The NFL has sent a clear message at least initially that they are willing to give Deshaun Watson the benefit of the doubt in his 22 massage assault cases.
While some would say that is how it should be because it is innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around, it is inconsistent with how the NFL has handled these types of cases post Ray Rice.
The NFL kept Antonio Brown in limbo for months and suspended him for 8 games for one accusation that was eventually settled out of court, and no criminal charges were filed.
They suspended Ezekiel Elliott for six games off the word of one accuser who was caught in 4k, saying even if she lied, people would believe her because she was white and Zeke was black.
So, it seems odd to some that Watson is being allowed to practice even though there are 22 civil cases, 10 criminal complaints, and several more women who haven’t sued but share similar stories to the accuser.
If you believe two of his accusers, the NFL is victim-blaming them via this extensive report from SI.
“This woman asked me what I was wearing, which honestly really pissed me off,” Solis told Sports Illustrated in what was her first interview with a media outlet. “She explained that that’s something that she has to ask—which I don’t believe at all. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be wearing that would suggest that I don’t want you to put your penis on my hand. Do I need to wear a turtleneck?”
Lauren Baxley, a 33-year-old licensed massage therapist who is also among the 22 plaintiffs suing Watson, spoke to SI in a separate interview, her first since filing suit. She says that Friel and Gaffney also asked her about what she was wearing during her June 2020 appointment with Watson. She perceived the overall tone of the league’s investigators as “patronizing” and “victim-blaming,” as she says they also questioned her response to Watson’s behavior, including why she froze and did not end the session. (Freezing, along with fight or flight, is a common physiological response to danger.)
Lisa Friel and Jennifer Gaffney are the NFL investigators, and they claim that they just asked the questions because they are trying to find out if the interactions were consensual or not.
I am not sure what consent has to do with the women’s attire. If they didn’t want Watson’s penis brushing up against them, it doesn’t really matter what they are wearing.
Baxley and Solis, like many of his accusers, speak on how Watson made them uncomfortable by suggesting sometimes subtly, sometimes strongly, that they put his penis in their hands and mouth.
Solis shared additional details in her interview with SI: She had just finished working on his leg and was moving toward his hip, when he asked her to work on his abdominal muscles. As she began to focus on that area, she remembers his penis being in the way, so she asked him to readjust himself away from where she was working. Solis says Watson instead grabbed his penis and put it onto her hand.
Baxley was working on the adductor muscles in his inner thigh when she says Watson tugged off the covering, moved his hips, and flexed his now-erect penis so that it fell on her hand. She reacted by moving her hand away and covering him back up but says he told her to “just grab it” if his penis was in her way.
Watson has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyer Rustin Hardin says any sexual contact was 100% consensual.
That could become a problem for Watson because it wasn’t like he was dating his accusers. He hired them to do a job, so how did that turn into sexual acts?
Will Watson be able to prove all the women wanted to have this sexual contact with him?
The women say the NFL and NFL Network are purposefully downplaying their accusation, and I have to be honest; all the media does seem to be tip-toeing around it and seem to be more focused on his trade value.
It should also be noted in the SI article that the accusers are getting death threats and Solis even had her studio vandalized by Watson’s fans, so this is a very scary situation.
Flip the page for more accusations from Watson’s accusers on how he likes to put his penis in their hands.