Deshaun Watson's COVID violation may not have been as reckless and mindless as that of Dwayne Haskins', but it's still going to cost him a pretty penny.
That's because the NFL fined Watson and several of his Texans teammates for going maskless, and thus violating league protocols, at the opening of Watson's new Lefty's Cheesesteak restaurant on December 15. The star quarterback was fined $7,500 while each of his teammates, including Duke Johnson, Brandin Cooks and Laremy Tunsil, were all hit with individual $5,000 fines.
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As a way to thank his teammates for supporting him in his business ventures and end the story without further drama, Watson is taking it upon himself to pay all of the money owed to the league.
“I told those guys I’m going to take care of it; they don’t have to worry about it,” Watson said (via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle). “I’m going to handle that, and we’ll keep going on. We don’t want to cause any other distractions or any unnecessary things going on. That’s going to be handled by me and my team and we’re going to continue to go with the flow.”
As noted by Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, the league's COVID policy does not allow more than three players from gathering together outside of team facilities, and considering masks are required on the sidelines, on team buses, in brief postgame interactions and in practically every situation that doesn't involve the actual playing of the game, it's no surprise here that going maskless at a public event was a poor decision with consequences. When 10 Las Vegas Raiders players were seen without masks at Darren Waller's charity event, the tight end was fined $30,000 while all of his teammates were fined $15,000. As cases go up, staying within the league protocols to promote safety is of the utmost importance, and these fines show it.
Watson says that his teammates attempted to pay for the fines first, but he wanted to show his gratitude for their support.
“You guys were just showing love and support and really just enjoying the food," Watson said. "I really appreciate the support from my guys and my teammates and everyone that came by. They weren’t really sweating the fines, either. At the same time, I told them I was going to do it.”
Williams also notes that the individual fines come out of each player's paychecks, so Watson will just have to pay them back after the fact. Still, the result is the same, and Watson is displaying some form of leadership in doing so to make up for the not-so-smart showing that caused the fines.
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