Drink the Depression Away Cleveland Browns Support Group

[EWG]

Mayfield looked good today, though he lost a fumble.

The good old days...

[BmillsSkier]

Apparently today is the day when the NFLPA and NFL will announce some sort of settlement; or they won't and Peter Harvey will announce the result of his "expedited" appeal.

Watson says he can live with 8 games, $5M fine. NFL wants year+ games and undisclosed $M fine.

Meanwhile there's 52 other players on the team (and fans) that just want to see some football while the window of opportunity is open for this roster.

I wish they'd just announce whatever the settlement/decision is so everyone can just get on with it.

[EWG]

Apparently today is the day when the NFLPA and NFL will announce some sort of settlement; or they won't and Peter Harvey will announce the result of his "expedited" appeal.

Watson says he can live with 8 games, $5M fine. NFL wants year+ games and undisclosed $M fine.

Meanwhile there's 52 other players on the team (and fans) that just want to see some football while the window of opportunity is open for this roster.

I wish they'd just announce whatever the settlement/decision is so everyone can just get on with it.

A lot of noise about "converting" Watson's missed games last year to suspension games by fining him for his last year's paycheck.

Interesting concept. Can't think it will play well in the media.

[Timberridge]

Apparently Baker is QB1 to start the season.

[BmillsSkier]

Apparently Baker is QB1 to start the season.

Well that's not helping.

[BmillsSkier]

Browns just pushed back all media availability for today. Something is coming soon.

I'm sure the Eagles that just arrived in CLE for joint practices will enjoy a front row seat to this shitshow.



Place your bets:

I'm going 10 games, $10M fine.

[EWG]

Place your bets:

I'm going 10 games, $10M fine.

Damn, nice work, I think that's right on the money line. I'd take that as the outcome but since that's the house, I'll go 10 games, 12 mil.

[Supermoon]

11 games. $5 mil according to Rap Sheet

[EWG]

11 games. $5 mil according to Rap Sheet

Twitter saying the same thing.

Which hurts the Browns pretty bad. 11 games missed could very well take them out of the playoff hunt, wasting a year of guys like Garret, Chubb, Ward etc, but still lets Watson play this year so his contract doesn't push back a year. Kinda the worst of all worlds.

So not at all surprising.

Go Jacoby!

[Supermoon]

Still feels light to me, but somewhat better

[BmillsSkier]

Same with Jake Trotter.

Welcome, my friends, to the Jacoby Brissett era.

[hatchgreenchile]

Returning against Houston, they better not mute the audio!
The fine is unprecedented, but it is pocket change on $230 million.
Browns fans - good luck? I hope it's worth it. Welcome to reality.

[BmillsSkier]

The shitty thing about all of it is as a fan of the franchise is, us fans had zero control over going and getting Watson with all his baggage, but we're dragged along for the ride. For that, screw Jimmy Haslam.

So, he's here now, and he wasn't indicted by 2 grand juries, settled nearly 2 dozen civil claims, and will be suspended by the NFL for 11 games and pay an unprecedented $5M fine; where does that leave the fans? Some will always say that's justice, he's been punished, now he gets to try and rebuild his image. Others will never say its enough and that he should be banned for life. I have no idea.

All I know is two things: (1) if he comes back and helps the franchise win, as in go really deep in the playoffs and maybe even a title, then I'm sure it will be a lot like many Ravens fans with Ray Lewis, or Steelers fans with Big Ben - winning cures a lot of ails and helps people forget stuff; and (2) this doesn't change that there's a lot of other guys on the team that fans enjoy watching - I know I'm still going to hope that Nick Chubb gets a rushing title, that Myles Garrett gets a DPoY, and that Denzel Ward and the rest of this secondary sets a record for picks this year.

It all sucks as a fan either way; we kinda get dragged into it if we cheer for the same team we've cheered for forever and labeled an enabler, or if they win with him it will be very bittersweet, at least in my mind.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

what selling your soul looks like

[TahoeJ]

I don’t expect Browns fans to stop cheering for their team. It’s an unfair ask.

[hatchgreenchile]

"Whatabout the Steelers" doesn't do it for me. Times, conduct expectations, and the platform for women to discuss these allegations have changed.

I don't know what the ideal punishment is either, nor did I expect the NFL to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Just a clusterfuck all around.

What do you do as a fan? I've got some ideas, but for starters, don't buy a fucking Watson jersey.

[smartyiak]

The shitty thing about all of it is as a fan of the franchise is...the Browns.

FIFY

[BmillsSkier]

"Whatabout the Steelers" doesn't do it for me. Times, conduct expectations, and the platform for women to discuss these allegations have changed.

I don't know what the ideal punishment is either, nor did I expect the NFL to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Just a clusterfuck all around.

What do you do as a fan? I've got some ideas, but for starters, don't buy a fucking Watson jersey.

No one whatabouted the Steelers. If you read my post I said if he wins it will likely be similar to some Steelers fans forgetting about his sexual assault allegations cause winning tends to make people forget the bad stuff when things are going well.

FIFY

Add “ownership” to the end of the statement and I think you’ve got
It.

[hatchgreenchile]

No one whatabouted the Steelers. If you read my post I said if he wins it will likely be similar to some Steelers fans forgetting about his sexual assault allegations cause winning tends to make people forget the bad stuff when things are going well.

Jimmy said it himself, it's about wins, not people. QB youth and superstardom rule the day.

[BmillsSkier]

Jimmy said it himself, it's about wins, not people. QB youth and superstardom rule the day.

Yup. Welcome to life in in the NFL.

These employees are expendable and there's 32 owners that all they care about is bragging rights at the next meeting and how much cash they can extract out of the game. That's it.

If anyone thinks Jimmy is different than any other owner in the league then they're kidding themselves. Super nice-guy Arthur Blank? His Falcons were one of 3 finalists for Watson too.

The thing that strikes me as odd is, the NFL signed off on this trade in March, they signed off on this settlement today, and now all of the attention seems to be off them entirely. If the NFL was truly as serious as they posture to be about this, they would have placed him on the Exempt List in March and forbit any team to trade for him instead of the cattle-call to the highest bidder they sanctioned. Again, money and optics are all that matters to the League; money and winning are all that matters to the Owners.

[TahoeJ]

To be fair to Big Ben, he had one drunken incident in a bathroom with a girl wearing a "Down to Fuck" hat. A lot of he said / she said with that whole case IIRC (maybe I'm forgetting some sordid details?). Whereas Watson's behavior, as labeled by the league, was clearly predatory. And the asshole still says he didn't do anything wrong.

[BmillsSkier]

To be fair to Big Ben, he had one drunken incident in a bathroom with a girl wearing a "Down to Fuck" hat. A lot of he said / she said with that whole case IIRC (maybe I'm forgetting some sordid details?). Whereas Watson's behavior, as labeled by the league, was clearly predatory. And the asshole still says he didn't do anything wrong.

Not in any way defending Deshaun (God I'm sick of saying that, but people need reminding from time to time), but I did hear some insight into his responses today maintaining his innocence. He still has one outstanding suit to face at the end of the season, any admission of wrongdoing today harms his chances of successfully defending that suit.

Now, you, me, and that bush over there have no idea what the claim is in that suit or the facts or circumstances that are in it. Chances are, given the demonstrated pattern of behavior by him, that there is a high likelihood of some wrongdoing on his part in that case (and/or the others like it); but that is immaterial to anything. He has no duty to offer the plaintiff in that case free ammo.

As gross as all this may be.

As to Big Ben, no one is really comparing the sins here (alleged rape IIRC). The point is, plenty of fans of the Steelers had no problem forgetting all that when he won them titles. Same as fans of the Ravens with murdering Ray Lewis when he helped them win. Same with Ray Rice, Aaron Hernandez, PacMan and the rest of the Bengals halfway house, or any other deplorable human that suited up for someone's favorite team. The moment that person starts helping that team win is the moment a portion of the fan base starts forgetting what made him a bad guy in the first place.

[dunfree]

To be fair to Big Ben, he had one drunken incident in a bathroom with a girl wearing a "Down to Fuck" hat. A lot of he said / she said with that whole case IIRC (maybe I'm forgetting some sordid details?). Whereas Watson's behavior, as labeled by the league, was clearly predatory. And the asshole still says he didn't do anything wrong.

the first accusation against Ben was he raped someone at the Harrahs Tahoe, the second was the club bathroom. Not sure either time if he was guilty of anything but being stupid. Because after the motorcycle accident, safe bet to assume bens stupid.



“He’s only 26 how could he know a coerced handjob is wrong” is quite the browns thing to do.

[Supermoon]

To be fair to Big Ben, he had one drunken incident in a bathroom with a girl wearing a "Down to Fuck" hat. A lot of he said / she said with that whole case IIRC (maybe I'm forgetting some sordid details?). Whereas Watson's behavior, as labeled by the league, was clearly predatory. And the asshole still says he didn't do anything wrong.

I had a friend who went to college with Big Ben and she said it was well known all over campus to never be around him at parties. He was a predator then, still probably is. Just like Watson.

[smartyiak]

On a lighter note, EVERY news story I've heard (national...not sports radio/tv) starts with "Cleveland Browns quarterback..."

I bet the Texans are glad that every story that starts with them doesn't end with "...sexual assault." Sure they're buried in the middle, but with the words "traded away" associated with them.