Embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson insisted that he “never assaulted or disrespected” any women as the Cleveland Browns presented him to fans on Friday after the player was signed to a new multimillion-dollar deal.
Watson has faced allegations by at least 22 women who say he sexually assaulted them or otherwise behaved inappropriately around them during massage therapy visits.
Watson addressed the mountain of accusations against him during Friday’s Browns presser at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus and assured fans that he was not raised to disrespect women.
“I understand the whole circumstances is very difficult, especially for the women’s side of the fans in this community. I’m not naive to that. I know these allegations are very, very serious,” Watson said during the news conference. “But I’ve never assaulted any woman. I’ve never disrespected any woman. I was raised by a single-parent mom who has two aunties, who’s a sister, and that’s who raised me.
“I was raised to be genuine and respect everyone and everything around me,” Watson added. “So I’ve always defended that, and I will continue to stand on that. I just want the opportunity to be able to show who I really am in the community and be hands on and help people and serve other people.”
Watson admitted that the accusations are a “stain” that will be “with me for a while,” but he insisted that he was innocent of the charges. “I’ve never done these things that these people are alleging,” he exclaimed.
When asked why his claims should be believed over the accusations by so many women, Watson replied that “what I can continue to do is tell the truth, and that is I’ve never assaulted or disrespected or harassed any woman in my life.”
“Like I said before, I was raised differently,” he added. “That’s not my DNA. That’s not my culture. That’s not me as a person. That’s not how I was raised. For me, that’s to continue to push forward and show people who I really am.”
For their part, Browns officials, including General manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski, claimed that they looked into the accusations carefully and concluded that Watson was a good hire. The discussion was “a five-month odyssey,” Berry insisted.
However, it has also been reported that the “odyssey” investigation into Watson’s suitability to become a member of the Browns never included talking to any of Watson’s accusers.
Despite Watson’s denials and the Browns’ assurances, people have many questions:
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