The Deshaun Watson Discussion Thread

[jordanzs]

I have Watson in a 1QB league, so I guess I'll plan on rotating Rothlesberger, Daniel Jones, and Drew Lock this year. I won't be surprised to see Watson take the year off much like Adrian Peterson did when the stuff surfaced regarding the way that he disciplined his son. DeShaun would be smart to come clean if he engaged in any of the behavior that he is being accused of. Apologize to everyone involved, seek counseling, do your time. Spin your fame & resources in a positive way in the future. If Michael Vick & Adrian Peterson could rebound, so could he.

[Ice]

I have Watson in a 1QB league, so I guess I'll plan on rotating Rothlesberger, Daniel Jones, and Drew Lock this year. I won't be surprised to see Watson take the year off much like Adrian Peterson did when the stuff surfaced regarding the way that he disciplined his son. DeShaun would be smart to come clean if he engaged in any of the behavior that he is being accused of. Apologize to everyone involved, seek counseling, do your time. Spin your fame & resources in a positive way in the future. If Michael Vick & Adrian Peterson could rebound, so could he.

Agree,

I actually expect something close to your example to happen at some point.

A 22nd suit was filed against him today for those keeping track.

[Bronco Billy]

Not Going to Happen until Politics get out of sports.

I am all for that.

+1000

[The MAC Machine]

Exactly. Just 4-5 years ago I would said nothing will prolly happen, but with the #metoo movement and cancel culture it's gonna be near impossible for him to get out of this without any kind of punishment. There have been several big name powerful people taken down the last few years. People are not getting away with the same stuff they use to get away with.

Im not defending Watson or saying he isnt culpable. What I am saying is that it is convenient that this comes out as Watson is leveraging his way out of Houston. Its very possible that SOMEONE knew about this BEFORE Watson began to demand his way out of Houston. These allegations muddied the already muddy waters in terms of Watson's football future. I just dont think its a coincidence. It happens all the time in sports where organizations look the other way until it no longer suits them....with Watson demanding his way out, I think its reasonable to believe that if Watson is guilty then the Texans are too - and with mounting evidence, it seems like he is pretty guilty.

So we know one of the 2 following is true:

1) HOU wants Watson to remain as the face of its franchise, or
2) HOU wants to optimize its trade capital in moving Watson.

And somehow you think the way they and/or someone who is deeply involved with them thinks the best way to accomplish one of these two objectives is to promote the idea that he is a serial sex offender?

That’s some serious tinfoil hat stuff you’ve got going on there.

And Penn State wanted to preserve Joe Paterno's legacy....... look what happened. In the professional sports industry, people will go very very far to preserve the image of a beloved asset. I'm not comparing what Watson is to what Paterno was. I'm just saying it is very clear that once HOU knew they weren't going to get either of what they wanted

1) Watson to remain as the face of its franchise, or
2) optimizing its trade capital in moving Watson.

The gloves could have come off. And that doesn't even necessarily mean that they did anything to influence these allegations. It could just mean that they decided to let him get hit by this bus, whereas in the past they may have tried to protect him for their own interests.

That's not crazy. That's just us choosing to believe in different potentials about the organization. I just don't think that there is any possible way the Texans JUST heard about this kind of behavior for the first time. 20 PEOPLE didn't just get sexually abused in the last 4 months in secret.....I'm not blaming the Texans for Watson's actions. I'm not even saying they are responsible for these allegations. But let's not pretend like the Texans are above and beyond capable of enabling his actions in order to protect "the face of their franchise" and "preserve his value". If Watson is guilty, they knew.

[Bronco Billy]

In the professional sports industry, people will go very very far to preserve the image of a beloved asset.

Your own admission.

And you think that this is best accomplished by having almost 2 dozen women come forward and accuse Watson of serial sex offenses?

[meineymoe]

In the professional sports industry, people will go very very far to preserve the image of a beloved asset.

Your own admission.

And you think that this is best accomplished by having almost 2 dozen women come forward and accuse Watson of serial sex offenses?

You should read the rest of the post and see that that's not what he said.
And I agree that this thread has gone beyond fantasy football and should be moved to the off topic forum.
-oo-

[Bronco Billy]

In the professional sports industry, people will go very very far to preserve the image of a beloved asset.

Your own admission.

And you think that this is best accomplished by having almost 2 dozen women come forward and accuse Watson of serial sex offenses?

You should read the rest of the post and see that that's not what he said.
And I agree that this thread has gone beyond fantasy football and should be moved to the off topic forum.
-oo-

I read the rest of the post. His premise of HOU torpedoing its most valuable asset rests on his statement that no team would pay up for Watson and so they poisoned the well. I don’t believe that is accurate at all.

Then we have the other side of crazy that says HOU refuses to get rid of Watson because of a statement from a dead owner that aroused the ire of the woke mob when they intentionally put a racial spin on it that didn’t exist. So allegedly racist HOU refuses to move their black QB who is the face of their racist franchise. This is of course after said allegedly racist owner was part of the draft process of selecting the black QB with the 12th overall pick. Yeah, that passes the smell test too.

The crazy is seriously deep out there is some corners.

[Krypto_King]

have any of the accusers been from pre-2020 yet? I saw all the quotes of MT's defending him, it does seem like a lot of these are in areas outside Houston so that might explain *some* of the volume question. What is the threshold for the police to open their criminal investigation? I would think that eliminates the Jane Doe conspiracy theory that they are all made up in Buzbee's imagination. This is such an odd story all around.

[Ice]

have any of the accusers been from pre-2020 yet? I saw all the quotes of MT's defending him, it does seem like a lot of these are in areas outside Houston so that might explain *some* of the volume question. What is the threshold for the police to open their criminal investigation? I would think that eliminates the Jane Doe conspiracy theory that they are all made up in Buzbee's imagination. This is such an odd story all around.

I think there has been at least 1 criminal complaint filed and it sounds like more to follow.

That by itself means nothing other than a police investigation will follow because they have to as a matter of law. If the police do not follow up then they could be held liable.

I get many want to question Buzzbee but he is an extremely successful lawyer so Watson and his team will not take him lightly. Of course, he is a lawyer so there is that.

[Draftnik]

For those that keep insisting the Texans have orchestrated this, Buzzbee just threw some accountability for Watson at them, and implied they have a role in Watson's behaviour. Said it in a very careful roundabout way as he's a lawyer obviously.

[Kurt G.O.A.T.]

The first victim that came forward said she's not doing this for the money but watson's lawyer said she wanted $100,000 from watson so this wouldn't go public.

How can we have empathy for a person like that?

[bjd5211]

The first victim that came forward said she's not doing this for the money but watson's lawyer said she wanted $100,000 from watson so this wouldn't go public.

How can we have empathy for a person like that?

That's exactly the narrative he wants out there...

[remedy29]

The first victim that came forward said she's not doing this for the money but watson's lawyer said she wanted $100,000 from watson so this wouldn't go public.

How can we have empathy for a person like that?

That's exactly the narrative he wants out there...

These are civil lawsuits where the only suffering by the accused is to pay the victim money. No more, no less.
For a public person like Watson, that may have other ramifications, but for the general public, civil lawsuits are about the money.
Saying otherwise is just pandering.

[Draftnik]

What does this change?

The email exchange was leaked and it was a typical example of Buzbee offering a settlement without pursuing an actual suit. It seemed like Watson's team was fishing for what they had OR to come back with a different figure, and Buzbee didn't bite.

Read the leaked email exchange. I also think it's a poor move on Watson's defense team to publicly leak that, they're scared if you ask me and based on how everything looks, they should be. This is probably going to backfire, especially that they leaked that Watson's own team asked for a different number.

They're grasping at straws and it's looking like it's going to get really ugly for Watson. Especially if their new angle is that Deshaun Watson "learned his lesson" but they continue to deny wrongdoing.

[bjd5211]

The first victim that came forward said she's not doing this for the money but watson's lawyer said she wanted $100,000 from watson so this wouldn't go public.

How can we have empathy for a person like that?

That's exactly the narrative he wants out there...

These are civil lawsuits where the only suffering by the accused is to pay the victim money. No more, no less.
For a public person like Watson, that may have other ramifications, but for the general public, civil lawsuits are about the money.
Saying otherwise is just pandering.

I was talking about his "How can we have empathy for a person like that?" comment, I'm aware of how civil suits work.

Assuming these claims are true, this woman was assaulted while she was performing her trained profession that she does for a living, and now is so traumatized from the event that she is unable to continue this profession at this time which means she has essentially lost her income due to Watson's (alleged) actions. On top of that, him being a highly public figure means that if this came out publicly and she attached her name to it she would inevitably be getting slut-shamed and victim-blamed publicly (which is exactly what is happening) and basically have to go throughthe whole ordeal again, which is a very legitimate and understandable reason for not wanting this to be public initially. By getting a private settlement she could have had her earnings lost to the events recouped, and be able to get counseling to help her get through the psychological damage done to her and hopefully be able to continue the career she had been building for herself.

I had my doubts about this story initially mostly due to the lawyer who first brought it up, his presentation of it and his reputation as an apparent attention seeker. As more and more comes out though it is getting harder and harder to just write off as a money or attention grab. I'm not really sure what to think anymore, because it's pretty hard to support either side without condemning the other as either a liar or a sexual predator, and I am not going to pretend I know what actually happened in these cases. I can however look at both sides and understand and EMPATHIZE with them from their point of views. I understand Watson's desire to fight to clear his name and reputation if these allegations are not true, and I can do the same from the other side and understand why they wanted private monetary reparations over public legal consequences if they are true.

Either way it's a sad story, but I'm no longer going to pass judgement on either side while this is still ongoing because I know nothing about what really happened and neither does the media other than what each side wants them to know. So I'm just going to let the legal system play out and hopefully come to the correct outcome, and then go from there.