Deshaun Watson took the high road.
The former Clemson star said Wedneday he is not worried about the racist comments a Texas Superintendent of Schools said last week on Facebook following Houston’s loss to Tennessee.
“It’s a part of life,” Watson said to the media. “I cannot control what other people’s beliefs are. I can control what I can control. I just focus on me and that is it.”
Onalaska ISD Superintendent Lynn Redden said following last Sunday’s game on Facebook, “you can’t count on a black quarterback.”
He later took down the post and apologized. But the damage was already done.
“I really don’t want to waste a lot of time responding to outdated, inaccurate, ignorant, idiotic statements,” Houston head coach Bill O’Brien told reporters. “I’ll just let Deshaun’s proven success on the field, his character off the field speak for itself. He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever coached. He represents everything that’s right about football, about life. His teammates respect him. His coaching staff respects him.
“In this day and age, it’s just amazing that BS exists. But it does. We’re moving forward. And our fans, they love Deshaun and we’re really concentrating on the Giants, but I feel like I’ve wasted about a minute and a half responding to that BS.”
Redden made the comment in response to a story he read in the Houston Chronicle about the Texans’ loss to the Titans. Redden did not like Watson’s decision making on the final play of the game.
“That may have been the most inept quarterback decision I’ve seen in the NFL,” Redden said of Clemson’s national championship quarterback. “When you need precision decision making you can’t count on a black quarterback.”
Redden later expressed his regret to the Houston Chronicle and deleted it after he realized his post was public.
When asked about it on Wednesday, Watson stayed true to the way O’Brien described him. He showed a lot of character and a lot of class.
“This is every day life, I guess. I am all about love so I don’t focus on none of that,” he said. “I love people and that is what I focus on.”
When asked if Redden should be fired, Watson said, “That is not my job. I don’t make that decision.”