Earlier on Wednesday, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski refused to offer any meaningful comment about Tuesday's bombshell New York Times story that claims star quarterback Deshaun Watson arranged for massage appointments with at least 66 different women from fall 2019 through spring 2021.
Watson is facing 24 active civil lawsuits regarding allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions, and ESPN's Sarah Barshop reports that Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing the 24 plaintiffs suing Watson, said on Wednesday afternoon his firm will "soon be joining the Houston Texans organization and others as defendants" in the civil suits.
Houston dealt Watson to Cleveland in March after he sat through the entire 2021 campaign following an offseason trade request.
Per Barshop, the New York Times reported that Texans director of security Brent Naccara presented Watson with a nondisclosure agreement given to some of the plaintiffs, and also that the Texans provided a room for the 26-year-old at The Houstonian hotel where massages in question occurred.
"What has become clear is that the Houston Texans organization and their contracting 'massage therapy company' facilitated Deshaun Watson's conduct," Buzbee said in a statement shared by Barshop. "In many of these cases, the Texans provided the opportunity for this conduct to occur. We believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson's issues, but failed to act. They knew or certainly should have known.
"We intend to make sure all involved in Watson's conduct are held accountable, in addition to and including Watson himself."
In the statement, Buzbee says, "We believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson’s issues, but failed to act." The Texans have said repeatedly that they were not aware of Watson's actions until March 2021 when the first lawsuit was filed against the quarterback. pic.twitter.com/lNLHW2WwFN
— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) June 8, 2022
Watson has repeatedly maintained his innocence, and two grand juries declined to pursue criminal charges against him. If the NFL suspends him for violating its code of conduct at any point before the 2022 season, backup Jacoby Brissett would become Cleveland's temporary QB1.
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