I may think he is scum.
That does not mean I want the Browns to lose if he is the quarterback.
Mike Tyson is a convicted rapest. I don't hold a high opinion of Mike Tyson. I still went to his fights. I didn't go hoping he would win. I went for the excitement of the competition.
I am ok with the guy in the mirror.
And I have no problem with any of that. I want to concentrate the part in bold. Much as yourself I have no control over anything someone else or the decisions that this owner and FO made. What I do have control over is how I react to it. I have control over me. I have control over my decision to support it or not. I'm not going to try to justify to myself that I can separate the person for the player. I'm not going to try to convince myself the people who own and control this team didn't make the decision to take on this player no matter the implications.
Now maybe you don't feel the need to do that and that's fine. Maybe there are a certain amount of people that have no problem separating the player from the person, the teams decisions and making that distinction. And that's fine if that's the way you're wired. I'm just explaining that that's not the way I work.
For me there are 32 NFL teams. I love the game. Each Sunday there are several other games I can watch for the "excitement". And believe me if the Browns are on national TV or are a part of my local coverage I will watch them. This doesn't mean I hate the Browns.
And don't get me wrong. I'm not going to root against the Browns. You see I've been on one form of this forum or another since 1999. In that time I've met a lot of good Browns fans. I've made friends with a lot of them. I'm not going to root against a team that my friends are such huge fans of. I'm just no longer a "fanatic" of this team. Each of us see things on an individual basis. My conscience simply will not allow it.
We all have priorities and where things fall on that priority list. The fact that there are other people whose list is different than mine is not something I will pass judgement on. I'm just hoping people can understand why mine may be quite different than their own.