Deshaun Watson announces father’s death days before Browns’ season opener

When Deshaun Watson takes the field Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, he’ll be doing so with a heavy heart.

The Cleveland Browns quarterback announced on social media Friday his father, Don Richardson, had died.

“Rest in Peace Pops,” Watson wrote on an Instagram story.

Watson, 28, was reportedly estranged from his father. He told the Houston Chronicle in 2017 he rarely saw his father.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“Maybe five (times), at the most,” Watson said.

“My mom was basically my mother and father, so I didn’t really pay too much attention to it. My friends had fathers. But, for me, it was just kind of, ‘Hey, my mother is the one that I’m going to rely on and I’ll always focus on.’ ”

Instead of using Richardson as his surname, the quarterback uses his mother’s last name.

NFL DEBUT IN BRAZIL MARRED BY CONCERNS OVER SAFETY, STREAMING, SOCIAL MEDIA BAN AND THE COLOR GREEN

It’s no secret Watson is facing immense pressure this season. After playing at Clemson University, where he led the Tigers to a national championship with a last-minute touchdown over Alabama, he was selected by the Houston Texans with the 12th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. 

Watson had three Pro Bowl seasons with the Texans before getting traded to the Cleveland Browns. In 2022, Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of his Browns tenure after being accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson before a game against the Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Browns Stadium.  (Ken Blaze/USA Today Sports)

He played the final six games of the 2022 season with the Browns, going 3-3. Watson led the Browns to a 5-1 start in 2023 before being injured and having season-ending shoulder surgery in November.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.