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A Deshaun Watson Primer

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Galant, Oct 2, 2021.

  1. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    Since there's no end of discussion about Deshaun Watson and the Dolphins I thought it might be worth while putting out the best information possible about his situation and the Dolphins.

    I won't be able to do it all in one go but I'll add things in as I find them. I'll try to avoid rumour and look for what seem to be good sources of information.

    First up, the New York Times published a summary of the the case September 2021. It's the most recent and legit summary I've been able to find so I'll start here.

    Here's the link - What to Know About the Lawsuits Against Deshaun Watson - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

    There's a login/pay wall, but you can remove it by creating a free account. It's worth the read. I'll provide a quick summary but it's not that long, if you're interested in this topic then you should read it

    The super short version is that only one report has been filed with the police (in Houston) and no details have been released so no one knows whether it's one of the plaintiffs in the civil lawsuits or someone else, or what it's about.

    There are currently 22 individual lawsuits filed against him, mostly from Texas, some from other states, all to do with inappropriate sexual behaviour of some sort, and two of them alleging forced oral sex.

    "The civil suits allege 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 *****. The incidents cited in the suits were said to have occurred from March 2020 to March 2021."
    ...
    "Meredith J. Duncan, who teaches tort law and criminal law at the University of Houston Law Center, defined civil assault as intentionally or knowingly touching someone in a way that a reasonable person would regard as offensive.

    “It just so happens in this case, the civil assault involves his genitals,” Duncan said. “But forcing another person to perform a sexual act, that’s a more aggravated form of sexual assault.”"


    Since the accusations started Watson has only given one public comments that he has never treated any woman with anything other than respect.

    Watson's lawyer has said that any sexual interaction that took place was always consensual - so from that everyone takes it that Watson did have sexual contact with some or all of these women and that any question here is a matter of consent or blackmail. Busbee, the lawyer for the women, rejects that it was consensual.


    NFL
    In terms of the NFL - they're monitoring the proceedings to see what results.

    Here's the NYT summary of Watson and the Texans:

    "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, has requested a trade. Watson has a no-trade clause in his contract that allows him to choose his next destination. But the Texans emphasized in January that they had no intention of trading him, creating an impasse that has lasted for more than two months."

    ------------------------------------------------

    Sports Illustrated

    They've been investigating this for a while and have published a few articles with summaries and interviews with some who allege to be victims.

    Here's their piece on a first hand report of what happened according to one massage therapist (there are explicit details of the encounter that wasn't sexual on the part of the therapist)

    A massage therapist's story of Deshaun Watson's inappropriate behavior - Sports Illustrated

    Here's another one from the perspective of a different woman:
    Deshaun Watson lawsuit: Graphic details emerge in massage therapist case - Sports Illustrated

    And this is SI's longest offering from May 2021 where they state that there has long since been talk about something not being 'right' with Watson's massage habits, suggesting a wider issue here with him.
    The Deshaun Watson lawsuits: new information—and more context - Sports Illustrated

    An initial reading of these seems to me to indicate that at least some of the allegations are true and the Watson has engaged in shady sexual practises. However, since this is all behind closed doors with no video etc. it may come down to a matter of word against word. If so, none this may ever be proven or result in any criminal prosecution.

    Where is it all leading?

    No one is sure, but this is the summary from the longest SI article:

    "Outside of the 22 pending lawsuits, Watson faces potential consequences in two other arenas: the ongoing police investigations and the NFL’s personal-conduct probe. While only two of the suits claim sexual assault under Texas law, Boyce, the advocacy director, says prosecutors should give serious consideration to the full range of allegations. “Some people might feel like indecent exposure or some of these more misdemeanor sexual offenses are minimal and not worth pursuing,” she says. “But actually, these are patterns of behavior that often become worse over time.”

    Buzbee confirmed to SI that four of his clients have met with NFL investigators, and said they and his colleagues “didn’t feel comfortable” during the first three interviews, so he sat in on the fourth. A person with knowledge of the NFL investigation says neither Buzbee nor his colleagues expressed this during or after the interviews and that NFL investigators first learned of these concerns through his comments to FOX 26. In response to Buzbee’s characterization, an NFL spokesperson cited the “stellar reputation” of Lisa Friel, the former sex crimes prosecutor who is now the NFL’s special counsel for investigations, for conducting investigations with “compassion and fairness.” Buzbee declined to detail his concerns, but there are valid reasons why people outside the NFL may not want to cooperate with the league’s process, including not wanting to interfere with a civil suit or police investigation, as well as the potential for their privacy to be further sacrificed.

    NFL investigators have not yet met with Watson, according to the person with knowledge of the investigation—but they have met with some of the therapists who aren’t among the plaintiffs but are affiliated with Genuine Touch, the company contracted with the Texans (Honn, the practice’s owner, did not return a phone call or message seeking comment). Additionally, Jennifer Gaffney, who works as part of Friel’s team, requested records from the Houston Police Department on May 3, according to a records request response received by SI.

    Considering precedent, Watson is likely facing a suspension under the league’s personal conduct policy. In 2017, Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott served a six-game suspension for domestic violence, though that case did not go to civil or criminal court. Ben Roethlisberger, the subject of two rape allegations, served a four-game ban (reduced from six) in 2010 despite a lack of criminal charges and an out-of-court settlement for one of the cases. Barring an imminent resolution, Watson could soon land on the Commissioner Exempt List, which the league uses to take players off the field for practices and games."
     
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  2. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I think the key from the Times article is "civil assault", which an attorney defines as touching someone in a way that would make them feel uncomfortable. In the 22 cases, it says Watson rubbed his junk against the women- it wouldn't matter if the was clothed or not. If he "accidentally" bumped his junk into someone and said, "Ooops, I'm sorry!"...that may not be a crime, but it would make the other person uncomfortable and they could seek legal compensation.

    These 22 cases are variations of that...from innocent "oops" stuff to more serious (potentially criminal) sexual assault accusations. There's been no charges filed for sexual assault and only one instance that was investigated. For criminal though, there's a much higher burden of proof to actually arrest someone- he said/she said doesn't cut it. You need witnesses, DNA, recordings...something. So it's possible that several of these cases would have fallen into the sexual assault/rape but never got filed because there was no point. I mean, why put your face in public as a victim if you can't get justice?

    What does all this mean? Honestly- we have no idea. Watson could be 100% innocent with 22 gals looking to cash in on his fame, or he could be 100% guilty in some or all of these. We just don't know and it doesn't appear like there's "proof" either way.

    How does this get resolved? Eventually, the two sides will settle out of court and this all goes away...or, one side gets tired of the charades and asks to proceed to court. Nobody wants court because it destroys DeShaun's reputation on making these stories public, regardless whether they're true or not. However, the defense doesn't have any real "proof", so they'll probably lose unless marching 3 or 4 women up there with very similar stories persuades the jury (all 22 won't testify- they take just a few so it's not "guilt by numbers").

    The best possible outcome was for Watson to settle this privately almost a year ago, regardless if he was innocent or guilty. But that ship has sailed.

    What does this mean for the NFL? The can't suspend Watson on he said/she said. The similar case of domestic abuse led to a suspension because there was a police report and evidence. But until this all plays out, I'm guessing Watson will not be punished by the league because that's not how it works. We're innocent until proven guilty in this country.
     
  3. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    The NFL can suspend him just because he embarrassed the NFL.

    There is no innocent until proven guilty in the NFL. It is, "What the NFL feels it could do to protect the brand."
     
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  4. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    The SI article with the massage therapist is pretty compelling if it's all legit.
    Ditching a towel, telling her she can move his meat and two veg if she needs to, and eventually thrusting and producing some sort of emission is pretty gross stuff.

    She does seem to have spoken to people at the time who can corroborate etc. and although that's not rape etc. it would take this way beyond misunderstandings or accidental contract. It's down right creepy.

    Still, it'll all have to play out.

    If it's true I'm not sure he would do well living in Miami...
     
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  5. Silverphin

    Silverphin Well-Known Member

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    This, pretty much.
     
  6. mlb1399

    mlb1399 Well-Known Member

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    I appreciate what you’re doing but I just wish this would go away. I want nothing to do with Deshaun, no matter what I believe about Tua or our QB situation.
     
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  7. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    I sympathise. I just prefer to be informed.
     
  8. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I'm not sure about that- if they punish him in any way, he has legal recourse. I have a feeling that he's not playing or getting traded for that exact reason. As long as he's just hanging out and not playing football, the NFL doesn't have to do anything since Watson is doing it to himself.

    Just so bizarre and the "coincidence" of Watson wanting out about a month before all this broke is perplexing. We know the Texans have tried to mediate this even though they're not involved in any way- what if one of the girls came to the Texans 1st and that's what promoted Watson to want out? There's more to the story somewhere here that all of us are missing.
     
  9. Fireland

    Fireland Well-Known Member

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    We know the commissioner has every right to put him on the exempt list. Whether they would if the Texans or some other team forced their hand is unknown.

    Most likely its as simple as it sounds and he is a creep who didn't want to play for a dumpster fire. The situation isn't strange enough to go full tinfoil hat.
     
    KeyFin likes this.
  10. Dorfdad

    Dorfdad Well-Known Member

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    No No No RED FLAGS FLYING IN YOUR FACE! Why would we even consider this option. He’s not worth it sorry hes not the next Mesiah at QB and he brings a ton of baggage. Just get a proper GM and scouts or make another big move this isn’t the one we need or that I want.
     
  11. tirty8

    tirty8 Well-Known Member

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    Here is the thing. Are you sure 100% sure it's 22? Could there be others out there? Is he currently on good terms with women that had a similar encounter that could change as time passes? Do you think that a guy with chronic issues will never go down this path again? Could he wind up going to jail? Could this cause him to encounter financial hardship?
     
  12. Rouk

    Rouk Well-Known Member

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    If tua comes back and sucks the smart play is going after rodgers. Draft a tackle next year for rodgers or get one in FA or do both. Then the following year you have 2 picks and can try to start grooming a qb for the future while rodgers gives you 3 years imo.
     

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