Weren’t there some red flags about the Sex Pervert coming out of college? Hence why he was passed over by Mitch “loves to kiss tittiess” Trubisky and Mahomes, even tho he was a Heisman Finalst and beat Saban in the NC game. CJ seems more grounded. His KK thing is about prison reform. KK is all sorts of things but she does seem genuine about California prison reform. We know CJs story so their paring doesn’t bother me given the context.
If Stroud focuses on football the way Peyton Manning did, or like Kobe Bryant did with basketball (after the Colorado incident), He is poised to be one of the all time greats. unfortunately the whispers about you only live once can creep into your subconscious and derail a once promising career; and this goes to anyone, even the ones reading this post. irrelevant of whom anyone hangs out with, it is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to stay on the straight and narrow road of truth. The most popular tragedies are those of great promise left unfulfilled because of self induced drama.
I'm a Clemson football fan. Deshaun was my favorite college football player of all time. He was special for a lot of reasons. I was so happy when the Texans drafted him I was ready to explode. There were no rumors, red flags or smoke. The fascination with Trubisky made a lot of ACC football fans laugh. I didn't agree at the time but understood the rationale why Mahomes was selected earlier. Then we found out Deshaun was a sexual pervert. Unreal.
Not to in anyway defend Watson - but I think the state of the organization was likely a significant factor in his wanting out. Cal was an aimless, often overwhelmed owner; BOB had swallowed far more than he could chew; Easterby had way too much power & influence... they traded away DHop, JJ was leaving... It was a ****ing mess. I would've wanted out, too, if I were Watson. I can't obviously speak to the inner workings now - but I feel confident Hannah's increased role; Caserio's recent personnel streak, and, of course, DeMeco, make for a LIGHT YEARS better organization. Stroud is surrounded by young, talented teammates & I think this year, he'll get a taste of just how much of a football city Houston is as fans return in droves. +, already, Stroud is getting something Watson never really did, which is a national platform. I would have to look - but I don't believe any Watson-era team ever had six national broadcasts. When you can be in Houston but still be a leading force in the NFL's PR push... he doesn't really have a need to leave. Again, I think the state of the organization is a contributing factor here. People love DeMeco; Caserio is very media-savvy; Hannah, let's be honest, is easy on the eyes & is very personable... This is such an easier team to sell than the Cal/BOB/Easterby team ever was, even as they had a modicum of success.
Then Watson shouldn't have signed the contract and 6 months later wanted to be traded. That shows something about his character. I think the Texans new about some of his shenanigans and refused to stand behind Watson. Watson got it right though, the Haslam's paid him. Hannah helped cleanup Cal's image and Cal did something right in hiring Caserio/Ryans and Caserio/Ryans got lucky that Stroud fell to 1-2.
He actually hesitated to sign the 4yr/$160 million contract and implied he wasn't willing to make an all-in, long term commitment to the Texans as Mahomes made to the Chiefs a couple of months earlier with a 10-year contract. Like everyone else, he had serious misgivings about Jack Easterby. Four games into the season, the idiot known as BOB was finally canned, partially because Easterby hated him and wanted to clean house of everyone who wouldn't kiss the ring on his finger. The nadir of the Texans organization came shortly after the season. They used a very thorough, professional process to review and interview candidates for GM. Omar Khan was the finalist and the Texans began contract negotiations. Then Jack Easterby broke the camel's back by jumping in front of Cal McNair, persuading him to forget the lengthy, professional process and instead hire Nick Caserio (who wasn't even a candidate), who he knew from the Pats and thought he could control. They did this knee-jerk move without telling Deshaun and he wanted out right away. It was over. This also completely broke me from wanting the Texans to succeed. I wanted the franchise to crash and burn as long as Easterby controlled things. Read this if you don't remember. https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...t-texans-were-poised-to-hire-omar-khan-as-g-m Bottom line: I didn't blame Deshaun for wanting out and most people didn't either. But then less than two months later, Tony Buzbee became a household name and "the rest is history".
I continue to believe Cal's first step was to retain Caserio instead of cleaning house completely when many were demanding it.
Exactly, it would've been so easy to show Caserio the door when he fired Easterby. But Cal smartly stuck to his guns and waited to takeover from his mom. Hannah's best job that's she's done is cleaning up Cal's image as best she can and marketing the heck out of the team. All as Caserio/Ryans are building a team this city can be proud of. A lot of water under the bridge in the last 2 years, but it looks like Cal's going to let Caserio/Ryans do what it takes to try to bring a Lombardi to Kirby. I hope this is a long term policy. You can tell things have changed, bringing in Diggs/Mixon/Hunter in one offseason is something Bob and Janice never would've done. About time things changed down on Kirby and I'm glad for Cal and Hannah for all of the flatout abuse they took while Janice was really calling the shots is making me really hope that they can stay healthy. If they can stay healthy then they've got a shot to beat anybody. I think they're better than the Ravens this year.
I'm optimistic primarily because for every concern about a weakness, there are two chances of a surprise resurgence or improvement. So it's a bit like going to a premier of an opera with famous stars and divas, but not knowing if it will please the audience as an ensemble.
I don't personally think it says *anything* about his character. We don't know what trigged his desire to leave. It may have been BOB losing the power struggle with Easterby - which happened after the extension. Regardless, the Texans had him for two more years. And then they offered him more money. He took it. Even if he was plotting an exit... I don't see the issue? Somehow, we've all decided athletes live in a different universe and their decision-making must be pure and righteous. The reality is that the only difference between them and us is the amount of zeroes in their salaries. They are otherwise driven by the same things we are. None of us - even angry and disgruntled - turn down more money if offered. I don't want to carry water for Watson. But the ugly allegations are the mark on his character. Accepting more money, IMO, is business and an easy decision any of us would've also made.
Deshaun was one of the few full blown BOB backers during his time here, mainly cause BOB let him do whatever he wanted. The Easterbunny move had a lot to do with him wanting out, Easterbunny wasn’t a big fan of Deshaun and vise-versa. Him taking as much money as offered was a smart business move, like you said anyone would’ve done it. He wanted out to get ahead of the allegations that were coming, the walls were closing in and he used all of the Texans drama as a convenient excuse to demand a trade. Then the Browns(Haslems) gave him even more money, another smart business move. Freakman is a bottom tier human and has become a below average QB, but he’s had some smart business moves. In my time many of the shrewd businessmen I’ve ran into were not good people.
Let’s be honest. The real reason here, is Watson went to Cal and wanted his support for the allegations. He didn’t get it. (Before they came out) He also had demands that the coaching staff would be “all black”, the GM as well. At the time, Cal was not going to let Watson dictate anything with the staff.
If there’s a credible source, I’ll engage. Otherwise, uhm… they hired a Black head coach and offensive coordinator - so I’m thinking this is 100% bullshit. Not to mention, he’s playing for the whitest HC in the NFL.