The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s next for Watson?
Gainesville native in turmoil and in limbo as season begins.
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is the subject of 22 civil suits filed in March and April that accuse him of coercive and lewd sexual behavior, with two that allege sexual assault. He has not been charged criminally, and his lawyer has denied the accusations. Watson, who turns 26 on Tuesday, is a Gainesville native and one of the best in the NFL at his position. Here’s where the cases stand:
In September 2020, he signed a four-year contract extension worth nearly $111 million guaranteed, tying him to the Texans through 2025. But Watson, disenchanted by the team’s poor personnel moves and failure to uphold a pledge to include him in the search process for a new coach and general manager, requested a trade. Watson has a no-trade clause in his contract that allows him to choose his next destination. The Texans, hopeful of repairing the rift, emphasized in January that they had no intention of trading him.
With Watson insistent and the Texans eager to move on, and if another team offers the package of draft picks the front office seeks — whether that happens before Watson’s status is resolved or not — Houston is likely to deal him.
Over the last year and a half, Watson grew into a leading voice among Black players who have protested racial injustice and police brutality. During the 2020 offseason, he took part in a player-led video that urged the NFL to support protests by players, and after police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd, Watson marched with his family — Floyd grew up in Houston — in a downtown protest.
What is Watson being accused of?
Twenty-two women have accused Watson of assault in lawsuits filed in Harris County, Texas. The lawyer representing them, Tony Buzbee, said the women have largely echoed one another’s claims of sexual misconduct and coercive behavior against Watson.
Although the 22 suits filed to date share many similarities, only two include claims of sexual assault: Watson was said in both cases to have pressured women to perform oral sex during massages and was accused in one of also having grabbed a woman’s buttocks and vagina. The civil suits claim that Watson engaged in a pattern of lewd behavior with women hired to provide personal services, coercing them to touch him in a sexual manner, exposing himself to women he had hired for massages or moving his body in ways that forced them to touch his penis. The incidents cited in the suits were said to have occurred from March 2020 to March 2021.
Two of Watson’s accusers publicly identified themselves April 6, giving statements that described their alleged encounters. Ashley Solis, the first of the 22 women to file suit, read from a statement at a news conference held at Buzbee’s office. Another woman, Lauren Baxley, provided a letter she addressed to Watson that was read by one of Buzbee’s associates.
Watson’s lawyers filed a motion
April 8 asking the court to compel the plaintiffs to reveal their identities, citing the use of pseudonyms in civil suits as a violation of Texas state law. They condemned Buzbee for “conducting discovery by Facebook and trial by press conference” and for “asking the public to act as judge and jury.”
Twenty-one women added their names to the suits, which were consolidated for a judge’s review. One accuser dropped her suit out of privacy and safety concerns, and one new case was added, bringing the total number of active civil suits against Watson to 22.
At least one other massage therapist publicly accused Watson of similar behavior but had not hired Buzbee to represent her. She told Sports Illustrated in March that she was considering legal action.
How has Watson responded?
Watson hasn’t commented publicly since the night of March 16, when the first complaint was filed. He said on Twitter that he had “never treated any woman with anything other than the utmost respect” and that he had rejected “a baseless six-figure settlement demand” made by Buzbee before the first suit was filed. Watson’s agent, David Mulugheta, publicly defended his client in social media posts on March 19.
Rusty Hardin, who represents Watson, issued a statement March 19 calling
the allegations against his client “meritless” and released a more detailed statement March 23 in which he refuted the veracity of all the claims and described the first of two allegations of sexual assault as a blackmail attempt.
In another statement, issued March 31, Hardin highlighted firsthand testimonials of 18 massage therapists who said they had worked with Watson over the past five years without experiencing any of the behavior described by the plaintiffs in the lawsuits.
At a news conference April 9, Hardin acknowledged that Watson took part in sexual acts with some of the women but claimed they were all consensual.
“Never at any time, under any circumstances, did this young man engage in anything that was not mutually desired,” Hardin said.
Buzbee, in a statement released April 13, denied that argument.
“Mr. Watson may now claim he had consent to do what he did to these victims, but let’s be clear — in their minds he didn’t have consent, PERIOD,” the statement said.
Will Watson face criminal charges?
The Houston Police Department has spoken to at least 10 women, according to records obtained by The New York Times, from April 2 to May 20. The FBI is investigating the case, according to Hardin and Buzbee. Watson has spoken to the FBI, and Hardin has said agents are investigating one of Buzbee’s clients for extortion, while Buzbee has said they are investigating Watson’s conduct.
The status of the criminal investigations into Watson’s conduct is unclear.
Watson has not talked with police investigators, Hardin told the Times on Sept. 3. “The police have made no attempt to reach out to Deshaun, and we don’t expect law enforcement to do so until they complete an investigation,” Hardin said.
He added that he would be surprised if the police investigation concluded before October.
Will the NFL take any action?
The league opened an investigation into Watson’s conduct March 18. In a letter addressed to Buzbee, Lisa Friel, a special counsel for investigations at the NFL, requested the cooperation of the accusers, and as of mid-August, according to Sports Illustrated, 10 of the 22 accusers had spoken with their investigators. Hardin reiterated in August that the league had not yet spoken with Watson.
A league spokesperson said the matter was under review in relation to the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
That policy governs off-field behavior involving players and coaches.
In a statement April 2, after the Houston Police Department announced its investigation, the league said it was “continuing to monitor all developments in the matter which remains under review of the Personal Conduct Policy.”
The Texans said in a March 18 statement that they would “continue to take this and all matters involving anyone within the Houston Texans organization seriously” and that the team would not comment further until the league’s investigation had ended, a process with no public timeline. In his first public comment on the matter, the Texans’ CEO, Cal McNair, wrote in an April email to season ticket holders that the organization took the allegations “very seriously” and would cooperate fully with the Houston Police Department and NFL investigations.
“While we await the conclusion of these investigations, we express our strong stance against any form of sexual assault,” McNair said.
Will Watson play football this season?
With his football and legal status in limbo, the NFL in July permitted Watson to practice during training camp without restriction, and if he had not shown up, he would have incurred a $50,000 fine for each missed day. Watson did not play in any of Houston’s three preseason games.
The Texans decided to keep him on the 53-man roster but have addressed Watson’s continued presence in vague terms, saying they will make the best decision for the organization. On Sept. 6, coach David Culley announced Tyrod Taylor as the team’s starting quarterback.
Watson, though, doesn’t want to play again for the Texans, and they don’t want him to play for them. Unless a team demonstrates a willingness to absorb the risk of acquiring Watson, it is all but certain he will not take a snap this season.
How have Watson’s sponsors responded?
Nike suspended its contract with Watson on April 7, the day after two of the accusers gave public statements describing their allegations. “We are deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations and have suspended Deshaun Watson. We will continue to closely monitor the situation,” the company said in a statement.
Watson’s deal with Apple’s Beats by Dre reportedly was not renewed. Many of his other sponsorships, which included Rolex and several Texas businesses, were allowed to expire.
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