The Cleveland Browns gave Deshaun Watson an NFL-record $230 million guaranteed contract, while he’s still facing 22 civil lawsuits from women who accused him of inappropriate sexual conduct during massage sessions.
That seems like a slap in the face to those 22 victims, and two of them were able to express how they feel about the situation.
On May 24, an interview on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” was released and Ashley Solis, one of Watson’s accusers, had something to say about his contract.
“It’s just like a big ‘screw you,’ ” Solis said on the show. “That’s what it feels like. That we don’t care. He can run and throw, and that’s what we care about.”
The Browns were not the only team that was trying to get their hands on Watson despite his civil cases. The New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and Carolina Panthers were in the mix for the quarterback as well. After Watson chose the Browns, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said that his team “did enough, at that point, from a legal perspective, to feel like having a conversation with [Watson] was worthwhile doing.”
It doesn’t sound like much research went on before having that dialogue if teams continued to pursue him.
Solis also opened up about the conversation Watson had with her after their massage session.
“He just said, ‘I know you have a career to protect, and I know you don’t want anyone messing with it just like I don’t want anyone messing with mine,’ ” Solis said. “That’s when I got really scared.”
Kyla Hayes, another woman who accused Watson of inappropriate sexual conduct said on the show that she “felt like he’s being rewarded for bad behavior.”
