New York Times publishes more investigative reporting on Deshaun Watson’s troubling behavior

I’m back. I needed a mental break for awhile after an array of things were all crashing down in my personal life, and I’d like to thank Thomas Moore, Barry Shuck, Ezweav, and the rest of the DBN community and staff for steering the ship strongly. Not only am I back, though, but I’m back to talk a little about the Deshaun Watson shitshow.

I don’t think I’ve commented much on the trade and record-breaking contract since it happened in March. Part of that was because that is when personal things started happening in my life, and part of the reason is that I wasn’t eager about the Cleveland Browns’ decision to acquire Watson. I liked Baker Mayfield and wanted to stick with him, despite his struggles in 2021. He helped lead the Browns to the only playoff win I’ve ever been conscious of, and I never doubted the fight he had in him.

I didn’t know much about Watson’s case before he was a member of the Browns — I just knew of the quick-hitting synopsis of why he was held out of football for a year by the Houston Texans. I like covering what the Browns team is going to do on the field, talking about position battles, debating whether rookies should see more playing time, etc. There have been some off-the-field stuff I’ve covered in the past — the Josh Gordon story was one that we followed for years. Gordon’s situation was an individual struggle over the league’s substance abuse policy, though. It didn’t carry the serious allegations that are associated with Watson.

Speaking of allegations, they keep on coming. Earlier today, Jenny Vrentas of the New York Times published a lengthy investigative report on Watson. Included in the reporting is that he “met at least 66 women for massages over a 17-month period.” Vrentas also details some of the tactics he allegedly used when interacting or engaging in sexual behavior with the massage therapists. I’m not going to repeat the article — you can read it if you want, and comment down below. If you can’t read the article (it’s behind somewhat of a paywall), here are a few blurbs that Vrentas shared on Twitter:

Still pending is the NFL’s decision on if they want to suspend Watson, and for how long. I am tired already of playing the “what if” game on Watson — when the league makes a decision, I’ll talk about the implications it has on the Browns’ quarterback position and from a salary cap standpoint.

I am a die-hard Browns fan still, but I’m currently passionless about Watson being the team’s quarterback. Watson’s response on social media was to post rap lyrics denying the allegations: