A look back on the first Deshaun Watson cases, a deeply and independently reported piece, without lawyer and PR spin
Trust in the therapist’s abilities is a key criteria for both players. The NFC defensive back said in his six-year NFL career, which spans two cities, he has worked with a total of four massage therapists; he estimates that number is not more than six if he also includes his college career.
One of the LMTs SI spoke to was surprised when Watson DM’ed her in the spring of 2020, because she does not specialize in sports massage and works in a suburb about an hour outside of Houston. When she told him she was not able to work at the time because of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions, he asked, “Is it cause you’re scared you’ll loose[sic] your license.” She told him yes, and he replied, “You’ll be good with me. But okay.
Susan has been a licensed massage therapist for more than a decade, with a clientele she says is about 90% athletes. She’s worked on Watson “many times over several years” and says she’s “only had professional experiences.” Susan has eight other therapists she sends clients to when her schedule is full, which she has done regularly with Watson.
Susan at first refuted Mary’s account of this conversation, but when asked specifically about this text message in a follow-up interview, did not dispute that she sent it. She contends that at the time Mary worked on him, she’d referred Watson to only one other therapist: Masako Jones, one of the 18 who shared a statement of support for Watson, in which Jones said the behavior described in the lawsuits “doesn’t sound like him at all.
Susan continued referring Watson to other therapists after Mary’s experience with him. She estimates she’s referred Watson to four other therapists since the start of 2020, as recently as last September—that referral was to her sister, who is also an LMT, which Susan says shows she did not view Watson as a threat. Susan says she also connected Watson with a friend of hers last year who wanted to get into sports massage, but that was not a contractor arrangement.
Earning a massage license in Texas now requires a minimum of 500 hours of coursework in massage therapy studies at a licensed school in the state; to renew, 12 hours of continuing education and, as of last fall, human-trafficking prevention training. Specializing in a modality, like sports massage, often requires further training. Still, LMTs often find themselves fighting the conflation of their profession with sex work.
McClerkin recalls two situations in which clients, both professional athletes, tried to push the boundaries by purposely pulling down the draping to expose themselves, before pulling it back up. The first time, she ignored it, finished the massage and told the athlete she was busy when he called to book again. The second time, she told the player if he did it again, the session would be over. He never returned. Another LMT recounts losing an athlete client when she turned down his advances.
Zoe says the Cowboys player told his teammates a vastly different story about the incident, insisting she was “dramatic or exaggerating.” Most of her clients believed her, she says, and some even stuck up for her with the player, who eventually pleaded with his teammates to encourage Zoe to work with him again—no other therapist could relieve his pain like Zoe had.
Consent will be central to any legal proceedings. Several of the plaintiffs in the Watson cases describe in their complaints being “scared” or “intimidated” by him, either because he was physically larger than them, he could have an impact on their career or due to their admitted lack of experience or credentials, which left them unsure of how to respond to his sometimes “aggressive” directions or commands for inappropriate contact.
Two suits allege that Watson committed sexual assault, which in Texas is defined as nonconsensual penetration. Twenty-one of the 22 lawsuits present a civil assault claim, pointing to three violations of the Texas penal code: indecent assault , assault and harassment. A third cause of action, intentional infliction of emotional distress, is named in all suits.
Hardin and the defense team have portrayed the 22 lawsuits as a “money grab.” It is within the realm of possibility that Watson, as a famous and wealthy athlete with a reputation to uphold, could be the subject of extortion; statistically, though, theand in line with false reports of every other violent crime. It’s also possible some of the 22 lawsuits will not hold up in court.
At their April press conference, members of Watson’s defense team cited their client’s football success and the “target on his back” after earning a $160 million contract. Letitia Quinones, one of his lawyers, mentioned Watson’s winning a high school state championship, then a national title at Clemson. “Do you think that he wasn’t getting attention from young women then?” she asked. Quinones also identified herself as a sexual assault survivor.
“Just lmk [let me know] if she wants me to talk to anyone,” Susan wrote in another message. “If it is him, I normally am the one who coordinates his therapists when I cant [sic] make it so I am very close to his team. I will ensure his team handles him.”Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle/AP This has been one of the arguments made by Watson’s team in his defense: that his requests were, as written in their April filing, “legitimate therapeutic inquiries” misconstrued as sexually suggestive. But many of the suits describe Watson’s directing the plaintiffs to touch his exposed penis, testicles or anus, areas that Texas draping laws require to be covered during massages.
Both lawyers in this case have achieved a level of fame. Among Hardin’s high-profile cases, he has successfully represented A-list athletes like Roger Clemens , Warren Moon , Calvin Murphy and Adrian Peterson . But Buzbee also distracted from Solis’s account. After comments from Rachel Fischer, a forensic nurse and advocate for sexual assault survivors, and Rose Luna, the TAASA CEO, he brought to the microphone Nissi Hamilton, a sex-trafficking survivor who is also one of his clients. In her remarks, she praised Buzbee and condemned “prostitution,” an odd deviation from the issue at hand considering so many massage therapists battle the conflation of their occupation with sex work.
Buzbee referred to Susan as the woman who had “made the referral” and “set up the massage” when presenting these exchanges to the media, but Solis’s lawsuit makes clear that Watson contacted Solis via Instagram, not via referral. Buzbee confirmed initial contact was made over Instagram and said if he indicated otherwise, “that’s my mistake.
“I can just speak to my experience with him,” Luqman says. “I felt respected, so I don’t know. I can't say [the others] are right or wrong.”For a few weeks, these lawsuits were not in the headlines—quite a change from late March and early April, when each day seemed to bring a new suit or new development.
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