Your Comprehensive Guide to the Deshaun Watson Mess
April 13, 2021
by Steve Thomas
Just eight months ago, Deshaun Watson was at or near the top of the football food chain, a franchise quarterback with a newly signed four year, $156M contract. The 2020 season certainly didn’t go well for the Texans, who finished the year with a 4 – 12 record and little draft capital to help rebuild. Watson demanded a trade shortly after the season ended and told the world that he would never return to the team. Given the mess that Houston’s front office has created, it didn’t seem to some to be an unreasonable position to take even given his massive contract. Since that time, Watson’s world has come crashing down as a result of slew of sexual misconduct allegations that are a threat to both his NFL career and his freedom.
What I’m going to do here is give a thorough and complete summary of this entire situation, including the specifics of the allegations against Watson, and what the future may hold. Be forewarned: some of these allegations are creepy and gross, and I’m going to go into some amount of detail about those creepy and gross allegations. If you don’t want to have to read them, or don’t want your kids to read them, please skip the “allegations” section below.
This column is me diving into a morality dumpster fire to read and research all of this so you don’t have to.
There are three separate components to this matter: the civil lawsuits, the criminal investigation, and the NFL’s reaction and options. I will give the facts in all three areas, then my opinions in the final section. Bear in mind that this is a developing issue, so things may change on a day to day basis.
The civil lawsuits
The basics
As of publication, there are 22 separate lawsuits filed in Harris County, Texas, against Watson, all brought by initially unnamed Jane Doe females represented by the same local Houston-area plaintiff’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, who is a high profile, successful plaintiffs attorney in the Houston area. Watson’s attorney is Rusty Hardin, who is nationally known for his representation of pitcher Roger Clemens during Clemens’ perjury trial as well as other high profile athletes.
The first lawsuit was filed on March 16. Two more were filed on March 17, with four more on March 18, seven on March 22, two on March 23, three on March 29, two on March 30, with the most recent filing on April 5. These twenty-two lawsuits have been assigned to 14 different courts in Harris County. The courts have consolidated these lawsuits into one court for purposes of discovery and pre-trial issues, but refused to do so for trial purposes. This means that from a logistical perspective, these cases are going to become a giant mess and a complicated challenge to manage. The parties won’t be dealing with just one judge for the trial phase.
The plaintiffs
Of the 22 plaintiffs, 11 have since revealed their identities either in court records or via press conference, whereas the other 11 remain unnamed at this time. In addition, Watson’s counsel has filed motions in nearly every case to ask the court to order the names of the plaintiffs to be revealed. Some of these motions have already been granted. Plaintiff’s counsel has filed a response to the motions by Watson’s counsel, but the court has not ruled on some of them yet.
Of the twenty-two plaintiffs, twelve are either licensed massage therapists or masseuses, three are estheticians (cosmetic skin, hair, and nail care professionals), two are “bodywork and stretch therapists”, one owns a fitness company, one offers “wellness services”, one offers “body contouring and skin tightening services”, one is a professional trainer who offers “body conditioning, fitness, and wellness therapy services”, and one is described as an undefined “professional”. Most claimed to have never had well-known professional athletes as client, although at least one alleged to have had some prior to Watson.
The plaintiff in the first petition filed on March 16 appeared in person at a press conference with her attorney, Tony Buzbee, for assembled media (watch it by clicking here) on April 6. She read a prepared statement but did not take questions. Another plaintiff allowed a member of Buzbee’s team read a letter from her addressed to Watson at the April 6 press conference. In her letter, that plaintiff claimed to have had other professional athletes as clients.
I think it’s always a bad idea to inject race into something that clearly isn’t a racial issue, but because this column is your “comprehensive guide” to this situation, the racial breakdown of the plaintiffs, according to Buzbee, is 14 African Americans, 5 White, and 3 Hispanic.
Buzbee told the media at his press conference that his office turned away five additional women for whom he believed they could not sustain a case.
Another woman, who is not represented by Buzbee, did an interview published by Sports Illustrated (click here to read) in which she claimed that she was a massage therapist who had worked on Watson, and that Watson had done to her what the plaintiffs in the lawsuits claim was done to them. She claimed in the interview that she spoke with Buzbee’s office but did not like them and therefore didn’t sign with them.
Included in Plaintiff’s counsel’s response to Watson’s request to the court for the plaintiffs to reveal their identities were screenshots of threats made via private messages on social media, including death threats, to plaintiff #1 who appeared at the April 6 press conference. For this reason, The Hog Sty will not reveal any of the names of the plaintiffs, or the names of the individuals who allegedly made the threats, at this time.
The allegations
Please note that these elements are merely allegations contained in the various petitions filed; none of them are proven facts, and you should not interpret this description in this paragraph to be factual at this time.
The stories told in each of these petitions share many common elements and are all very similar. The petitions collectively allege that these massages took place between March 4, 2020, and January 21, 2021. Two separate plaintiffs allege that they gave Watson massages on the same day, October 19, 2020. Two other plaintiffs allege that they performed massage services for Watson on November 6, November 9, and November 10, 2020, which is a span of just 5 days. One petition alleges that Watson flew the plaintiff to Houston from Atlanta. Another alleges that the massage in question took place in Beverly Hills, California.
Here’s the picture painted by the petitions: Watson allegedly contacted most of these women on social media, primarily via Instagram, and a few via other methods, and asked to schedule a massage. All of them but one claimed to be surprised that Watson, as a celebrity professional athlete, had contacted them. Each massage was allegedly scheduled to take place either at a hotel room, the woman’s office, or at either her home, or in one case, the plaintiff’s mother’s home. In every case, Watson alleged insisted that they be alone, and in a handful of cases, allegedly attempted to dictate the clothing that the women would wear.
In these massages, Watson is always alleged to have been completely naked. He always refused to allow himself to be covered by sheets, and instead usually brought his own small towel (some being washcloth size), which he always removed at some point during the sessions. Each of the plaintiffs claims that Watson specifically asked the plaintiffs to focus only on his groin area and glutes. In all but one of the petitions, Watson is alleged to have at a minimum touched the plaintiffs with his penis.
In three instances, the plaintiffs claimed that Watson physically forced them to provide oral sex.
In a few of the petitions, the plaintiffs alleged that Watson asked the women to massage the interior of his buttocks, including penetration of his anus with the plaintiffs’ fingers (which was refused).
Some of the plaintiffs claimed that he ejaculated on them without warning, or ejaculated after “thrusting” into the air. Several of the petitions claim that Watson masturbated at the sessions.
Multiple plaintiffs also claim that Watson grabbed their buttocks and/or their vagina. Some of the women claimed that Watson asked them to sign non-disclosure agreements. Buzbee stated at the April 6 press conference that the non-disclosure agreements didn’t look like they had been drafted by a lawyer.
Certainly, the most serious cases are the three in which Watson is alleged to have physically forced the women to perform oral sex, followed by the allegations of ejaculation on the women.
Buzbee provided the media assembled in his office on April 6 with evidence of tweets from Watson in which Watson apparently discusses receiving massages from women as far back as 2021, as well as copies of some of the Instagram messages and Twitter direct messages between Watson and some of the plaintiffs. Buzbee also posted on his own Instagram page two screenshots of Instagram messages between Watson and one of the unnamed plaintiffs in which the two scheduled a massage, with Watson then later stating “Sorry about you feeling uncomfortable. Never were the intentions. Lmk if you want to work in the future. My apologies [sic]”.
The causes of action and damages
Twenty-one of the twenty-two petitions allege civil assault. Two of the petitions also allege sexual assault, although one other contains factual allegations that would meet the necessary elements but for some reason doesn’t include that as a cause of action. All of the petitions allege intentional infliction of emotional distress. All of the petitions claim that the plaintiffs are seeking financial damages at the minimum of the court’s jurisdiction. That having been said, intentional infliction of emotional distress allows for punitive damages, which has in the past resulted in massive jury awards. On a basic level, the principal method courts have to right a wrong is to provide financial compensation, so if the plaintiffs are not seeking significant monetary compensation for their alleged damages, it’s fair to ask what they want from the court and from Watson.
The elements of civil assault in Texas relevant to this case are:
intentionally or knowingly causing physical contact with another when the person knows or should reasonably believe that the other will regard the contact as offensive or provocative.
These are the same elements as the criminal charge for assault pursuant to the Texas Penal Code. Proof to the civil standard of more likely than not (which is lower than the criminal standard of proof of beyond a reasonable doubt) of Watson’s act of touching the plaintiffs with either his hands or his penis, or kissing them without consent would meet the requirements of this cause of action and make Watson liable.
The relevant elements of sexual assault in Texas are
intentionally or knowingly causing “the penetration of the mouth of another person by the sexual organ of the actor, without that person’s consent”.
Therefore, the act of Watson forcing a plaintiff’s mouth onto his penis, if proven to the civil standard of more likely than not, would make him liable.
The elements of intentional infliction of emotional distress in Texas are:
● the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly;
● the defendant’s conduct was extreme and outrageous;
● that conduct caused plaintiff emotional distress; and
● the emotional distress was severe.
The Texas Supreme Court held that this cause of action is a “ ‘gap-filler’ tort, judicially created for the limited purpose of allowing recovery in those rare instances in which a defendant intentionally inflicts severe emotional distress in a manner so unusual that the victim has no other recognized theory of redress.” I’m not going to go into more detail than that here, except to say that this cause of action is the most challenging to prove in almost every case, including the Watson cases.
Watson’s attorney has denied wrongdoing by Watson, claiming that the encounters were consensual, and stated that he has statements from 18 different massage therapists whom Watson allegedly retained who state that Watson’s behavior with them was not improper. For those keeping score, that makes at least 45 or 46 different women whom Watson has allegedly paid to perform massages on him. Buzbee claimed that the number is 50 at his press conference. Hardin didn’t expressly state that his 18 witnesses all worked on Watson in the past year, but either way, that is an enormous number of different massage providers for someone whose employee could provide all the massage services he wanted for free.
Buzbee claims that he offered a settlement of unknown size and structure to Watson’s counsel which was rejected.
NFL Network reported Wednesday morning that one of the plaintiffs was going to drop her lawsuit.
The criminal investigation
Buzbee said at his April 6 press conference that this matter is now being investigated by the Houston Police Department. The Houston Police Department confirmed Buzbee’s claim, stating:
“As with any allegation, the Houston Police Department is now conducting an investigation and will not comment further during the investigative process.”
In Texas, sexual assault of the type alleged in these petitions is a second degree felony punishable by between 2 and 20 years in prison per count. Basic assault charges are misdemeanors and thus much lesser punishments. There are other charges that could also be brought, including indecent assault and criminal harassment, which are both misdemeanors. The most serious charges Watson may hypothetically face are at least three counts of sexual assault.
If charged and convicted, and the court sees fit to stack maximum sentences concurrently, the chances of which being extremely unlikely and remote, Watson could hypothetically be facing up to 60 years in prison.
The criminal process is in the infant stages and won’t be resolved, one way or the other, for some time unless the police investigation simply can’t find enough evidence to warrant criminal charges.
The NFL reaction
The NFL’s only official comment was from NFL Vice President of Communications Brian McCarthy to Pro Football Talk:
‘The allegations are deeply disturbing and we take these issues very seriously,” McCarthy said in a statement to PFT. “Immediately following news of the first allegations last month, and as has been reported, we initiated an investigation under the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy. We are continuing to closely monitor all developments in the matter.”
The Houston Texans chairman Cal McNair made the following statement to Texans season ticket holders:
“We want to assure you that we take these allegations very seriously. As reported, HPD (Houston Police Department) and the National Football League are conducting investigations and we will cooperate fully,” said McNair. “We respect the legal process and will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Both of these statements say basically nothing and are just a way to avoid having to take a serious position right now. The Texans essentially have no choice but to ride this out for the time being, because these lawsuits have destroyed any hope of a trade even if they were inclined to do so, which they weren’t. Furthermore, cutting Watson now would result in a net cap hit of more the $52M for 2021. Even waiting to make him a post-June 1 cut would still create a net loss of $35M for the team. If Houston could find a team who for some reason would be willing to trade for Watson, trading him now, pre-June 1, would be a net loss of $5.66M. The only way the Texans can get rid of him without losing a fortune is to trade him after June 1, which is unlikely given the circumstances.
The NFL hasn’t done anything yet outside of the league’s statement from McCarthy. The NFL could put Watson on the Commissioner’s exempt list, which is essentially the league’s “suspended with pay” list, but has not done so. The NFL cannot suspend him without pay prior to concluding its investigation. The standard of proof under the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the NFL to suspend a player for a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy is lower than both the standard for civil lawsuit and a criminal case. Basically, the NFL just has to have a reasonable basis to believe a player has violated the policy. Obviously, sexual misconduct would be a violation, so if the league determines that even one of these allegations are credible, Watson will be suspended.
My opinions
It is way too early to reach any conclusions as to the viability of any of the lawsuits or the criminal investigation. That having been said, there are way too many women who have all told basically the same story for me to believe that this is all a giant conspiracy by Houston, Atlanta, and California-based massage therapists, estheticians, and trainers against Watson. I could buy it if it were a small number of accusers, but not 22. Furthermore, the plaintiffs’ attorney, Buzbee, is a very high profile and very wealthy Texas plaintiff’s attorney who ran for mayor of Houston two years ago. I simply don’t find it plausible to believe that he would risk his career, money, and reputation to voluntarily be in the middle of a giant conspiracy against a high-profile NFL player, or that he and his staff weren’t smart enough to figure out such a conspiracy before going public.
My gut reaction is that at a minimum, there’s an element of truth to the allegations. When taken as a whole, they paint Watson as a disgusting and entitled pervert who may deserve what he gets. That having been said, he should and will have the opportunity to defend himself.
For its part, the NFL is normally reluctant to put players on the exempt list during the offseason since no games or practices are going on. However, frankly, there isn’t a comparable precedent in modern NFL history. The closest case is Ben Roethlisberger’s two rape charges a decade ago. Roethlisberger had a civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault filed against him in July, 2009, and then was investigated for another separate rape allegation between March and April, 2010, but was not charged. The NFL suspended him for 4 games in 2010, and never put him on the exempt list.
Roethlisberger had 1 lawsuit and 1 criminal investigation which did not result in charges. Watson has 22 lawsuits and a pending criminal investigation. I don’t see how the NFL in good conscience could let Watson participate in the Texans’ offseason program with this hanging over his head. I suspect that if this happened to a random backup linebacker instead of a star franchise quarterback, there would be no question what would have already been done: he would have probably been cut, put on the exempt list, or both. This is a case of status having its privileges. The NFL should be ashamed of itself for cowardly burying its head in the sand. The NFL has claimed to stand for many things in the past couple of years, and now, doing its best to ignore the entire matter for now, is despicable.
For his part, I tend to think that Watson knew these lawsuits were coming and that this was the reason for his seemingly out of nowhere trade request. I believe the trade request was Watson irrationally trying to run away from his problems. Regardless, because the Texans are stuck with him for now, and the NFL seemingly isn’t going to do anything any time soon, Watson should voluntarily step away from the team while the civil proceedings and the criminal investigation is ongoing.
Please let me know if you have any questions about this matter.