I don't think the Trevor Bauer and Deshaun Watson cases are the same. The woman Bauer assaulted went to the hospital and the police, and then filed a restraining order. There are pictures of the abuse. The 22 women accusing Watson went to Tony Buzbee. We don't know all the details, but it's likely that when MLB investigated Bauer's case they found ample evidence to suspend him. Remember there were numerous NFL teams doing background checks on Watson and investigating the credibility of the accusations. If the Browns did not sign him, the Panthers, Falcons, or the Saints would have. I don't think those franchises would've been wanting to sign him if there was ample evidence to prove Watson was guilty of these accusations. Those teams know all the details being revealed in the depositions already and were still willing to sign him. There could still be a suspension, but I don't think it's right to suspend someone just to look good from a public perspective. I don't recall Bob Kraft being suspended for getting a rub & tug at the Orchids of Asia spa in Jupiter, Florida. The smartest thing for the league to do is to wait until next year after the civil trial finishes, complete their investigation at that time, and then levy their suspension once the civil case completes if more evidence is revealed. Each time there is a leak from the deposition it is coming from Buzbee's camp. He's trying to put media attention on this so that Watson will settle. I don't think Buzbee really wants to take this to trial.
Even though it isn't right, they're in a "public perspective" kind of game. All companies do things they don't agree with, but they just want to cover their butts. And the NFL is hoping, praying, and paying, so that Deshaun gets everything thrown out, and they can suspend 4 games and move on. Because the last thing they want is the black eye from Deshaun playing, while being accused by 22 women of sexual assault.
One of my main issues with the Deshaun Watson story has been the biased media coverage. This leaked deposition is the latest example. The original story from USA Today only leaked a portion of the deposition to make Watson look guilty. Fox 8 in Cleveland got the full transcript of the deposition and provided more context to what Deshaun said in the deposition. But Fox 8's story isn't as sensational as USA Today's story and won't get circulated as much by other outlets. Just compare the two headlines of the story: USA Today: Browns QB Deshaun Watson testifies woman cried at end of massage, according to transcript Fox 8: Deshaun Watson denies doing anything to make massage therapist cry: Deposition Fox 8's strory
That is the jury's job. Grand Jury just decide if the case can go to trail. Only the prosecutor presents so there is really no defense. Also it was two grand jury's.
I understand what you're saying, but in a world where the celebrity mega-athlete says "I never did anything to make these women uncomfortable" to now him admitting that yeah, she was crying, that's a big deal. Regardless of if anyone believes he's innocent or guilty, the fact that a woman was crying at the end of a massage, and he apologized, and now she's suing him is a big deal. And if he truly "didn't do anything to make her cry", he probably wouldn't have felt the need to reach out un-provoked and apologize.
The fact that she was crying or teary-eyed after a massage doesn't really prove anything...it just sounds bad. I understand that before the massage session Watson asked her if she was comfortable working on certain sensitive areas and she said yes. The defense for Watson says that the plantiff took advantage of Watson by creating sexual innuendo from normal therapeutic requests coming from a patient. For example, Deshaun may have asked her to massage somewhere close to his groin area and she and the other masseuses are embellishing the story by saying Deshaun asked them to rub his penis or anus. Watson's defense has stated to the courts that multiple plaintiffs chose to massage Watson after the initial alleged incident and some told other witnesses that they were seeking to get money out of Watson. In this particular allegation, I don't understand why Watson would ask the plaintiff if she was comfortable massaging certain areas before the massage and then apologize afterward when she became teary-eyed for whatever reason. If he truly was a serial predator, I don't think he would care about her feelings. Watson's defense also maintains that the plaintiffs are embellishing their claims of trauma. The plaintiff that became teary-eyed said that her trauma was so bad that she could not practice massage therapy anymore but they have proof that she continues to see clients. These arguments made by the defense are seldom mentioned by "journalists" covering this story. I don't know whether Deshaun is guilty or not, I just have a hunch that these stories are being exaggerated. If he actually assaulted 22 different masseuses there would've been enough evidence to indict him. Also, I find it suspicious that the only women to accuse Watson of sexual assault are masseuses. Watson is a celebrity and comes in contact with women from all sorts of occupations. If he was a real sexual predator we would have more accusations coming from women who aren't masseuses. I think that these masseuses became desperate for money because when covid began everything shut down and they couldn't see patients. Deshaun continued to schedule these massages on Instagram and they saw an opportunity to take advantage.
For me this keeps going back to the beginning when Buzbee just so happened to "launch" his lawsuit right after Watson publicly requested a trade. The timing was just too damned coincidential to me. This just smells of Easterby's doing. We all know that he has had other Texans players under surveillance before so Watson had to have been as well. Plus the fact that all of these women went to Buzbee instead of the police is very telling in my book. Not to mention just how did these women even know about Buzbee anyway? In fact, it was only after this was pointed out that several of his accusers finally filed formal charges. I believe that Buzbee vastly underestimated Watson's tenacity and figured that the bad publicity would force Watson to quickly settle hence the periodic leaks from his camp to keep up the pressure on Watson. Buzbee knows full well that a black athlete accused of sexual impropriety against multiple women will not receive the benefit of the doubt in the mind of the public or get a fair shake in the media. And from looking at the media and public reaction, he was spot on. Just from looking at the posts here validates his approach. Now what Buzbee failed to anticipate was Watson's hiring of Rusty Hardin who is a master at dealing with these sort of cases. As a result, this story has a long way to go before all is said and done.
#1 Did you just compare Robert Kraft getting a hand job from someone consenting to it...... to 20+ women that did not give consent and were sexually assaulted? Is that really the direction you want to go? #2 Teams are hungry for elite young QB's under contract, you take risks to get one. Once it was obvious there wouldn't be criminal charges teams pounced and will risk a suspension and public outcry.
Yeah no..... that transcript doesn't really help him and neither headline is deceptive. He admitted that not only did she cry, but he apologized and she ended the session early.
Y'all should be very glad this is the Browns' problem now. Story will have a long shelf life, with a drumbeat of questions to ownership, management, and even the coaches. Yuck. (And that's independent of where you think the nuanced truth lies in all this, or media "bias" or anything else.)
I don't think all 22 are accusing him of assault. I think there was one actually assault accusation and the others are like he's a perv who violated the "don't be a perv while you're getting a massage" rule and maybe that should lead to him paying them. But yes, one assault accusation is one too many. That stated, multiple grand juries have said it's not enough. No idea if the one person recanted on the stand, was found to be not credible, or didn't testify at all. Remember, in these grand jury proceedings, there is no cross by the defense - there is no defense. And it's all secret. So we have no idea why the one client who Buzbee said got raped...we just have no idea what happened what exactly happened with her and the two grand juries. Edit: Sorry, one rape and at least one or two innapropriate touching, so two assaults and a forced oral rape. Correct me if I'm wrong on the accusations.
What do you consider "right after"? Watson officially requested a trade in late January (although it was suspected long before that). Lawsuits weren't filed until mid March.
Besides all the allegations I hope the NFL takes it into consideration how Watson and his agent tried to be slick in the way they structured his contract for next year...If those fools tried to be creative with his contract the NFL should get creative with his punishment...
