I can't imagine a judge, much less 22 ruling to not let these accusers have their day in court.
Not in this day & age
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Sexual Assault Suits Against Watson
- Thread starter Texansballer74
- Start date
Not in this day & age
Yep. And these cases will take a while.
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
It’s not about wanting him to come out clean as you say, so much as allowing for both stories to be told and not leaning in the direction Buzzbee’s efforts have clearly been trying to push the public to as if that’s the only possible explanation.
and using plain ol’ common sense? Yours must be failing you in your old age if you can’t understand that there’s 2 sides to every story and that there’s more than a small chance that a lot of what is being alleged, likely didn’t happen as has been laid out by Buzzbee filings (coaching & embellishments on some level I’m sure) before, during and after the alleged assaults....b/c that’s NEVER the case in he said she saids. People in general tend to leave out things that might make them look bad in situations like this.... and THAT is why most of these cases don’t get prosecuted more than any other reason. ...which in turn contributes to why a lot of women don’t report them...
and every single thing you remarked about DW4 applies to a certain former White House official whom you UNWAVERINGLY supported despite all the evidence that continued to pile up.where was your good ol’ common sense THEN?
I expect this post to be deleted...but that is why I believe you’ve bought in hook line and sinker 100% to the allegations...b/c that’s who you are, Mr. black and white...all in or all out....no in between.
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Mr teX
Hall of Fame
for sure that looks bad and is concerning I will say. But even that has a somewhat plausible but immoral explanation. Long and short of it is, maybe he just likes that set up. Some folks like getting pee’d/crapped on, some folks like publically exposing themselves...... he likes setting up massages that lead to sexual encounters.
that however still doesn’t mean that he was assaulting all these women & it’s going to be hard for Buzzbee to prove that.
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
the same chick..who if memory serves SAID to her friend at that time that she had stopped, but I believe Hardin pointed out in his briefing that that was in fact not true and she continued to work with him for a little while longer before finally stopping at some point later.
dont quote me on that though.
Those are two separate women
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
21 of which weren’t even on the radar until Buzzbee:
and now every person the dude had a sexual encounter with over the last year is coming forward with allegations...civilly, not criminally at that. At an absolute MINIMUM motive can and should be questioned.
Thank you, thank you, Houston!.........Now if you'll excuse me, I'll take the money and run!!!..............
ghostlight
Veteran
amazing
Correct, I'm not a fan of pervs
Tell me how many.assage therapist's he's used in a yr? Buzbee didn't have to tell me he was hunting. Common sense told me that. Odds are during the hunt DW4'S crossed some boundaries that shouldn't have been crossed. I'm not going down the political trap you tried to set for me. Hope you are enjoying the current state of the world. I hope you get everything you deserve.
I've bought into he's a perv.
I hope justice is served, but we both know that into going to happen. Truth is I don't care for people who use there positions of power wrongly. I think everyone who defends DW4 should have to let their daughters give DW4 an Oily Watson.
Dejaview
All Pro
If I got peed or crapped on I would be the one assaultingfor sure that looks bad and is concerning I will say. But even that has a somewhat plausible but immoral explanation. Long and short of it is, maybe he just likes that set up. Some folks like getting pee’d/crapped on, some folks like publically exposing themselves...... he likes setting up massages that lead to sexual encounters.
that however still doesn’t mean that he was assaulting all these women & it’s going to be hard for Buzzbee to prove that.
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
Lol c’mon Steelb that wasn’t a trap, it was just the truth as witnessed by all of us here & you know it.
& it’s funny how your common sense often perfectly aligns with your predetermined view of things. “Hunting” you say? Maybe....maybe not. But considering 1 of these supposed masseuses showed up at his door step completely unannounced and not at his request and another allegedly tried to blackmail him for 30k.....& at least a number of others were willing to masquerade as masseuses despite having no formal training whatsoever to do the work, I’d say there was at least a little “hunting” going on on both sides.....
it ain’t about what I deserve, it’s about the truth however it all shakes out. I’m past DW4. Before all this he was likely not gonna play for us again anyway so I could care less about what ultimately happens to him. Much like the Astros and the cheating scandal nonsense that they’re STILL getting crap for 3 years later from fans of opposing teams, I waited until I heard more. & eventually something more substantial than Jomboy’s videos came out....their apologies coming acknowledging what they had done sealed it for me..
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
you don’t know that it happened in this manner.............if there is such a “position of power” to be had for a man who reportedly “forced” his junk in a females mouth..... if you catch my drift........
That's what the trial is for.
One thing I know for sure is before all of this came up I thought DW4 was a POS. This certainly has made me think my judge of character was correct.
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
I think everyone’s perception of him was changed based on him wanting out 3 months after signing a 100 million dollar deal.
Tell me do you also think AJ, Nuk and all the other folks who backed him before all this are POS too?
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
y was AJ fooled and Nuk wasn’t tho?
I will submit to you that AJ was probably the main voice outside of Nuk and Mulegheta that got into DW4’s head when he requested to be traded....b/c AJ had been in the exact situation that DW4 was in.
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Jack Burton
Veteran
Because Hopkins is the guy who showed DW4 the ropes when it came to lifestyle choices.
I knew you thought he was an avg QB. I didn't know you thought he was a POS
amazing80
Hall of Fame
Because you didn’t read his posts. He made it pretty clear how he felt
ATXtexanfan
Hall of Fame
Bill Cosby has maintained his innocence
Just saying
Just saying
I decided that after he asked to be traded 6 months after signing a 156 mil contract and thinking he had clout to hire the GM/HC.
SeriousShizzle
Rookie
Hell yeah. Training camp soon?
Bluehen Texan
Waterboy
Dude. That’s wrong.
Dejaview
All Pro
Not sure what it’s going to be like where everywhere you go for the rest of your life when you are seen all people will think about your anal fixation. Hard to be cool and suave as a pucker mucker.
Why? If they think he's done nothing wrong then there shouldn't be any problems.
Jack Burton
Veteran
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
The burden of proof is on Buzzbee & he’s gonna have to come up with a **** ton to prove 22 INDIVIDUAL cases of sexual assault happened if he decides to go that route. If he brings them all together that’s a huge gamble on his part and he risks losing all the cases of a summary judgement goes against him. Rather individually or together tho, That’s an extremely steep uphill battle he’ll have to prove with evidence. And it is my belief that if he had anything close to that amount of evidence he will need for that, it’d already be in HPD’s hands and DW4 would be arrested on criminal charges. What he does have he will have to eventually reveal in discovery if he’s intent on seeing this through trial...which I’m fairly positive he does not want to go to.
& once that happens if what he has amounts to little more than he’s already shown...which proves NOTHING, I could easily see a judge throwing out the majority of these based on the fact that there’s not enough here.
If you think DW4 will ever be arrested in Houston, Texas for anything with the current administration in place you're fooling yourself.
In civil court, there doesn't have to be guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and with this many complaintants, with DW4 having an obvious pattern of at the very least hunting down women for sexual favors, I cant wait for this to go to trial. I also think you're underestimating Buzbee. He's very calculated and everything he's doing in this case has a purpose.
Buzbee probably has turned evidence over to the DA/HPD although I can certainly understand why he was reluctant to do so. He only turned over the evidence after acussing the DA's office/HPD of possible corruption so that there would be a chance that they actually look at the evidence.
No way a judge rules against Buzbee in a summary judgement. This thing is way too public.
We're talking about the civil suits right?
SnakeEyes
Under NRG
Found this very informative article about what the NFL faces with punishment for Watson. As well as details about the time-line (to an extent). It appears that Watson flat out ignored a warning from his Sports First legal team. And furthermore even has an interesting take on why he would do so from a college professor. I found it to be in good taste, not blaming either side. As well as informative.
Redirect Notice
www.google.com
SnakeEyes
Under NRG
So very true. As well as Buzbee may or may not turn evidence over to the police in the other states. Georgia is seemingly the other "hot spot" of women who have filed charges. But also if I remember correctly California was on the list and another state also.
This means that Watson could walk in Houston and be hit with a criminal case in any of those places...and lose. While the police are somewhat the same in every state. They have some different things that they do in each. Investigating 17 cases in Houston for example is time consuming and somewhat difficult. But Investigating 2 is a lot easier and may very well uncover more. Which is very bad news for Watson.
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
If there’s not much more than innuendo being surmised from innocuous text messages? I could see a number of them being tossed in a summary judgement.
Thorn
Dirty Old Man
I hate sites like USA Today, you can't read their site with an adblocker.
SnakeEyes
Under NRG
Full USA Today article I posted above. Some people are not able to read it due to ad and pop up blockers.
±±+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The curious case of Deshaun Watson's March massage
BRENT SCHROTENBOER | USA TODAY | 11 hours ago
The NFL never has investigated a case quite like Deshaun Watson’s.
Other NFL player conduct investigations typically have involved only a small number of incidents at most. By contrast, 22 women have sued Watson, accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions in four states.
That gives the league 22 cases to consider with the Houston Texans quarterback, who could be suspended based on the findings, regardless of whether he is charged with a crime after a separate investigation by the Houston police.
“It only takes one case to justify discipline,” said the NFL’s former counsel for operations and litigation, Jodi Balsam, now an associate professor at Brooklyn Law School. “So even if they can come to no determination after 20 cases, but in one case it’s a clear episode of some form of sexual assault or harassment, that’s enough for them to impose discipline. They don’t have to resolve every single factual dispute in every single case to justify discipline.”
So then which cases are the most problematic for him?
Two of the 22 lawsuits appear to be more serious than the others because they accuse him of sexual assault.
Sign In
A 75-year-old mom was fired. Here's what her son did.
The curious case of Deshaun Watson's March massage
BRENT SCHROTENBOER | USA TODAY | 11 hours ago
The NFL never has investigated a case quite like Deshaun Watson’s.
Other NFL player conduct investigations typically have involved only a small number of incidents at most. By contrast, 22 women have sued Watson, accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions in four states.
That gives the league 22 cases to consider with the Houston Texans quarterback, who could be suspended based on the findings, regardless of whether he is charged with a crime after a separate investigation by the Houston police.
“It only takes one case to justify discipline,” said the NFL’s former counsel for operations and litigation, Jodi Balsam, now an associate professor at Brooklyn Law School. “So even if they can come to no determination after 20 cases, but in one case it’s a clear episode of some form of sexual assault or harassment, that’s enough for them to impose discipline. They don’t have to resolve every single factual dispute in every single case to justify discipline.”
Deshaun Watson has been accused of sexual misconduct by 22 women in separate lawsuits.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
So then which cases are the most problematic for him?
Two of the 22 lawsuits appear to be more serious than the others because they accuse him of
Another case stands out because of its timing.
The latter happened on March 5, according to a lawsuit filed by a massage therapist in Georgia. It could make Watson look really bad or really innocent, depending on the viewpoint, which raises another issue about the scale of the league’s investigation: Even if a case is not damning on its own, any could provide clues that add to the pile of evidence for or against his culpability.
In the March 5 case, the massage therapist's encounter is the most recent alleged incident described in the 22 lawsuits against Watson, with most of the rest accusing him of misconduct in 2020, allegations Watson has denied.
It also is the only one that came at a sensitive period in the timeline of cases. This was 11 days before the first woman went public with a lawsuit March 16, but just weeks after Watson was put on notice that he should not be in the habit of cruising for massages with strangers on social media.
'Extremely reckless’
Watson effectively was warned by his own sports agency, Athletes First, after another therapist in Texas, Ashley Solis, had attempted in February to resolve her own misconduct claim against Watson privately through attorneys out of court.
Before that, in mid-January, another woman spoke with Watson's marketing manager at Athletes First and asked for a settlement to keep quiet about her own encounter with Watson, according to the marketing manager, Bryan Burney.
Those attempts failed, and Watson then contacted the therapist in Georgia for a discounted $55 massage on Instagram in early March, according to her lawsuit. Watson’s attorney acknowledged in a court filing that Watson contacted the woman this way to “hire her for a massage.”
That can mean one of two things, according to the attorneys on each side:
Either the NFL star disregarded a warning about his behavior to continue a pattern of sexual misconduct, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents all 22 women. Or the therapist in Georgia is lying about what happened to get money from him, just like the other 21 women, according to Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin. The women seek compensatory damages in their lawsuits.
“For him to resume this pattern of behavior after litigation was pending, after a warning from his own support network … that pattern of behavior is at a minimum reckless,” Balsam told USA TODAY Sports, referring to Watson’s pattern of contacting strangers on social media for massages. “It also possibly indicates some kind of addictive or compulsive behavior here.”
Watson’s attorneys said Watson contacted massage therapists this way for various reasons: because that’s where they advertised – on Instagram – and because of his busy schedule and changes to it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Watson, 25, had been in his native Georgia in late February to promote charity events, according to his social media accounts. In an Instagram post dated March 7, he posted a video about it, thanking those who helped.
“At a minimum Watson's conduct would seem to be extremely reckless in contacting the massage therapist
… after being put on notice that another therapist was complaining about his conduct during a previous massage,” said Kenneth Williams, professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. “This could undercut his defense, but he also might use it to claim that he didn't believe he hadn't done anything wrong or inappropriate with Solis.”
(USA TODAY Sports is identifying Solis because she has publicly addressed the allegations. Otherwise USA TODAY Sports does not name individuals who allege sexual crimes without their permission.)
In April, the agency that represents Watson referenced the settlement discussions with Solis in February.
“We believed then – and fully believe now – that Deshaun learned a lesson about putting himself in this type of situation by interacting with people he does not know,” said a statement released April 6 by Scott Gaffield, the general counsel of Athletes First.
So then why would he contact another massage therapist he didn’t know in Georgia weeks later?
Interacting with strangers online
Two women made settlement demands of Watson before March, according to Athletes First. The first did so in mid-January, when Burney spoke to the woman who was asking to be paid $30,000 in exchange for her "indefinite silence" about her alleged encounter with Watson, according to a written declaration from Burney released by Watson’s legal team March 23. But what exactly she wished to settle “was not clear to me,” Burney wrote.
Burney also wrote that the woman “confirmed that everything that occurred was consensual during her encounter with Deshaun.” Burney said a man purporting to be the women’s business manager then said the request is “not extortion. It’s blackmail.”
“I informed this individual that Deshaun would not be paying the $30,000 requested,” Burney wrote.
Watson’s legal team since has identified the woman as a massage therapist who said Watson contacted her on Instagram in December. The woman filed a lawsuit against Watson March 17 and is one of the two plaintiffs who accuse him of sexual assault.
The other woman who made a claim against Watson before March was Solis. She said Watson exposed himself to her and caused her to touch his genitals during a massage after he contacted her on Instagram in March 2020. She pressed her claim privately in February after hiring Buzbee, who said she was his
only client at the time.
On her behalf, Buzbee’s firm engaged with Athletes First and demanded $100,000 from Watson to resolve Solis’ complaint and prevent her from going public with a lawsuit.
In response, Gaffield said he didn’t believe Solis’ claim and rejected that figure but said he was open to paying Solis a “reasonable settlement figure because we believe he can learn a lesson about having put himself in this situation,” according to e-mails from February released by Watson’slegal team.
Yet this “lesson” apparently then went unheeded by Watson. On March 3, Watson sent the massage therapist in Georgia a message via Instagram to express his interest in the $55 discounted massage, according to her lawsuit. They met on March 5, when she said Watson exposed himself to her and caused her to touch his genitals – a description of events that matches those of Solis and many other plaintiffs.
Gaffield declined additional comment on Friday and referred to his statement from April. That
statement said: “We were willing to continue discussions on Deshaun’s behalf to explore ways to prevent a lawsuit and a public spectacle. But Mr. Buzbee informed us that he was unwilling to do so. We expect that this matter will be resolved in court.”
By itself, seeking massages from strangers on social media wouldn’t justify discipline, even after being warned about the risks involved as a celebrity athlete. But even if he did nothing wrong, and this is all a money grab, Watson apparently willingly walked into it again with another stranger from Instagram, despite the “lesson” in February.
In his defense, Watson’s legal team has depicted him as the victim of a scheme by multiple masseuses. Hardin previously said all their allegations “dumbfounded” Watson and that Watson’s reaction to them was that “this is insane.”
In a court filing submitted April 19, Hardin essentially argued that Solis sparked a gold rush of copycat lawsuits when she filed the first suit.
The Georgia woman filed suit March 22, less than three weeks after she said she met Watson and less than a week after Solis filed the first lawsuit against Watson March 16.
Hardin’s filing stated the Georgia woman since has destroyed evidence by deleting her Instagram account and that witnesses describe her as a “money grabber.”
How the NFL interprets the competing narratives is one piece of a process that could drag into 2022. The NFL likely will want the Houston police investigation to play out before deciding on any punishment. But the NFL doesn’t need criminal charges to remove Watson from action under its personal conduct policy.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell can put a player on paid administrative “where the circumstances and evidence warrant doing so” related to conduct that posed a danger to the safety or wellbeing of another person, according to the policy.
“The sheer number and scope of the claimants is remarkable, and the league has not dealt with anything like this in the past,” Balsam said. “But it has a process and it’s going to follow that process to the best of its ability.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
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Dejaview
All Pro
Try Texas Monthly! I’m a Longhorn and I used to like Austin but that mag sux!!!
Dejaview
All Pro
And welcome to the longest post in history!Full USA Today article I posted above. Some people are not able to read it due to ad and pop up blockers.
±±+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The curious case of Deshaun Watson's March massage
BRENT SCHROTENBOER | USA TODAY | 11 hours ago
The NFL never has investigated a case quite like Deshaun Watson’s.
Other NFL player conduct investigations typically have involved only a small number of incidents at most. By contrast, 22 women have sued Watson, accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions in four states.
That gives the league 22 cases to consider with the Houston Texans quarterback, who could be suspended based on the findings, regardless of whether he is charged with a crime after a separate investigation by the Houston police.
“It only takes one case to justify discipline,” said the NFL’s former counsel for operations and litigation, Jodi Balsam, now an associate professor at Brooklyn Law School. “So even if they can come to no determination after 20 cases, but in one case it’s a clear episode of some form of sexual assault or harassment, that’s enough for them to impose discipline. They don’t have to resolve every single factual dispute in every single case to justify discipline.”
So then which cases are the most problematic for him?
Two of the 22 lawsuits appear to be more serious than the others because they accuse him of sexual assault.
Sign In
A 75-year-old mom was fired. Here's what her son did.
The curious case of Deshaun Watson's March massage
BRENT SCHROTENBOER | USA TODAY | 11 hours ago
The NFL never has investigated a case quite like Deshaun Watson’s.
Other NFL player conduct investigations typically have involved only a small number of incidents at most. By contrast, 22 women have sued Watson, accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions in four states.
That gives the league 22 cases to consider with the Houston Texans quarterback, who could be suspended based on the findings, regardless of whether he is charged with a crime after a separate investigation by the Houston police.
“It only takes one case to justify discipline,” said the NFL’s former counsel for operations and litigation, Jodi Balsam, now an associate professor at Brooklyn Law School. “So even if they can come to no determination after 20 cases, but in one case it’s a clear episode of some form of sexual assault or harassment, that’s enough for them to impose discipline. They don’t have to resolve every single factual dispute in every single case to justify discipline.”
Deshaun Watson has been accused of sexual misconduct by 22 women in separate lawsuits.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
So then which cases are the most problematic for him?
Two of the 22 lawsuits appear to be more serious than the others because they accuse him of
Another case stands out because of its timing.
The latter happened on March 5, according to a lawsuit filed by a massage therapist in Georgia. It could make Watson look really bad or really innocent, depending on the viewpoint, which raises another issue about the scale of the league’s investigation: Even if a case is not damning on its own, any could provide clues that add to the pile of evidence for or against his culpability.
In the March 5 case, the massage therapist's encounter is the most recent alleged incident described in the 22 lawsuits against Watson, with most of the rest accusing him of misconduct in 2020, allegations Watson has denied.
It also is the only one that came at a sensitive period in the timeline of cases. This was 11 days before the first woman went public with a lawsuit March 16, but just weeks after Watson was put on notice that he should not be in the habit of cruising for massages with strangers on social media.
'Extremely reckless’
Watson effectively was warned by his own sports agency, Athletes First, after another therapist in Texas, Ashley Solis, had attempted in February to resolve her own misconduct claim against Watson privately through attorneys out of court.
Before that, in mid-January, another woman spoke with Watson's marketing manager at Athletes First and asked for a settlement to keep quiet about her own encounter with Watson, according to the marketing manager, Bryan Burney.
Those attempts failed, and Watson then contacted the therapist in Georgia for a discounted $55 massage on Instagram in early March, according to her lawsuit. Watson’s attorney acknowledged in a court filing that Watson contacted the woman this way to “hire her for a massage.”
That can mean one of two things, according to the attorneys on each side:
Either the NFL star disregarded a warning about his behavior to continue a pattern of sexual misconduct, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents all 22 women. Or the therapist in Georgia is lying about what happened to get money from him, just like the other 21 women, according to Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin. The women seek compensatory damages in their lawsuits.
“For him to resume this pattern of behavior after litigation was pending, after a warning from his own support network … that pattern of behavior is at a minimum reckless,” Balsam told USA TODAY Sports, referring to Watson’s pattern of contacting strangers on social media for massages. “It also possibly indicates some kind of addictive or compulsive behavior here.”
Watson’s attorneys said Watson contacted massage therapists this way for various reasons: because that’s where they advertised – on Instagram – and because of his busy schedule and changes to it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Watson, 25, had been in his native Georgia in late February to promote charity events, according to his social media accounts. In an Instagram post dated March 7, he posted a video about it, thanking those who helped.
“At a minimum Watson's conduct would seem to be extremely reckless in contacting the massage therapist
… after being put on notice that another therapist was complaining about his conduct during a previous massage,” said Kenneth Williams, professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. “This could undercut his defense, but he also might use it to claim that he didn't believe he hadn't done anything wrong or inappropriate with Solis.”
(USA TODAY Sports is identifying Solis because she has publicly addressed the allegations. Otherwise USA TODAY Sports does not name individuals who allege sexual crimes without their permission.)
In April, the agency that represents Watson referenced the settlement discussions with Solis in February.
“We believed then – and fully believe now – that Deshaun learned a lesson about putting himself in this type of situation by interacting with people he does not know,” said a statement released April 6 by Scott Gaffield, the general counsel of Athletes First.
So then why would he contact another massage therapist he didn’t know in Georgia weeks later?
Interacting with strangers online
Two women made settlement demands of Watson before March, according to Athletes First. The first did so in mid-January, when Burney spoke to the woman who was asking to be paid $30,000 in exchange for her "indefinite silence" about her alleged encounter with Watson, according to a written declaration from Burney released by Watson’s legal team March 23. But what exactly she wished to settle “was not clear to me,” Burney wrote.
Burney also wrote that the woman “confirmed that everything that occurred was consensual during her encounter with Deshaun.” Burney said a man purporting to be the women’s business manager then said the request is “not extortion. It’s blackmail.”
“I informed this individual that Deshaun would not be paying the $30,000 requested,” Burney wrote.
Watson’s legal team since has identified the woman as a massage therapist who said Watson contacted her on Instagram in December. The woman filed a lawsuit against Watson March 17 and is one of the two plaintiffs who accuse him of sexual assault.
The other woman who made a claim against Watson before March was Solis. She said Watson exposed himself to her and caused her to touch his genitals during a massage after he contacted her on Instagram in March 2020. She pressed her claim privately in February after hiring Buzbee, who said she was his
only client at the time.
On her behalf, Buzbee’s firm engaged with Athletes First and demanded $100,000 from Watson to resolve Solis’ complaint and prevent her from going public with a lawsuit.
In response, Gaffield said he didn’t believe Solis’ claim and rejected that figure but said he was open to paying Solis a “reasonable settlement figure because we believe he can learn a lesson about having put himself in this situation,” according to e-mails from February released by Watson’slegal team.
Yet this “lesson” apparently then went unheeded by Watson. On March 3, Watson sent the massage therapist in Georgia a message via Instagram to express his interest in the $55 discounted massage, according to her lawsuit. They met on March 5, when she said Watson exposed himself to her and caused her to touch his genitals – a description of events that matches those of Solis and many other plaintiffs.
Gaffield declined additional comment on Friday and referred to his statement from April. That
statement said: “We were willing to continue discussions on Deshaun’s behalf to explore ways to prevent a lawsuit and a public spectacle. But Mr. Buzbee informed us that he was unwilling to do so. We expect that this matter will be resolved in court.”
By itself, seeking massages from strangers on social media wouldn’t justify discipline, even after being warned about the risks involved as a celebrity athlete. But even if he did nothing wrong, and this is all a money grab, Watson apparently willingly walked into it again with another stranger from Instagram, despite the “lesson” in February.
In his defense, Watson’s legal team has depicted him as the victim of a scheme by multiple masseuses. Hardin previously said all their allegations “dumbfounded” Watson and that Watson’s reaction to them was that “this is insane.”
In a court filing submitted April 19, Hardin essentially argued that Solis sparked a gold rush of copycat lawsuits when she filed the first suit.
The Georgia woman filed suit March 22, less than three weeks after she said she met Watson and less than a week after Solis filed the first lawsuit against Watson March 16.
Hardin’s filing stated the Georgia woman since has destroyed evidence by deleting her Instagram account and that witnesses describe her as a “money grabber.”
How the NFL interprets the competing narratives is one piece of a process that could drag into 2022. The NFL likely will want the Houston police investigation to play out before deciding on any punishment. But the NFL doesn’t need criminal charges to remove Watson from action under its personal conduct policy.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell can put a player on paid administrative “where the circumstances and evidence warrant doing so” related to conduct that posed a danger to the safety or wellbeing of another person, according to the policy.
“The sheer number and scope of the claimants is remarkable, and the league has not dealt with anything like this in the past,” Balsam said. “But it has a process and it’s going to follow that process to the best of its ability.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
First, Buzbee hasn’t not shown the public everything. That’s not something that is done. Second, civil suits, the plaintiff has to prove that damage has occurred somehow. You are overestimating the burden of proof.
Also will have a hard time explaining this one
SnakeEyes
Under NRG
People with blocking software couldn't read it.
SnakeEyes
Under NRG
That's called the sh$! hit the fan. No way to get around that you indeed sent that.
I wonder if Watson was is sitting in his house texting apologies for the first week of April...
Also that’s March 30, 2020. When ZERO football was going on. Right after the Covid shut everything down. So he can’t blame it on football.
Jack Burton
Veteran
maverick512000
Hall of Fame
Why does he have to be? In fact why do any of us have to be? We are not judges, well a couple of us might be but not judges on this case, none of us are on a jury in a trial of Watson and if we were called Hardin or Buzbee should be able to identify bias and have us eliminated as a possible juror. We do not have a large, public platform to try and turn people for or against Watson, Hell odds are we are not even the majority opinion. We are fans on a football forum, so why should any of us have to worry about being unbias or neutral or "wait till we have all the evidence" or anything else? We don't wait till we have all facts on anything else around here so why start with this?