Deshaun Watson

Background

Deshaun Waston is a well-recognized American footballer who is loved by millions nationwide. Waston was born on September 14, 1995, in Gainesville, Georgia, to Deann Waston and Don Richardson. He schooled at Gainesville High School and was on the Red Elephants football team. During high school, he set many state records in football and excelled in his junior year, winning the state championship. Waston led his school to the state semifinals during his sophomore year. All these made him sought after by numerous colleges. Eventually, he chose to commit to Clemson University. In 2014, he ranked in E.S.P.N. 300 Class as a top quarterback.

Waston became a master at his own game and excelled well at it. In 2016, he became the first player to win the ‘Davey O’Brien Award’ and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. All of which he achieved in his junior year at Clemson University. In November 2016, Waston was declared for the N.F.L. Draft and graduated in December with a degree in communications. In the 2017 N.F.L. Draft, the Houston Texans selected Waston, who signed a four-year deal worth $13.84 million plus an $8.21 million signing bonus. In 2019, Waston ranked 51st on the N.F.L. Top 100 Players of 2019 list. In 2017, Nike and Beat By Dre struck an endorsement deal with Waston. In 2020, Texans offered a fifth-year option to Waston. He signed a four-year contract extension(till 2025) of $`177.5 million with $111 million in guarantees, becoming the second most expensive contract in N.F.L. history. In 2021, Waston decided it was time to leave the Texans, but they were not ready to trade him off. So he was ruled out of every game played in 2021. Eventually, Waston was traded on March 18, 2022, to Cleveland Browns and signed a new and entirely guaranteed five-year contract of $230 million, making it one of the most enormous contracts in N.F.L. history.

Waston believes in giving back to his community and in 2017, he donated his first N.F.L. game check costing $27,000 to three employees of the N.R.G. Stadium cafeteria who were affected by Hurricane Harvey. Unfortunately in 2021, there were 22 civil lawsuits filed by different women accusing him of sexual misconduct, which made Nike and Beat By Dre suspend endorsement deals with Waston.