Houston Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson is now facing allegations of sexual assault after the reigning NFL passing champion found himself in the news for other reasons over the past several weeks.
In a shocking turn of events, attorney Tony Buzbee claimed via social media that Watson committed assault against an unknown woman. The accusation includes a civil suit against Houston’s star quarterback on the behalf of Buzbee’s client.
Buzbee told Fox 26 in Houston that Watson was getting a massage from the woman when the quarterback “went too far.” It’s not yet known whether the allegations are true. What we do know is that they come at a time when Watson is seeking a trade from the Houston Texans and has been in the news in that regard recently.
Deshaun Watson responds to sexual assault allegations
The star quarterback took to social media immediately after the allegations and civil suit became public record.
“As a result of a social-media post by a publicity-seeking plaintiff’s lawyer, I recently became aware of a lawsuit that has apparently been filed against me,” Watson wrote on Twitter. “I have not yet seen the complaint, but I know this: I have never treated any woman with anything other than the utmost respect. The plaintiff’s lawyer climes that this isn’t about money, but before filing suit he made a baseless six-figure settlement demand, which I quickly rejected. Unlike him, this isn’t about money for me — it’s about clearing my name, and I look forward to doing that.”
That’s a clear denial on the part of Watson, who did not release the statement through his lawyer. Rather, the quarterback responded in his own words via his personal social media account.
It must be noted that these are allegations at this point. The suit is also civil in nature. There’s no suggestions that a criminal investigation has taken place. We’ll likely get more clarity on that front in the coming hours and days.
The allegations also come at a time when Watson has requested a trade from the Houston Texans following some major drama taking place between the two sides.
The former No. 12 overall pick is coming off a 2020 season in which he led the NFL with 4,823 yards. It remains to be seen whether this new piece of information will impact how interested teams view the star 25-year-old quarterback.
For now, we wait until more information comes out.