WATSON SETTLES 20 SUITS
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has reached an agreement to settle 20 of the 24 civil lawsuits that had been filed by women who accused him of sexual assault and harassment, an attorney for the women said Tuesday.
Watson, who has been accused by massage therapists of harassing, assaulting or touching them during appointments when he was playing for the Houston Texans, could still be suspended if the NFL determines he violated the league’s personal conduct policy.
Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents all 24 women, said the terms of the settlements are “confidential” and that his legal team “won’t comment further on the settlements or those cases.”
The first 22 lawsuits were filed in March and April 2021. The last two lawsuits were filed after HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” aired an interview last month with two of the women who detailed their encounters with Watson.
The settlement also comes after The New York Times reported earlier this month that Watson had booked massage appointments with at least 66 different women over 17 months while he played for the Texans. The report also said that a Texans representative had provided Watson with a nondisclosure agreement that he gave to some of the women to sign.
NFL
Rob Gronkowski won’t be joining Tom Brady for a third season with the Buccaneers.
The four-time All-Pro tight end announced his retirement for the second time in three years. In an Instagram post, Gronkowski thanked his teammates and coaches over the years and said he’s going back to “chilling out.”
Gronkowski won four Super Bowls with Brady, including three in New England.
The 33-year-old retired in 2019 after nine seasons with the Patriots, but returned in 2020 when Brady went to the Buccaneers. The close friends teamed up to help Tampa beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl in February 2021. Gronkowski caught two touchdown
passes in that game.
Tennis
Serena Williams won the first match of her comeback. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion partnered Ons Jabeur to victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova in the first round of the women’s doubles at the Wimbledon warmup tournament on England’s south coast.
Williams and Jabeur recovered from losing the first set 6-2 to win the second 6-3 and then the match tiebreaker 1311 on their third match point. Williams is guaranteed to have at least one more competitive match in the Eastbourne International before playing singles at Wimbledon as a wildcard entry.
• Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will be Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in Wimbledon’s men’s draw Friday because of the absence of Daniil Medvedev (Russian ban) and Alexander Zverev (injury).
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland will be the top-seeded woman at Wimbledon, which starts Monday.
• Retired player David Ferrer has been appointed tournament
director of the Davis Cup Finals.
Death
Former Purdue basketball star Caleb Swanigan has died at 25.
The Allen County Coroner’s office confirmed Tuesday that Swanigan died Monday of natural causes at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Swanigan was a first-round draft pick, No. 26, in 2017 by the Portland Trail Blazers. He also played for the Sacramento Kings.
Soccer
The United States will play Japan and Saudia Arabia in its last two World Cup warmups.
The 15th-ranked Americans will play No. 23 Japan in an exhibition on Sept. 23 at a European site that’s yet to be announced. Four days later, the U.S. will face No. 49 Saudi Arabia in a friendly in Murcia, Spain.
• The Columbus Crew acquired Colombian forward Juan Camilo Hernandez, known as Cucho, from Watford. Terms of the contract, which runs through 2025, were not released but the Crew said they paid the largest acquisition
fee in the Major League Soccer club’s history.
Also
Recent Del Norte graduate
Evan Rafael, 18, won the boys championship of the Craig Stadler annual junior golf event in the 36-hole championship division at the Pala Mesa Resort with a 4-under 140. Carlsbad High junior
Andee Avery, 16, won the girls division with a 4-over 148 for her third win of the year.
• The Washington Post has obtained a letter detailing a woman’s accusations that Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder sexually harassed and assaulted her on a team plane in 2009.
• The Phoenix Suns hired
Morgan Cato as an assistant general manager and vice president of basketball operations. She becomes the first woman of color to hold an assistant GM title for an NBA franchise.
• Courtney Vandersloot scored 25 points and the visiting Chicago Sky completed the biggest comeback in WNBA history, rallying from 28 down to beat the Las Vegas Aces 10495.