4 minSports
Deshaun Watson Turns Boos to Cheers as Browns Stun Panthers
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson won back the home crowd with two touchdown passes in a comeback upset of the Carolina Panthers, reversing months of fan hostility.
Deshaun Watson walked into Huntington Bank Field on Sunday as perhaps the most unpopular starting quarterback in the NFL and walked out to chants of «Let's go Watson.» The Cleveland Browns' embattled signal-caller threw two touchdown passes and led a fourth-quarter comeback to upset the favored Carolina Panthers, transforming a home crowd that had spent months booing him into one that celebrated him.
The turnaround was stark. Fans in the Dawg Pound, who had loudly jeered Watson during his return from an Achilles injury in the preseason, were cheering his name before the game ended. The only sustained boos in the second half came when Carolina edge rusher Princely Umanmielen sacked Watson for a seven-yard loss on a crucial third down. Replays on the stadium video boards showed Umanmielen grabbing and twisting Watson's facemask without a penalty being called, drawing the crowd's ire toward the officiating rather than their quarterback.
Watson said afterward that he heard only support from the stands. «I was hearing the crowd, the yelling the positivity,» he said. «That's my main focus. I didn't hear any of [the boos], but at the same time, I was just trying to give them something to cheer about and we got that W so that's all that matters.»
The goodwill marked a dramatic reversal from the preseason, when Watson called the home crowd «disrespectful» for booing him after he injured his Achilles in 2024 and again when he played his first game back at Huntington Bank Field. He described the tension as «personal» between him and the fans, separate from his on-field performance. Sunday's result suggested that performance may matter after all: his two scoring passes and the comeback victory quieted critics, at least temporarily.
Much of the fan frustration stemmed from Watson's massive contract and his failure to live up to it over four seasons, compounded by the NFL suspension he accepted in 2022. That suspension followed allegations of sexual assault by two dozen female massage therapists, which made many Browns supporters unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt. Watson had collected $184 million for 19 touchdowns across four seasons in Cleveland, a return that fueled resentment.
Sunday's game was Watson's first regular-season home start of the season and his first since the 2024 game in which he ruptured his Achilles. He described the day as emotionally charged from the moment he woke up. «From the moment I woke up, just the anticipation, just the anxiousness, just everything, just to get in front of the fans, just to get here, just to get started,» Watson said. «I wanted to play perfect so bad, but, you know, that's the NFL with its ups and downs... The energy, the fans, it was amazing. They kept believing in us. They kept the energy up... And we just continued to feed off that energy of the crowd.»
The Browns erased a 12-10 fourth-quarter deficit to secure the win, improving their standing with a victory few expected against Carolina. For Watson, the afternoon offered a rare reprieve from the hostility that has defined his tenure in Cleveland. Whether one strong performance can permanently repair the relationship with the fan base remains an open question, but for at least one Sunday, the quarterback who was once the target of relentless boos heard something different: approval.
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