On Monday, Deshaun Watson‘s legal team filed a written response to the lawsuits against him (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The lengthy document denies all allegations of sexual misconduct. 
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More than 20 women have filed civil lawsuits against Watson in recent weeks. Meanwhile, some of those women have contacted the authorities, raising the possibility of criminal charges. In his response, lawyer Rusty Hardin said that he wants a jury trial in order to give Watson a chance to clear his name.
Furthermore, Hardin claims that eight of the plaintiffs bragged about working with Watson while seven of the accusers “willingly worked” or “offered” to work with him after “their alleged incidents”. He also claims that some of the accusers “lied” about the number of times they worked with Watson and told others that they wanted to get money out of the NFL star.
“It was not until the plaintiffs saw an opportunity for a money grab that they changed their stories to convert therapy sessions they bragged about to friends and family to something much more nefarious,” Hardin wrote.
Meanwhile, Watson’s football future remains in flux. Last week, Texans GM Nick Caserio declined to comment on Watson’s status with the team.
“If you want to speculate, you should probably go buy Bitcoin,” Caserio said.
One of the civil suits against Watson was dropped earlier this month. However, another plaintiff came forward a few days later to bring the total count back to 22.
Rusty Hardin is a sleaze ball. Whether or not Watson did anything wrong the lawyer is a turd.
What do you call 5,000 lawyers stuck on the moon? A good start.
Uhh now I’m confused
The fact that Watson needed to look for so many victims tells me that most of these encounters were not “consensual”.
Not defending Watson in any way, but…how does an interest in variety indicate his guilt?
When most people go to the movies, they see a different one than they saw last time.
Here’s what we know: It actually happened.
What we don’t know yet, was if it was consensual with the 20+ or if only some were okay with it. The other part, you know about rub and tugs not being legal is a separate issue. Pretty sure everyone is admitting that happened.
And hes basically admitting to 7 counts…. first time offender 30 days to 6 months so… 7 months to 42 months depending on how the judge felt and if someone wants to make an example out of him.
Well, I don’t think he’s admitting to anything. He’s just disputing 15 of those counts with evidence that the encounters were consensual.
The only thing for certain that is known is that Watson has an appetite for female masseuses. The manner in which he satisfied that appetite will be the argument. Hardin wants, obviously, to demonstrate that these women consented to doing what Watson asked. To further that point, he has in his opinion evidence that the women were proud enough of their interaction to advertise it. The reason Buzbee sought out so many plaintiffs is because of the optics of having Watson’s appetites exposed, but also to insulate against this tactic. Hardin might find correspondence from fifteen women that makes them look bad, but Buzbee will have seven more that he can point to and say “Well, what about them? They show that he has a pattern!”
The public back and forth is really useless to follow on either side. Any real revelations (mostly just nasty details that will seem nitpicky but either lawyer will point as relevant to his case) will come in the courtroom. The media disclosures don’t matter in the end.
I’m just waiting for that one dude masseuse to come forward.
Lol
I think that would be a masseur. Just saying…
Money Grab for a forced pecker grab
this is going to get ugly…as in more then it already is.
Rusty Hardin most likely lying through his teeth, that’s not surprising. I really don’t buy for a second twenty some women all had the same idea for a “money grab.”
On the football side, why not just cut him if you’re Houston? He doesn’t want to be there, and no team is going to give you anything for him. As a fan, I would disown my favorite team if they traded for him now.
cap implications
If they wait they can try to recoup bonus money. Also once the nfl finishes their investigations teams will still be willing to over a lot for him. It’s worth paying him next year if you’re able to get a haul of picks. Once the case out if the news nobody will care.
I don’t believe anything right now because literally nothing has been proven, including Hardin’s statements.
Everything we know is something someone else who also likely wasn’t there told us. Hardin and Buzbee will both manipulate their words to present a version of the truth more beneficial to their case. For example, Buzbee did make an effort to find as many clients as he could, and it wouldn’t be surprising if some had to be convinced to join in. I doubt we’ll know if he approached anyone who refused to join his case. Those twenty-two are all represented by the same lawyer, so there’s an element of suspicion there too. Hardin, of course, will do everything he can to portray Watson’s correspondence with these women in an acceptable light, and try to whittle down that number to something more manageable to dispute the pattern of behavior. Buzbee has a leg up on him already due to his client count. Watson certainly may have done what he did, but that number serves a purpose for Buzbee. He could just as easily gone with one, two, or even ten clients. He knew numbers would help his strategy. Once again, it doesn’t mean that Hardin is correct. It just means that, true or not true, Buzbee knew it would be helpful for him to have as many plaintiffs as possible for the reasons that you stated.
We should treat both of these guys’ comments as requiring proof at every instance. They both are in this to make money, not uncover the truth, and should be treated as such. And until they are in court, they will say anything they can and do anything they can to get a leg up on the other one.
If it was 1, 2, or 3 women maybe I could buy the money argument. When it’s about 2 dozen women you need a better argument than that.
Funny; I’d think it was more of a p**sy grab, myself.
Any man who forces himself on a woman is a scumbag, pure and simple. If Watson is guilty and now that is up to the courts, then he should be out of football and in jail. I figure in spite of their tough talk, Hardin is going to try and settle just like Rapist Kobe’s attorney did.
Ironic when a money grubbing high-price ambulance chaser talks about defending his client from a “money grab” like he’s working pro bono.