Texans QB Deshaun Watson 'not worried' about racist comments

HOUSTON -- Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson said he is "not worried" about the racist comments from an East Texas superintendent who wrote Sunday on Facebook that "you can't count on a black quarterback."

"That's on him," Watson said. "May peace be with him. I worry about me, so I'm not worried about what he has to say."

The comments came on a post after the Texans' loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Lynn Redden, the superintendent of the Onalaska Independent School District, was referring to the final play of the game, when Watson held on to the ball as time expired.

"That may have been the most inept quarterback decision I've seen in the NFL," Redden wrote. "When you need precision decision making you can't count on a black quarterback."

On Wednesday, Watson said he has "of course" dealt with racism before, but "it's just [part of] everyday life."

"But I'm all about love, [so] I don't focus on [any] of that. I love all people. And that's what I focus on. It's part of life. I can't control other people and what their beliefs are. I can control what I can control, so I just focus on me, and that's it."

Watson was asked if he thought the superintendent should be fired.

"That's not my job," Watson said. "I don't make that decision."

Texans coach Bill O'Brien called the comments "ignorant" and "outdated."

"I really don't want to waste a lot of time responding to outdated, inaccurate, ignorant, idiotic statements," O'Brien said. "I'll just let Deshaun's proven success on the field, his character off the field, speak for itself. He's one of the greatest guys I've ever coached. He represents everything that's right about football, about life.

"His teammates respect him, his coaching staff respects him, and in this day and age, it's just amazing that this B.S. exists. But it does. But we're moving forward."

J.J. Watt echoed O'Brien's comments, saying that he doesn't think that story "deserves any attention from any [of] us."

"I think it's a very ignorant comment that doesn't deserve any more play than it should get," Watt said. "It's very unfortunate.

"But I trust him. I trust him a whole lot. We all trust him a whole lot."

In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Redden said he thought he was sending a private message and deleted the comment once he realized it was public.