Editors’ note: This story contains accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or at https://www.rainn.org
It has been nearly two years since Deshaun Watson last played—a 41–38 loss to the Titans to end the Texans’ 2020 season.
Just a few months later, the first of 26 sexual misconduct lawsuits was filed against the quarterback in March 2021. Now, Watson is set to return to the field on Sunday in a Browns uniform against his former team in Houston, and Tony Buzbee, the lawyer for 25 of the plaintiffs, will be in attendance with approximately 10 of the women who filed against the embattled player, according to The Athletic.
With Watson fresh off his 11-game suspension and still facing two active civil suits, Buzbee told The Athletic that he will attend the game with “bells and whistles on.” He invited the 25 women, though some have said they won’t attend. But the message those attending reportedly want to send Watson is, “You think you put us behind you, but we are still here.”
For a year-plus, Watson has faced extensive legal troubles. More than two dozen filings detailed graphic accounts of sexual harassment and assault, ranging from him refusing to cover his genitals to “touching [a plaintiff] with his penis and trying to force her to perform oral sex on him.” The latest lawsuit, filed by a different attorney less than two months after the NFL and NFLPA agreed to suspend Watson for 11 games and fine him $5 million, says that “Watson removed his towel and offered to let her ‘get on top.’ Plaintiff refused to have sex with Watson, however, he was able to pressure her into oral sex with the Defendant.”
Only one case was dropped due to privacy concerns in April 2021. Watson, then, agreed to settle 20 of the 24 remaining active lawsuits in late June 2022, and later, he agreed to settle three of the remaining four civil suits filed against him ahead of independent arbitrator Sue L. Robinson’s initial disciplinary decision.
Robinson, a former federal judge, stated in the report that “the NFL carried its burden to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Watson engaged in sexual assault (as defined by the NFL) against the four therapists identified in the Report.” She also found that he engaged in conduct that created “a genuine danger to the safety and well-being of another person, and conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity of the NFL.”
However, Robinson differentiated between what she said was violent and nonviolent conduct, concluding that his behavior “does not fall into the category of violent conduct that would require the minimum six-game suspension” that the league had established as “by far the most commonly imposed discipline for domestic or gendered violence and sexual acts.”
The NFL appealed Robinson’s decision, and Roger Goodell designated former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey to determine the ruling. However, the league and players association reached a settlement agreement in mid-August on Watson’s punishment, soon after the quarterback played in the team’s first preseason game against the Jaguars.
Watson has continued to stand by his innocence and denied the previous allegations against him. Two Texas grand juries also declined to charge him this spring, and the Browns’ owners have previously said they would trade for him again.
The quarterback was reinstated on Monday and is set to take first-team reps on Wednesday with a Sunday start on the horizon, according to a report from Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
