“This has got to concern the NFL big time” - Analyst pressures league to investigate Texans' settlements in Deshaun Watson case
One of the biggest questions in the NFL regarding Deshaun Watson is the disparity in the number of women suing the Houston Texans compared to how many sued the quarterback.
30 women sued the Texans while 24 sued the quarterback, leaving many to wonder why the other six women haven't sued Watson yet.
One NFL analyst offered his theory as to whether more lawsuits are coming and potential reasons for holding off. While giving the theory, he also called for the league to investigate the true reasons for the Texans' decision to pay off the women so quickly.
Speaking on the Ross Tucker Podcast, NFL analyst Andrew Brandt offered his two cents on the situation:
"Well, this comes from Tony Buzbee, who's the lawyer for all the women suing Watson, and there were more women suing the Texans than Watson, it appears because perhaps they felt themselves put in a position of control by the Texans [or] by Deshaun Watson, even though they didn't feel wronged enough to sue him directly."
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He continued, claiming the NFL should be concerned about the situation:
"I think it's a great question that I don't know the full answer to but here's my answer. This has got to concern the NFL big time, in my opinion, because what you have is you have one of the club's owners, [a] club-slash-NFL-owner settling lawsuits based on wrongdoing by one of its players. Think about that."
He went on to compare the settlements to previously similar situations, albeit on a smaller scale:
"It would be like the Cowboys settling a lawsuit to Ezekiel Elliott. It would be like the Steelers settling lawsuits against Ben Roethlisberger. This doesn't happen to my mind... What, what are they settling for? They basically say, 'Well, you know, we want to do right by women'. Well, why are you paying these women?"
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Lastly, he concluded that the optics are not good for the Texans:
"That's a simple question that the commissioner should ask Cal McNair, 'Why are you paying these women?' It can't just be a statement about domestic [this or that] or about women. You can give to organizations for that. Why are you paying these individual women? This does not look good."
Deshaun Watson's legal nightmare
Since the end of the 2020 NFL season, Deshaun Watson's life has been defined by court case after court case with seemingly no end in sight. Every time the quarterback appears to get one step closer to the end of the ordeal, another development strikes.
In early 2021, Watson was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women. Over the course of the next year, the quarterback missed the 2021 NFL season partly because of the ongoing lawsuits. Early in 2022, however, he escaped criminal court intact and was able to focus only on the civil side.
Around the same time, he was traded to the Cleveland Browns for a record-setting deal. Several months later, he settled 20 of the civil lawsuits, leaving only a handful to deal with. However, with 30 women having sued the Texans, one can only wait and see if the quarterback will be sent back to square one in short order.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Ross Tucker Podcast and H/T Sportskeeda