Browns' Deshaun Watson following in footsteps of Cam Newton

Cleveland Browns star quarterback Deshaun Watson followed in the footsteps of Cam Newton by hosting an inaugural seven-on-seven summer football tournament in Akron this week. 

"This is something I’ve always dreamed of doing because this is why I started," Watson said at the event, per Shaun Bennett of The Chronicle-Telegram. "I was in the same position when Cam Newton did his first annual seven-on-seven camp and I was one of the first ones to take part. After that, we stayed in touch, still to this day, so you never know if one of these kids might do the same thing and be a guy that I keep in touch with over the next decade and watch their career progress." 

For a piece published in November 2015, ESPN noted how Watson played in Newton’s all-star seven-on-seven camp as a junior in high school. That was before Newton earned NFL Most Valuable Player honors for the 2015 season and before Watson became a three-time Pro Bowl selection with the Houston Texans. 

As Ashley Bastock of the Cleveland Plain Dealer pointed out, it was also before Houston traded Watson to Cleveland in March 2022 and before Watson served an 11-game suspension last fall related to allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions. 

Two grand juries ultimately declined to indict Watson, but he understandably remains a polarizing figure among Cleveland fans and others within the NFL community. The 27-year-old continues to embrace his fresh start in Northeast Ohio, one that currently involves no threat of punishment from the league unlike what he experienced last July. 

"I have a little bit more awareness of the community and the city now and I want to do what I’m interested in," Watson explained. "So me and the (Browns) and my personal team have all got together and just put ourselves in a position to be able to reach out to different communities to be able to help people." 

Watson went 3-3 across his first six regular-season starts with the Browns and completed 58.2% of 170 pass attempts for 1,102 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed for 175 yards and a score on 36 carries. 

He and Cleveland open the upcoming campaign at home versus the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 10.