More than a year ago, a 22nd lawsuit was filed against then Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. That isn’t the end of what’s become a complicated saga.
A 23rd lawsuit has been filed against Watson – and it won’t be the last. Lawsuit No. 24 will reportedly be filed as soon as Monday, June 6.
This won’t be a quick process, either, especially if they go to trial. The likely outcome is Watson and the Browns won’t be out of the spotlight for at least the next two off-seasons.
“There’s no way all 24 will be completed in the 2023 offseason,” said Mike Florio, via Pro Football Talk. “Barring settlements, this will hover over Watson, the Browns, and their fans for at least the next two football seasons.
“Whatever the outcome. Even if Watson wins every single trial of every single case. It won’t be over until 2024, at the earliest, unless the cases are resolved.”
To complicate the matter, Rusty Hardin had to recently issue a statement to clarify his comments about “happy endings” during a massage, referring to sexual activity.
“I don’t know how many men are out there now that have had a massage that perhaps occasionally there was a happy ending … If that has happened, it’s not a crime, OK, unless you are paying somebody extra or so to give you some kind of sexual activity,” Hardin said, via Cleveland.com. “Doing something or saying something or being a way that makes you uncomfortable is not a crime. And so we’ve had two grand juries find that, and nobody seems to want to listen.”
This isn’t going to end anytime soon.