INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland Browns fans who might be bugged by a joke Deshaun Watson made at the club's expense might not like the explanation the former Clemson quarterback gave Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine, but they couldn't have asked for a more detailed one.
Watson suggested that the Dallas Cowboys make a trade with the Cleveland Browns to acquire him during his acceptance of the Davey O'Brien Award last month. Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett made a very similar joke, then tried to smooth it over just a day later. Friday was Watson's day to smooth out the misstep at the NFL Scouting Combine, and when asked about his apparent disrespect for the Browns, he offered the longest, most detailed answer of any question he took during his media interview.
"It wasn't a diss. If you know the whole story, it was a joke that me and Jason Garrett had last year, because I had won the Davey O'Brien the year before, too. The Davey O'Brien (staff) are huge Cowboys fans, and they wanted me to joke around and get their crowd excited and get a good laugh," Watson said. "The base behind the story was, at the time, the Cowboys were looking for a quarterback and Tony Romo was hurt. I told them, 'Hey, if I was able to come back (and win) the Davey O'Brien Award again next year ... then you have to draft me. That was the joke.
"So (this year) the Davey O'Brien people wanted me to bring that back up and say 'Hey, I kept my promise, now you've got to keep yours and draft me. It was an insider joke, somebody filmed it and put it on social media and made it bigger than what it was. It wasn't a diss to any team or franchise. I would be happy to go anywhere."
So apparently, there could be some blame to go around. Perhaps Watson should have thought better of making the joke, and perhaps the O'Brien Award staff should have thought about the bad position such a joke would put the winner of their award in.
Browns GM Sashi Brown said earlier in the week that he isn't holding the remarks against either Watson or Garrett.
In other words, there are no hurt feelings. Nor should there be.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
