Houston Texans: Has there been deception with decisions made?
After a tough loss vs. the Tennessee Titans in the final week of what was a very dreadful 2020 season for the Houston Texans, Deshaun Watson emphasized an importance in changing the culture in the organization. Watson said the following after the finale:
"“We just need a whole culture shift. We just need new energy. We just need discipline. We need structure. We need a leader so we can follow that leader as players.”"
I’m aware that Watson said this in regard to the head coach, but this definitely should also apply to front office changes. There does need to be discipline and structure. There needs to be a leader that players can trust.
Deshaun Watson was said to be allegedly promised that he would be involved in the process of hiring the general manager and head coach, and that absolutely includes being informed about the hiring prior to the entire social media world finding out.
It turns out that Watson found out about the hiring the same way we found out. Turns out the Texans haven’t interviewed any of the candidates Watson was hoping for, and I’m fully aware that Watson shouldn’t have the final say in who is hired.
This isn’t a hard thing to do. It’s a very simple thing, actually. Just keep your best player updated with what’s happening in the front office and ask for his opinion when a next step is taken. It isn’t hard, and it’s especially a really simple promise when it comes to a player with such skill and caliber as that of Deshaun Watson.
Watson is one of the most laidback and understanding superstars in this league. Watson understands that not all things will go his way, and all he expected from the organization was the bare minimum of staying informed and being consulted.
Watson didn’t get the bare minimum. Watson likely didn’t see any of this coming and found out about new general manager Nick Caserio’s hire on Twitter just like the rest of us. Let him feel valued, especially when he actually is that valuable to an organization.
How disillusioned could the front office possibly feel to where such a simple promise for the biggest backbone of the organization be not worth their time and they can just go ahead and completely ignore it?
That is by far the most asinine broken promise I’ve ever seen from an organization. Was there not a single person in that organization that said, “Wait, before we hire Nick, let’s call the best player we have. Let’s call Watson and let him know what we are up to and ask for his opinion because that is what he wanted. It will keep him calm even if he doesn’t like the hire.”
This is why I can’t put any faith or trust in the front office. These kinds of choices this franchise makes is why I believe that the Texans organization isn’t committed to excellence.
This mistake, if it turns out how I think it will, will be the biggest mistake this franchise has ever made. You think hiring Bill O’Brien or trading DeAndre Hopkins was as bad as it could get? Turns out I was right on point, and that is you can’t take star players in Houston for granted anymore.