HOUSTON – The NFL is investigating former Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson under the league’s official personal-conduct policy after a new civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault was filed in Harris County by attorney Tony Buzbee.
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Watson was traded to Cleveland in 2022 and now plays for the Browns.
While the league investigation is taking place, and because Watson has not been charged with a crime, he will remain eligible to play and won’t be placed on the NFL’s commissioner-exempt list, league spokesman Brian McCarthy told KPRC 2 in an email.
“We are reviewing the complaint, and we will look into the matter under the personal conduct policy,” McCarthy wrote. “Not looking at commissioner’s exempt list as there’s been no formal charges and the league’s review has just begun.”
Watson, 28, previously served an 11-game suspension after being traded from the Texans to the Browns and signing a $230 million fully guaranteed contract.
Two Texas grand juries declined to indict him as a no-bill was filed after a criminal investigation from Houston police detectives.
Watson was fined $5 million by the NFL and ordered to undergo mandatory evaluation by behavioral experts and follow a treatment program. He cooperated in those evaluations and was reinstated by the NFL.
“We will respect the due process our legal system affords regarding the recent civil suit and follow the NFL’s guidelines on this matter,” a Browns spokesman said in a statement.
Watson has struggled with his play and injuries since the trade. He has started only 13 games. In a loss to the Dallas Cowboys to open the season, he completed 24 of 45 passes for 169 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked seven times. For his career, Watson, a former consensus All-American, has passed for 16,925 yards, 119 touchdowns and 47 interceptions
A former Texans Pro Bowl quarterback and first-round draft pick from Clemson, Watson is accused in this new lawsuit of sexually assaulting a Houston-area woman in October 2020 on a first date.
Watson is being sued for at least $1 million dollars, according to the filing.
The lawsuit states that Watson met the woman, whose identity is not disclosed in the filing, at Prospect Park Restaurant and Bar in the Galleria area in July of 2020. One of his friends approached her and said Watson wanted her phone number. Flattered, according to the lawsuit, she gave it to the friend and the woman and Watson texted off and on for several months.
In October of 2020, Watson asked the woman to meet him at the Galleria. She turned him down because she was hesitant to be seen with him publicly, and invited him to her apartment for dinner. She “knew nothing of Watson’s proclivities” the lawsuit states.
When he came to her apartment for their date, he called the woman “aggressively yelling and screaming” because he couldn’t find her apartment and “doesn’t have time for this.”
Watson arrived and the woman asked him to have a seat in her living room while she finished putting her makeup on. To ease the tension from his “angry outburst” she tried having a conversation with him while he was in the other room, but he wasn’t responding.
She walked out of the bathroom to see why he was being so quiet and “shockingly found him completely naked on her bed, lying face-down on his stomach,” according to the lawsuit.
Watson “aggressively” insisted she massage him, gesturing to his buttocks. She asked if he meant his back, but says Watson indicated it was his buttocks he wanted massaged. She rubbed his back because she was “at this point in the encounter terrified,” according to the suit.
Watson wanted her to rub his glutes and frustrated that she would only rub his back, “Watson then turned over, revealing an erection,” demanding then that she massage him from his knees to his groin.
“Jane Doe froze in fear, unsure of how to refuse Watson’s advances without jeopardizing her safety,” the lawsuit alleged.” Confused and scared, she reiterated to Watson that she wasn’t a masseuse.”
Watson asked what she wanted to do instead and before she could answer he grabbed her and raped her, the lawsuit states.
She felt paralyzed and wasn’t sure if she should risk her safety by trying to stop him, but did get away from him and ran to her dresser to grab a heavy piece of decor to defend herself and yelled at him to get out of her apartment. She said he was enraged when he left.
According to the lawsuit, the woman was reluctant initially to come forward because she knew he was a local celebrity and worried that if she reported what happened she’d be humiliated and publicly attacked.
“Later she watched as other women came forward, she was encouraged and was ready to come forward as well. But, she saw how those women who had suffered through the same conduct with Watson and who came forward were treated by Watson’s defense team and the public; this was discouraging to Jane Doe,” according to the lawsuit.
She did eventually approach Watson to resolve the issues without filing a lawsuit, but those efforts failed, according to the filing.
This is the first lawsuit against Watson in which he is specifically accused of sexual assault. Previously, Watson was accused in nearly two dozen lawsuits filed by massage therapists of harassing, assaulting or touching them during appointments when he played for the Houston Texans. In June of 2022, Tony Buzbee announced 20 of those 24 lawsuits had been settled.
In July of 2022, 30 women who had accused the Texans of turning a blind eye to allegations against their former star quarterback settled their claims against the team.
“I’ve always stood on my innocence and always said that I’ve never assaulted anyone or disrespected anyone and I’m continuing to stand on that,” Watson said previously. “But at the same time, I have to continue to push forward with my life and my career.
Watson has not been arrested or charged with a crime, and his attorney, Rusty Hardin, has always professed his innocence while going back and forth with Buzbee through the press and in court proceedings.
Watson has long denied any wrongdoing and two separate Texas grand juries declined to indict him.
The woman in the new lawsuit filed Monday said she suffered severe mental anguish, has panic attacks, experiences nervous breakdowns and has a hard time sleeping. She has also suffered from depression and anxiety.
“Survivors of sexual assault want two things. They want to heal from their trauma, and they want accountability,” Houston trauma therapist Chau Nguyen said. “She finally has the courage to say something and sometimes it takes years before you can seek that kind of justice.”
She is asking for actual and punitive damages, some of which have no monetary cap but at the very least would be one million dollars, according to the suit.
She’s also asking for a jury trial and for Watson to pay all legal expenses.
“My whole life I just have to be able to move forward and that’s the plan,” Watson said after his suspension.
“I have to be able to move forward with my career, move forward with my family, my personal life and everything.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
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