Deshaun Watson said winning a Super Bowl was a “top priority” as he attempted to pull off football’s triple crown: state championship, national championship, and a Super Bowl.
“I’m trying to, of course, be legendary,” Watson told reporters on Aug. 21, 2020. “That’s my word since college and for me to be that I have to win a Super Bowl and definitely win it with the Houston Texans. We’ve never won one here before and we haven’t even come on the brink of winning one. We’ve got to get to that game before that, and then of course we can think about that. But, yeah, I’m trying to create history and continue that and make it a dynasty.”
It’s just been a year and a half since Watson said these words to the Houston media in regard to his expectations for the Texans, his own performance, and his legacy as a quarterback.
Life comes at you fast, people change, and apparently legendary can also mean winning a Super Bowl with the Cleveland Browns.
Much will be written in the coming weeks about how the Watson trade will shape the future of the Texans, the Browns and the NFL landscape at large. Such is the nature of a trade involving a polarizing, top-10 quarterback and so many future draft picks. Winners will be declared, and many will speculate on the future success of both Watson and the Texans’ return package.
There will certainly be much scrutiny regarding the merits of Cleveland acquiring a controversial player like Watson. Ditto that for criticism of a star player with numerous off-the-field accusation forcing himself out of Houston in a high-profile trade. The situation is the definition of a mess and for onlookers it appears as the pinnacle of Houston’s dysfunction.
However, in the meantime, there’s only hurt left in Houston. For a player that truly represented the first “franchise quarterback” in Texans history, there’s no feeling other than absolute shock at losing the 26-year-old rising star. Watson has felt long gone for many fans after the absolute saga of the 2021 campaign.