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The Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson are going to draw the ire of every opposing fan base. Offensive lineman Joel Bitonio said that the treatment Watson got in the preseason from Jacksonville Jaguars fans and will seemingly get from others is a case of “Cleveland vs. the world” in his eyes.
The statement caused a massive stir, as it came off as him being indifferent to the reasons why Watson and the Browns were getting booed and chanted at so heavily. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Bitonio noticed how people were taking his quote and clarified his statement. He simply meant that the Browns would be booed regardless of who was under center and that the team has to stick together.
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“I noticed, and what I said was, we’re going to go to stadiums and we’re going to get booed by people no matter who’s playing quarterback for us and as a team we come out and say ‘Cleveland against the world,'” Bitonio said, via Cleveland.com “If people want to take that in the wrong context or talk about it in the wrong context, that’s their opinion but I know we have good people on this team that are working hard and trying to be the best for the Cleveland Browns and that’s where I am at as a player who has been here for nine years, and if someone wants to think that I don’t love and appreciate things in my life, that’s their opinion.”
Joel Bitonio's loyalty to the Browns is not surprising. The team, though, has never been a leaguewide target like it is right now because most of its existence has been as a loser. The Browns got booed simply because they were the away team, not for any extracurricular reasons. Of course, that will change with Deshaun Watson, whose predatory behavior has made him easy to root against.
