Last Friday morning, Rusty Hardin, lawyer for the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Deshaun Watson, went on Sports Radio 610 in Houston to discuss his client’s ongoing legal issues. That’s one way of describing 23 civil lawsuits filed against him by masseuses and physical therapists alleging sexual assault and misconduct over a number of years. The array of accusations against Watson range from unwanted touching to forced oral sex to exposing himself, and, in a rather unorthodox attempt to defend his guy, Hardin offered his take on the whole business.
“I don’t know how many men are out there now that have had a massage that perhaps occasionally there was a happy ending,” he said. “Maybe there’s nobody in your listening audience that that ever happened to. I do want to point out, if it has happened, it’s not a crime. OK? Unless you are paying somebody extra or so to give you some type of sexual activity, it’s not a crime. . . Doing something or saying something or being a way that makes you uncomfortable is not a crime.”
Even by the standards of a legendary 80-year-old brief whose resume includes defending the New York Yankees’ Roger Clemens for using steroids and former Minnesota Viking running back Adrian Peterson for beating his four-year-old son with a branch until his legs bled, this was bizarre stuff. Then again, it’s merely the latest chapter in a tawdry tale that captures so much of what is wrong with the NFL. Last March, fully aware that 22 women had by that point taken cases against him, the Browns signed Watson to a five-year $230m contract, the largest deal in league history. Because he can play.
Of course, nothing matters more than that.
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Buoyed by a pair of Texan grand juries having recently failed to indict the then Houston Texans quarterback on 10 initial criminal counts, the Browns stated they had conducted “due diligence” into the allegations. In other words, a club that has never been to a Super Bowl decided that near two dozen women making grave accusations did not obviate their desperate need for a generational talent in the most important position on the team. Not to mention, four of their rivals were also desperately on his trail despite the putrid accusations trailing in his wake. What are the claims of so many victims worth when a potential top five quarterback becomes available?
“I know that there’s going to be a stain that probably is going to stick with me for a while but all I can do is keep moving forward and to continue to show the person that I am, the true character, the true person, the true human being I am,” said Watson, a devout Christian who has protested his innocence throughout. “Like I said before, I never done the things that these people are alleging and I’m going to continue to fight for my name and clear my name.”
Last Monday, a 24th woman filed a civil suit against Watson in Texas, the lurid details of her testimony tallying with the allegations made by all the others. Hired by the Pro Bowler to supply a therapeutic massage in Houston in August, 2020, she claims the quarterback began exposing himself once on the table, then started masturbating and, eventually, ejaculated on her even after she stopped the massage. While she fled to the bathroom, he dressed, left and cash apped her $150. The plaintiff stopped working as a massage therapist shortly thereafter.
A wilful tendency to ignore the errant behaviour of those who can make a difference on Sundays has long been a part of the NFL’s dysfunctional culture. On the opening day of the season a couple of years back, it was estimated two-thirds of the teams had players on their rosters with domestic violence charges on their rap sheets. No biggie. The league tolerates criminality, clubs prize talent over character every single time, and myopic fans, as guilty as anybody in this equation, lustily cheer wrongdoers just as long as they continue to produce on the field.
There is some doubt about whether Watson will ever make it onto the field to turn the Browns into contenders this September. Having sat out his final season with the Texans due to “a personal matter”, the NFL is set to announce the results of its own investigation into the cases against him any week now, a process many believe will lead to a suspension. Even as the New York Times just published a report detailing how he hired 66 different masseuses in one 17-month period, the 26-year-old has been training with Cleveland, impressing his new team-mates with his attitude.
“It’s not every day that you grab your whole offence and take them to the Bahamas and you treat them and you’re respectful to the coaches,” said Myles Garrett, a Browns defensive end, last week, in reference to Watson funding a team bonding trip. “From what I’ve seen, he’s walked the right way and whether he’s had a slip-up or not, I’m not the judge, I’m not the jury or the executioner. I’m here to play a game and whether we agree or disagree with who he is off the field, that’s yet to be seen. But as far as the guy I know on the field, he’s special.”
Special is one way to describe him. Twenty-four civil suits and counting.
