In March 2022, a Texas grand jury chose not to indict NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson with sexual misconduct, facilitating his trade from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns. This study used publicly accessible Reddit posts (n = 273) to explore sport fan conversations about Watson from the day a grand jury announced it would not indict him to the day the Cleveland Browns issued an official statement about the trade. I analyzed post text, top-level comments, and replies to the top-level comment on each post using reflexive thematic analysis. Results suggest that while most conversations about Watson avoided discussion of sexual violence, fans also supported or resisted rape culture. Few fans shared an intention to no longer support a team that traded for Watson, highlighting the cognitive dissonance fans may face when navigating opinions about sexual violence and the importance of fandom to their identity. The presence of conversations supporting rape culture and limited space for civil discussions of athlete-perpetrated violence may impact some fans’ attitudes toward sexual violence while making online fan communities an unsafe space for others. These findings have implications for understanding sport fan cultures vis-à-vis sexual violence and situational prevention targeting sport fans.
AndersonL. C.RaneyA. A. (2018). Exploring the relationship between sports fandom and the Black criminal stereotype. Communication & Sport, 6(3), 263–282. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479517713152
AshE.SandersonJ.KumanyikaC.GramlichK. (2017). “Just goes to show how these hoes try to tear men down”: Investigating Twitter and cultural conversations on athletic ability, race, and sexual assault. Journal of Sports Media, 12(1), 65–87. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/664338. https://doi.org/10.1353/jsm.2017.0003
4.
BraunV.ClarkeV. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806
5.
BraunV.ClarkeV. (2021). One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis?Qualitative Research in Psychology, 18(3), 328–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238
6.
BrownN. A.BrownK. A.BillingsA. C. (2015). May no act of ours bring shame” fan-enacted crisis communication surrounding the Penn State sex abuse scandal. Communication & Sport, 3(3), 288–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479513514387
7.
CannitoM.CrowhurstI.MercuriE.Ferrero CamolettoR.QuagliaV. (2021). Doing masculinities online: Defining and studying the manosphere. AG About Gender-Rivista Internazionale di Studi di Genere, 10(19), 1–34. http://repository.essex.ac.uk/30634/1/1278.pdf
8.
ChappellB. (2019). NFL suspends Myles Garrett ‘indefinitely’ for hitting QB with his own helmet. NPR. https://n.pr/3pHzg9V
9.
FraniukR.SeefeltJ. L.VandelloJ. A. (2008). Prevalence of rape myths in headlines and their effects on attitudes toward rape. Sex Roles, 58(11–12), 790–801. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9372-4
GantzW. (2013). Reflections on communication and sport: On fanship and social relationships. Communication & Sport, 1(1), 176–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479512467446
12.
GillespieL. K.RichardsT. N.GivensE. M.SmithM. D. (2013). Framing deadly domestic violence: Why the media’s spin matters in newspaper coverage of femicide. Violence Against Women, 19(2), 222–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801213476457
13.
GingD. (2019). Alphas, betas, and indels: Theorizing the masculinities of the manosphere. Men and Masculinities, 22(4), 638–657. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184x17706401
14.
GodenziA.SchwartzM. D.DekeseredyW. S. (2001). Toward a gendered social bond/male peer support theory of university woman abuse. Critical Criminology, 10(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013105118592
KosloskiA. E.Diamond-WelchB. K.MannO. (2018). The presence of rape myths in the virtual world: A qualitative textual analysis of the steubenville sexual assault case. Violence and Gender, 5(3), 166–173. https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2017.0067
20.
KraszewskiJ. (2008). Pittsburgh in Fort Worth: Football bars, sports television, sports fandom, and the management of home. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 32(2), 139–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723508316377
21.
LiJ. Y.KimS. H.O’BoyleJ. (2017). “I believe what I see”: College students’ use of media, issue engagement, and perceived responsibility regarding campus sexual assault. Journal of Health Communication, 22(9), 772–782. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2017.1355419
MaasM. K.McCauleyH. L.BonomiA. E.LeijaS. G. (2018). “I was grabbed by my pussy and its #NotOkay”: A twitter backlash against donald trump’s degrading commentary. Violence Against Women, 24(14), 1739–1750. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801217743340
24.
MoloneyM. E.LoveT. P. (2018). #TheFappening: Virtual manhood acts in (Homo)social media. Men and Masculinities, 21(5), 603–623. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X17696170
25.
O’ShaughnessyH.LigonsJ.(Hosts). (2021). Basketball doesn’t always love you back | the girlies [audio podcast episode]. In Spinsters. Blue wire. https://spoti.fi/3Te9RCf
26.
PettyJohnM. E.AndersonG.McCauleyH. L. (2022). Exploring survivor experiences on social media in the #MeToo era: Clinical recommendations for addressing impacts on mental health and relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(21–22), NP20677–NP20700. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211055079
27.
PettyJohnM. E.MuzzeyF. K.MaasM. K.McCauleyH. L. (2019). #HowIWillChange: Engaging men and boys in the #MeToo movement. Psychology of Men and Masculinities, 20(4), 612–622. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000186
28.
ProferesN.JonesN.GilbertS.FieslerC.ZimmerM. (2021). Studying reddit: A systematic overview of disciplines, approaches, methods, and ethics. Social Media + Society, 7(2). 205630512110190. https://www.Doi.org/10.1177/20563051211019004
RobinsonS. L. (2022). DECISION in re: Matter of Deshaun Watson. The New York Times. https://bit.ly/3APrctQ
32.
SchefterA. (2022). This is why Deshaun Watson, from the beginning, welcomed a police investigation: He felt he knew that the truth would ... [Tweet]. Twitter. https://tinyurl.com/4cjbpbj4
33.
SchwartzM. D. (2021). Masculinities, sport, and violence against women: The contribution of male peer support theory. Violence Against Women, 27(5), 688–707. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220958493
ZaleskiK. L.GundersenK. K.BaesJ.EstupinianE.VergaraA. (2016). Exploring rape culture in social media forums. Computers in Human Behavior, 63(747–5632), 922–927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.06.036
