Clemson’s Deshaun Watson says he’s labeled a dual-threat QB ‘because I’m African American’

Clemson’s Deshaun Watson doesn’t like being called a dual-threat quarterback — even though he admits he is one.

“People say, well he’s a dual-threat quarterback,” the 2015 Heisman Trophy finalist told Bleacher Report. “You look at that word...that’s a code word.”

It’s code, Watson said, for the color of his skin and the position he plays.

“People think, ‘Oh, he’s a black quarterback, he must be dual-threat,’” he said. “People throw around that word all the time. It’s lazy.”

Watson said he’s always had to deal with an assumption about African American quarterbacks that he feels goes along with being labeled dual-threat.

“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,” Watson said.

“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.”

But Watson added he’s learned the only thing to do about such perceptions is to prove them wrong. As a sophomore last season, he passed for 4,109 yards and 35 touchdowns and ran for 1,105 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“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,” he said. “So that’s what I’ve been doing.”