Watson accusers tell their stories
Deshaun Watson will not face criminal charges after being accused of sexual misconduct by 22 Houston-area massage therapists, but the court of public opinion might be a different matter.
Two of Watson’s accusers, Ashley Solis and Kyla Hayes, spoke with Soledad O’Brien for an episode of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” which aired Tuesday night, and spelled out their accusations.
“As I’m working, he deliberately grabs himself and put his penis on my hand,” Solis said.
“And I pulled my hand away instantly and I started crying. And I told him that I’m done. I don’t wanna do this anymore.”
Hayes also detailed her alleged experience with Watson.
“He wanted me to kinda make a V motion in his pelvic area. So go across his stomach to his thighs, back to his stomach,” Hayes told O’Brien. “I just kept massaging and did what he asked until his penis kept touching me repeatedly as I did it. He was moving his penis back and forth as my hands moved as well.”
Hayes affirmed that was “intentional” on Watson’s part, and said: “At some point, he did ejaculate. That was mortifying and embarrassing and disgusting.”
Solis also said the quarterback made what “sounded like a threat” to her after the massage concluded.
“He just said, ‘I know you have a career to protect.’ And ‘I know you don’t want anyone messing with it just like I don’t want anyone messing with mine.’ To me, that’s when I got really scared,” Solis said.
Watson was traded from the Texans to the Browns this offseason, and immediately signed a fully guaranteed contract worth $230 million.
“It’s just like a big screw you,” Solis said of the contract. “That’s what it feels like. That we don’t care. He can run and throw, and that’s what we care about.” Hayes concurred.
“It was sick to me,” she said. “I felt like he’s being rewarded for bad behavior.”
In March, a grand jury in Harris County, Texas decided not to file criminal charges against him pertaining to the allegations from Solis, Hayes and 20 others. He still has civil litigation pending, and faces potential discipline under the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy.
Watson has denied misconduct relating to the massages and maintained that any sexual activity was consensual. He reiterated those denials to HBO when presented with the specific accusations from Solis and Hayes.
One of his attorneys, Leah Graham, spoke to “Real Sports” for the segment. She was asked why people should believe one man — Watson — compared to 22 women.
“It’s 22 women. It’s one lawyer,” Graham said, referring to plaintiffs’ attorney Tony Buzbee. “There’s only one lawyer who was willing to take these cases. And as we know from Ashley Solis’ deposition, Mr. Buzbee was not the first, probably not the second or third lawyer she went to, but he was the only one to take her case.
“Why? Not because it had merit, but because he would use these cases to increase his social media following and quite frankly to get on shows like this one.”
Graham was asked to explain the sexual activity in the massages.
“Well, in every massage, I will
tell you he did go, intending just for a professional massage, and only those three instances where sexual conduct occurred — consensual sexual activity — it occurred after the massage session had ended,” Graham said. “And Mr. Watson has testified and is insistent that that sexual activity was initiated by the plaintiff in every single instance.”
Pressed on Watson saying that he has no regrets about the incidents,
Graham maintained that was still the case.
“As he testified in his depositions last week, yes, he has no regrets because he did nothing wrong,” she said.
“He did nothing wrong in these massages. And although — to your first question, ‘How can he be innocent?’ I think the real question is, ‘What evidence is there of any guilt?’ ”
Most people give up cookies and cake when they are trying to lose weight. Zach Wilson has been passing on the sweets in order to gain weight.
The Jets’ quarterback said his focus this offseason has been on nutrition as well as strength training. He wanted to add weight and he has. Wilson weighs 221 pounds after ending last season at 208. He said he knows he will lose some weight in training camp and hopes to play this season at 218.
“I feel better for sure,” Wilson said Tuesday after the Jets’ second organized team activity practice. “The energy, the ability to have that stamina throughout the whole practice I think is better. I just think in the long run, once we get into a game where we’re getting hit and tackled, having some more size on me will help.”
Wilson said he met with the Jets’ nutritionist at the end of the season to formulate a strategy. He then had someone put together a meal plan for him and hired a personal chef to prepare his food.
“I think it’s probably the first time in my life I took a bigger approach on the nutrition side rather than just the lifting,” Wilson said. “Of course, every year you do your typical strength training and lifting and running. Typically, you just try to eat healthy. But I actually had a written plan of how much to eat, when to eat, tracking everything down to the macro. I had someone helping me with all that stuff. That’s probably been the biggest difference as far as being able to put good weight on.”
Wilson looks noticeably bigger, particularly in his legs. Jets head coach Robert Saleh said there are conspicuous differences in Wilson entering his second season, both physically and in his confidence.
“He’s thick,” Saleh said. “He looks good. He looks confident. Shoulders are back, he’s not caved in. He’s smiling. He’s vocal. I’ve said it before, you can always tell the confidence level and their understanding of what they’re being asked to do by the volume of their voice and he’s getting pretty loud.”
Wilson said he feels more comfortable this spring, both with his command of the offense and his ability to lead the team.
“I think that’s needed, especially from a quarterback: somebody that can get everybody on the same page,” Wilson said. “I’ve never been the super vocal type, the guy to get up in front of the team but sometimes that’s needed. I think it means more when it does come.”
The Jets did not hide that the primary focus of this offseason will be to build around Wilson. They added talent at tight end, wide receiver, running back and on the offensive line to help Wilson’s progression.
“Now, I need to do my job of getting these playmakers the ball,” Wilson said.
The Jets went 4-13 in Wilson’s first season with the team and the 2021 No. 2 overall pick struggled mightily at times. He showed improvement at the end of last season and will need to take a bigger leap in 2022 for the Jets to go from doormats to contenders.
The Jets have more talent on their roster than they did last year, but there is a lot riding on Wilson entering this season.
“We’re definitely going to be better,” Wilson said. “I don’t think we’ll be able to tell until game 1, of course, but you can tell the improvement is there. We have the talent. We have the guys. Now, it’s: Can we tie it all together and be able to put something together?”
Wilson spent time this offseason visiting and working with teammates in Nashville, Miami and Phoenix. He said the plan is to get the Jets’ skill players together in July before training camp begins to continue to work.
His teammates should not expect any dessert at the team dinners, though.
“I do have a sweet tooth pretty bad,” Wilson said of his dietary restrictions. “That’s been the challenge: the cookies and cakes and those kinds of things.”