Deshaun Watson: Ten Toes Down.
By Reagan Griffin (@ReaganDGriffin)
We have made much of the concept of player empowerment in recent years. New ideas of the management of athletes’ physical and mental health, increased demand for opportunities to control their career arcs, and a surge of player-driven media ventures are just some of many developments shifting how labor operates in sports.
Gone are the days in which players are pigeon-holed into this position of deference. The “I’m-just-happy-to-be-here” attitude. More and more athletes are seizing the reigns of their careers, demanding the right to captain their own ship. Make no mistake about it: the era of the autonomous athlete is upon us.
Indeed, plenty of noise about the phenomenon. However, with as many heads talking about it as there are, no one seems to be able to nail down exactly what player empowerment entails. The idea remains fairly elusive. Is it Kawhi Leonard taking some games off for his tendinitis pain? Is it Kyrie Irving taking a leave of absence from the Nets for personal reasons? Is it LeBron James launching Uninterrupted with Maverick Carter? All the above?
Loosely, what it boils down to is the idea that, given that the talents of athletes are the driving force of their leagues, they have earned the right to dictate their terms.They are the product; therefore, they hold the power. Given the newness of this mentality, however, where, when and how athletes choose to exert said power is still undergoing experimentation. Player empowerment is still an evolving idea, with each passing season seeming to breed new propositions of how athletes can flex their sovereignty.
And in the actions of a young NFL star like Deshaun Watson, the movement may look at its next innovation.
The failure of the NFL’s Rooney Rule is no secret. In a league made of 70% Black players, it’s absurd that there are a combined six Black head coaches and general managers. For such an egregious disparity to exist, we can only assume it that a confluence of systemic and individual racist factors is contributing to the lack of consideration for African-American candidates. Evidently, the NFL views Black men as good enough to run their bodies through hell on the field, but unequipped to lead off of it.
It’s an issue acknowledged by many around the league, yet viable solutions seemed to evade all — no one, it seemed, had the power to force a racist system to be… well, not racist.
That is, until the 25-year-old three-time Pro Bowler decided that he did. As of today, Deshaun Watson has officially demanded a trade from the Houston Texans.
Confounding as this news may be, a player demanding a trade is nothing trailblazing in its own right. We see it all the time with athletes unhappy about contract situations or team-building incompetence. However, what is groundbreaking about this situation is the reported reasons Deshaun Watson is frustrated with the team with whom he signed for over $150 million.
Watson has endured a great deal of mediocrity during his four-year tenure with the Texans. He’s dealt with offensive lines made up of glorified matadors, the trading of his favorite and only true weapon in DeAndre Hopkins, and the backbreaking ineptitude of Bill O’Brien. Yet through it all, the Clemson product maintained the poise of the franchise cornerstone that he is, leading the team to a 28–25–0 record as a starter, despite the surrounding dysfunction. All of this he could stomach — what transpired this offseason, however, seems to have been Watson’s breaking point.
Having finally parted ways with former general manager and head coach, Bill O’Brien and owner Cal McNair faced the task of finding a new leader for his franchise. He employed Korn Ferry, an organizational consulting firm, to filter potential candidates for the position, a search that reportedly produced two finalists: NFL Network analyst Louis Riddick and Pittsburgh Steelers vice president Omar Khan.
Amazing, right? An unbiased search for qualified candidates for an executive position resulted in two nominees of color. Your franchise quarterback reportedly wants a more diverse front office. The league needs more of them. The stars have aligned perfectly. Now, all McNair would have to do is…
It was announced on Jan. 7 that the Texans would hire Nick Caserio, former New England Patriots director of pro personnel, to be the next general manager of the franchise, ignoring the recommendations of the search firm that they’d doled out hundreds of thousands of dollars to.
In hindsight, this decision to bypass two minority candidates in favor of a white man should have surprised no one — after all, the final call lay in the hands of a man who’s late father likened NFL players to inmates amid the national anthem protests. Perhaps it may be unfair to jump to conclusions, but racism is a disease passed along generations.
Evidently the hire came as a surprise to Watson, however, who was reportedly angered at the fact that he was not consulted in the decision-making process. This was apparently the final straw for the young star, as three days later ESPN’s Chris Mortenson confirmed Watson’s rumored dissatisfaction with the franchise’s insensitivity to social justice, particularly in the hiring process. Watson reportedly also wanted to see Black candidates considered for the vacant head coaching position, something the Texans have since taken action on, hiring former Ravens assistant David Culley to the role — however, it seems to be too little, too late.
Nothing is set in stone at this point. Though Watson has requested a trade, the Texans are, predictably, not eager to move the superstar. However, the wheels are already in motion, and when the time comes that Watson jumps ship on the team that drafted him because of a grievance with racial inequity in their hiring practices, he’ll be setting one hell of a precedent.
The notion that nobody could hold team owners accountable for upholding a hiring system that blatantly disregards qualified Black candidates is a fallacy. As rich and powerful as this coalition of 32 billionaires is, they still have an Achilles’ heel.
The NFL is nothing without the other-worldly talents of the 22 guys on the field.
Ultimately, owners will have to answer to their players, particularly stars such as Deshaun Watson, because their abilities and personalities are irreplaceable.
The impact of Watson’s conviction on this matter cannot be understated. This singular demand sends a message to athletes, coaches and team owners, not just in the NFL, but across all sports leagues in which diversity and inclusion is a recurring issue: enough is enough. The ripple effect that his decision could cause has the potential to catalyze a well overdue change in the racial landscape of professional and even collegiate sports.
Imagine a sports world in which, when the time comes for a young star quarterback to sign his extension, he places an ultimatum on the franchise to increase diversity in the front office before he puts his name to the dotted line. NBA free agents flock to the teams whose staff represents the league that it is a part of. High school recruits challenged some of these power five blue bloods to answer for the actions and mentalities of their wealthy boosters.
This could very well be the future that we’re headed for, and that fact likely leaves some of you reading this in cold sweats. There are many who would prefer that athletes simply shut up, mind their business, and play the game. Speaking on behalf of the many sports fans who are frustrated with the fact that Black representation essentially begins and ends on the field of play, however, it’s exciting to think about what the future holds for brown folks in sports.
So hats off to Deshaun Watson, for being creative and courageous in his utilization of his influence. Because of the example he is setting, sports franchises in the NFL and beyond will understand that in this era of player empowerment, they will ultimately reap what they sew — for better or worse.
