“Our team has been roundly criticized because these numerous brave women haven’t filed formal criminal complaints with HPD (although we have provided info to other organizations.) Here is my worry: When I ran for Houston mayor against the CURRENT mayor, I called for the resignation of the former police chief. I was thus reluctant initially in these important cases to provide info to HPD, at least while Art Acevedo was the Police Chief—even though my brother-in-law is a long-term HPD officer,” Buzbee stated on social media.
Even if Watson settles the civil lawsuits with no criminal charges, he still has to worry about the NFL. Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio has been the first and only person to speak out about the Watson situation.
“We certainly take them very seriously. The allegations, what’s been discussed, are certainly troubling. And organizationally that’s not something that we can condone, that we condone, those types of actions.”
It is highly unlikely that Watson will be kicked out the NFL. On the other hand, it will probably take a while before he repairs his public and marketing image. Before he even attempts to do that, he has to wait until the dust settles on this situation.
Update: 18 women have come forward and gave supporting statements regarding the professionalism of Watson while they gave him massages. Watson’s lawyer Rusty Hardin released the testimonials of the women which stated: “Collectively, they have worked with Deshaun more than 130 times over the past five years,” Hardin said in a statement. “These statements show the other side to this story that has been so lacking in the flurry of anonymous complaints filed by opposing counsel.”
Each of the statements has the women’s names attached to it, and Hardin has that the women made their statements voluntarily.
“I began providing massage therapy to Deshaun in 2018 and have massaged him at least 40 times since then. I worked with him once or twice a week during the season and as needed during the off season. Early on, he said he wanted me to focus on his hamstrings (he had a trainer that worked on his upper body) and just to work the lactic acid out of his legs,” Jas Brooks, a medical staff member for Team USA track and field team and a licensed massage therapist, said. “This included the groin, glutes and feet. He never asked me any questions and hardly ever spoke at all. In all that time, I never had a single uncomfortable or inappropriate experience with Deshaun.”
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