“That's not what a massage therapy session is supposed to be” - NFL analyst blasts how Deshaun Watson is defending himself
During the Cleveland Browns' introductory press conference on Friday, their new quarterback Deshaun Watson tried to defend himself against the 22 sexual assault allegations that he is currently being sued in civil court for. In doing so, he fell short in many people's eyes.
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Watson claimed that he couldn't have been disresptful toward any of the women or assaulted any of them because he was raised by a single mother and several aunts.
“I know these allegations is very, very serious. Like I mentioned before, I never assaulted any woman, I never disrespected any woman. I was raised by a single-parent mom, who has two aunties as her sisters. That’s who raised me. I was raised to be genuine, and respect everything and everyone around me,” Watson said.
Several NFL analysts blasted Deshaun Watson and questioned his explanation. Myles Simmons was one who called out Watson's bizarre behavior.
“And that's kind of what I meant when I was saying, you know, there's a troubling pattern of behavior here. I mean, if you are trying to essentially get your body right because you are a professional athlete, and you want a massage, which is something that most, if not all professional athletes go through, because especially as a football player, your body's getting hit, right? This is a sport that is very, very intense on your body, especially as a quarterback. "
Simmons continued by saying massage therapy is not supposed to include a sexual encounter.
"Okay, so if you are setting up massage therapy sessions, that's something that makes complete and total sense. However, as you just put it, consensual sexual encounters are not what massage therapy sessions are supposed to be for. So if there is any regret that I feel like he should have, it should be that. That some of these by his, by his lawyers on admission, some of these massage therapy sessions that he involved himself in turned into consensual sexual encounters. And that, at a minimum, at my most generous interpretation, is where he has definitely gone wrong. Because like I said, that's not what a massage therapy session is supposed to be for professional athletes. It’s just not.”
He's not wrong. Watson's odd behavior has many questioning if he should be allowed to play in the league at all.
Deshaun Watson saying “I've never disrespected any woman. I was raised by a single parent mom who has two aunties, who's a sister, and that's who raised me.” Is like Ted Bundy saying he could never kill a woman because he had a loving mother, come on man.
Should Deshaun Watson be banned by the NFL?
Although Watson is not facing criminal charges, the fact that he is still facing charges at all is troubling.
The NFL hasn't announced if he will be suspended, but in all likleyhood, he will be. The only question is, for how long?
The league could easily suspend him for the season, or if they do a deep dive and conduct their own criminal investigation and find out more information, he may be banned for life.
No one knows, but one thing is certain: the Deshaun Watson case is far from being over.