Deshaun Watson 'deserves a second chance,' Browns owner says after suspension over sex assault lawsuits

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Cleveland Browns team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam defended the acquisition of Deshaun Watson and the belief that "people deserve second chances" following the quarterback’s 11-game suspension.

The NFL announced Watson’s suspension on Thursday after the league and the NFL Players Association came to an agreement on the discipline. Watson must also pay a $5 million fine.

At training camp, Jimmy Haslam said the Browns believed Watson "deserves a second chance" and cited how well things have worked out with Kareem Hunt. 

Cleveland signed Hunt in 2019, and he was suspended for eight games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy after a video that surfaced appeared to show him assaulting a woman in a hotel.

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Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis, left, and Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam talk before a game at FirstEnergy Stadium Dec. 20, 2021, in Cleveland. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)

"I think, in this country, and hopefully in the world, people deserve second chances," Jimmy Haslam explained. "I really think that. I struggle a little bit … Is he never supposed to play again? Is he never supposed to be a part of society? Does he get no chance to rehabilitate himself? That is what we are going to do. 

"You can say, ‘Well, that is because he is a star quarterback.’ Well, of course. But if he was ‘Joe Smith,' he would not be in the headlines every day. 

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"We think people deserve a second chance. We gave Kareem Hunt a second chance, and that has worked out pretty well. We are hoping this will work out, and we have