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What Had Happened Was: 8/18/16

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    CFP National Championship – Alabama v Clemson
    Deshaun Watson #4 of the Clemson Tigers reacts against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 11, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
    By Rhiannon Walker Ryan Cortes

    GAME. BLOUSES.

    Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson spoke to Matt Hayes of Bleacher Report this week about the Tigers’ success last season and his on-field development. One of the most interesting tidbits of the conversation was Watson discussing why he took offense to one reporter calling him a dual-threat quarterback.

    Hayes: Late last year, before the national championship game at Alabama, you took exception to a reporter claiming NFL scouts are questioning your ability to throw the ball and that you’re more of a runner. You were very animated in your response. Why is that so important to you?

    Watson: People say, ‘Well, he’s a dual-threat quarterback.’ You look at that word … that’s a code word.

    Hayes: How is it possible, after so many black quarterbacks have had successful careers in both college football and the NFL, that we’re still dealing with those black-quarterback stereotypes?

    Watson: I have no idea, but it’s there. People think, ‘Oh, he’s a black quarterback, he must be dual-threat.‘ People throw around that word all the time. It’s lazy. The one thing I learned early on as a football player is people have their opinions, and I can’t change them. But I can show them what they’re missing. People have assumed that I have to run the ball before I can throw it most all of my career, all the way back before high school. It’s a stereotype put on me for a long time because I’m African-American and I’m a dual-threat quarterback. I don’t know why that stereotype is still around. It’s about talent and the ability to throw the ball, not the color of your skin or your ability to also be a dangerous runner. It bothered me when I was young until I finally realized the only way to change it is to make your mark on the field and force them to see. So that’s what I’ve been doing.

    Check out the rest of the interview below:

    BLESSINGS!

    SOCIAL STATUS

    With yet more details coming in, the internet continues to doubt Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte’s Rio de Janeiro robbery story, and it’s magical:

    https://twitter.com/_Zeets/status/766107311416938496

    FOR THE CULTURE

    Ava Duvernay’s Queen Sugar directorial team was composed of all women, and every last one of them is signed on for a television director job as well. Who runs the world? Girls.

    If you put activists Gloria Steinem and Amandla Sternberg in the same space, what you get is pure awesomeness.

    This picture of actress Lupita Nyong’o is absolutely everything.

    Odessa Swarts couldn’t compete in the Olympics because of apartheid. But years later, her son Wayde van Niekerk did so and made history in the process.

    Singer Adele posted a video on Twitter explaining to her fans why she wouldn’t be performing a concert in Phoenix. How many of your favorite artists would do the same?

    TOP THREE TWEETS

    Every morning we’ll hit you here with the best of what we saw on social media the previous night. Why? Why not?

    1. DR. LOVE-LOCHTE

    2. BEST OF THE BEST

    3. HERE FOR IT

    #ICYMI

    Check out the summer edition of “Undefeated or Nah?” featuring the homie Reese Waters:

    http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=espn:17329341

    PICTURE PERFECT

     

    Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she might have a heart attack if Frank Ocean doesn't drop his second album.

    Ryan Cortes is a staff writer for The Undefeated. Lemon pepper his wings.

    This Story Tagged: Kevin Durant What Had Happened Was Deshaun Watson