Deshaun Watson to suit up for first time against former team
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, left, shakes hands with defensive end Myles Garrett during the NFL football team's training camp, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)
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For the first time in two seasons, quarterback Deshaun Watson is scheduled to play in a regular season game on Sunday after serving an 11-game suspension over multiple claims of sexual misconduct.

The three-time Pro Bowler has not played in a regular season game since 2020. In August, the NFL and the NFL Players Association agreed to suspend him for 11 regular season games without pay and fined him $5 million after he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women.

Deshaun Watson is now on the active roster for the #Browns, they cut a QB to make room https://t.co/Mh4RbHaxOe

— Brandon Little (@BrandonLittleFB) November 28, 2022

CNN reports Watson has previously settled all but one of the sexual misconduct civil lawsuits against him. He has denied wrongdoing in those cases, and two grand juries have separately declined to indict him on criminal charges.

The 4-7 Browns will give Watson all the first-team reps this week in preparation for their road game against the Houston Texans on Sunday. It will be Watson’s first regular-season action in 700 days after he sat out the 2021 season in Houston.

“I have always stood on my innocence and am going to continue to stand on that, but at the same time I have to continue to push forward on my life and my career,” Watson said in a news conference in August.

As Watson eyes his return on Sunday against the very team which he refused to play for, both he and the Texans will leave their mutual frustrations on the field in search of a win which will represent much more.

Hailing from Charlotte North Carolina, born litterateur Ezekiel J. Walker earned a B.A. in Psychology at Winston Salem State University. Walker later published his first creative nonfiction book and has...