Editor’s note: This story contains accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a sexual assault survivor, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 4673-656-800-1 or at https://www.rainn.org.
despite Deshaun Watson He won’t play in a regular season game until December BrownThe owners’ stand by the decision to trade in favor of the quarterback – and they will do so again.
The franchise, dubbed “QB1,” will be suspended 11 games and fined $5 million after the NFL and the players’ union reached a settlement agreement over its disciplinary actions. In a statement released Thursday, Watson offered a broad apology “for any pain this situation has caused” and took “responsibility for the decisions I made”.
In the eyes of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, he feels that Watson “deserves a second chance”.
“In this country, and hopefully in the world, people deserve a second chance,” Hassan said at Thursday’s news conference. “I really think so and I’m struggling a little bit – shouldn’t he play again? Shouldn’t he ever be part of society? Doesn’t he get a chance to rehabilitate himself?”
Well, and you can say, OK, that’s because he’s the star of the quarterback. Well of course. But if it was Joe Smith, he wouldn’t be in the headlines every day. So we think people deserve a second chance. We gave Kareem Hunt a second chance. It worked out well.”
Hassan continued, “This does not mean that we do not sympathize with those affected, and we will continue to do so. But we strongly believe that people deserve a second chance. We believe that Deshaun Watson deserves a second chance.”
Hassan, his wife, Team D co-owner, and general manager Andrew Perry gave a joint press conference moments after Watson held his own, insisting his innocence when faced with a slew of questions from reporters.
Rosenberg: Deshaun Watson’s allegations should stick to him for the rest of his career
In addition to the suspension and fine, Watson will be subject to counseling, which Dee asserted “takes time.
Don’t just go to a counseling session and wake up and understand its impact. I think it’s a layered effect that takes weeks, months, a long time to get to where you understand a lot about yourself. And I think Deshaun has made progress from the time he came here until now and he is making progress, but it won’t happen overnight.”
One of the biggest questions surrounding Batson and now Brown is how his massage therapy sessions will happen given his reported behavior. From March 2021 to June 22, more than two dozen lawsuits were filed against Watson, which detail graphic novels of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Only one was dropped due to privacy concerns on April 21. Accounts range from Watson’s refusal to cover his genitals to the quarterback ‘touching’ [a plaintiff] with his penis and trying to force her to have oral sex with him.”
Earlier this summer, a report from New York timesJenny Frentas described that Watson booked massage therapy sessions with at least 66 women over a 17-month period dating back to the fall of 2019. times He also mentioned the privilege that provided facilities and non-disclosure agreements for its sessions.
Perry faced the question, “How will you handle Watson massage therapy sessions in the future? Will it be male or female? And what is the plan?”
“Yeah, I’ll be honest, in terms of doing a soft tissue massage, it’s something we’ve had in place since the deal started,” Berry said. “This is nothing new now because year-round athletes need this type of soft tissue as they train and prepare for the next season. So this is something that has already been implemented for the past several months.”
The General Manager did not go into detail as to whether the individual would be “male or female” when asked again with the question. However, he confirmed that it was approved by the team.
When asked if they were concerned about death threats, for example, given that his first game would be against Houston, Dee replied, “I hope the conversation comes up about what we can do to move forward to get the information to help others. And I think there’s a great opportunity to talk about The main issues in our country in this area, such as sex trafficking, use of massage parlors, etc. There is a lot of information that we can get from this, and the opportunity is huge. So we can continue to talk about Deshaun or we can talk about the main issues that our country is facing and make difference “.
Watson has previously denied all allegations against him, and a Texas jury dismissed criminal charges against him earlier this spring. However, he still faces legal problems. He reportedly settled all but one of the lawsuits.
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