Editor’s 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.
Lauren Baxley is one of the 22 plaintiffs who have active civil lawsuits against Deshaun Watson, and she was one of the first to reveal their identity. Now, Baxley is speaking out about the harassment she has endured as part of the fallout from the two grand jury hearings and subsequent Browns trade.
“Watson’s record $230 million contract, indeed that he is employed at all after his pattern of abuse, is yet another crushing blow to survivors everywhere,” Baxley wrote in a piece published by The Daily Beast. “Testimony is evidence, and two dozen women have testified under some form of oath to his behavior and attacks.”
Watson was recently traded to Cleveland and signed a record-setting contract that became the largest guaranteed contract in league history. The other eye-catching detail built into his Browns deal: For every game Watson is potentially suspended, the quarterback will lose only $55,556. His base salary is just $1 million in 2022, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. If Watson had stayed with Houston, he would have lost $1.94 million for every game in which he was suspended.
The former Texans quarterback still faces 22 active civil lawsuits on sexual harassment and assault during massage therapy sessions. The lawsuits describe accounts that range from the quarterback’s refusing to cover his genitals to “touching [a plaintiff] with his penis and trying to force her to perform oral sex on him.”
He also previously faced multiple criminal complaints; however, he is not facing charges following two separate grand jury hearings. According to Jenny Vrentas of The New York Times, the criminal complaints he previously faced involved similar descriptions, including Watson ejaculating on them and either other forms of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault.
On March 11, a Harris County grand jury returned nine “no” bills on nine criminal complaints against the then Texans quarterback. A Harris County prosecutor said that the decision concluded criminal proceedings against him in that county, and Watson was traded shortly afterward. A grand jury in Brazoria County declined to charge Watson on a 10th count Thursday.
“More than that, the choice to not indict Watson on our testimonies—that were deemed ‘highly credible’ by prosecutors and the detectives who worked our criminal cases—opened a floodgate of abuse, slander, and libel toward us on the internet,” Baxley wrote. “The worst of the women-haters came out, declaring the no-bills proof that we were ‘prostitutes’ all along.”
Baxley continued, later detailing how some of Watson’s fans have said “they would like for us to be raped, imprisoned or killed. Crimes against women are fetishized more than they are prosecuted.” She reiterated that “a failure to charge or convict a crime does not equate to innocence,” highlighting that people pretending that it is is “ignorant” and “evil,” implying “a certain NBA player” did as well.
The NFL’s investigation into Watson for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy is still ongoing, and he could still face suspension. Commissioner Roger Goodell is reportedly not the one who will determine whether Watson faces a suspension, fine or face no penalty, according to Yahoo Sports. In a press conference Tuesday, Goodell said the quarterback will, in all likelihood, not land on the commissioner’s exempt list, per The MMQB‘s Albert Breer.
Baxley previously recounted her meeting with league investigators to Vrentas, then of Sports Illustrated in August 2021. She described the tone of her interview with league investigators Lisa Friel and Jennifer Gaffney as “patronizing” and “victim-blaming.”
“My forensic interview [with HPD] was very respectful and trauma-informed,” Baxley told Vrentas. “They let me speak uninterrupted, whereas with Lisa Friel and the [other NFL investigator], they would cut me off, they would question things, they would circle back.”
According to the NFL’s 2020 personal conduct policy, for players to land on the exempt list, they must be formally charged with “a crime of violence, meaning that he is accused … of having engaged in a sexual assault by force or against a person who was incapable of giving consent, or having engaged in other conduct that poses a genuine danger to the safety or well-being of another person.”
“How do you define violence? Because I felt like I was violently attacked psychologically when I was stuck in that room with him,” Baxley told Vrentas in August 2021. “I know that I’m not the only one who felt that way, and I’m not the only one who continues to feel that way.”
Baxley highlighted in her Daily Beast piece that she believes the franchise is making a similar mistake as she did when she first met Watson after the owners said they “got comfortable” meeting the quarterback.
Browns general manager Andrew Berry stated multiple times in the introductory news conference that Watson and his cases were a “five-month odyssey.” The franchise used private investigators and third-party legal advisers to learn more about the cases but did not speak to the accusers. Per Berry, the organization’s lawyers told them not to reach out directly to the women because it would be considered interfering with the criminal investigation.
All but one of the criminal investigations was wrapped up before the Browns traded for Watson. As the civil deposition proceedings continue, here’s a recap of what has happened on and off the field since Watson’s last snap.
