What We Know About Deshaun Watson Vs. What Was Said By Deshaun Watson

The MMQB team has been independently reporting on the Watson cases for a year now; a review of what we have.

We’re doing another Deshaun Watson episode, because it’s an incredibly important story that goes beyond football. And, we’re doing it now because, on Friday, Watson was formally introduced as the Browns’ new quarterback in a press conference that provided few direct answers.

That made this show the perfect time to bring New York Times reporter, former MMQB podcaster and all-around wonderful person Jenny Vrentas back for a guest appearance, seeing as she has led the way on Watson reporting throughout the last year.

First, a discussion of what was—and, in some cases, wasn’t—said in Friday’s press conference. And, in light of the fact that Watson repeatedly proclaimed that he had never disrespected a woman, a look back at the information independently reported by The MMQB over the past year, which suggests otherwise.

Plus, what it means that Watson was not indicted by a second grand jury in Texas, and a larger discussion of cases of sexual violence in the criminal justice system.

Have a comment, critique or question for a future mailbag? Email themmqb@gmail.com or tweet at @GGramling_SI or @ConorOrr.

The following transcript is an excerpt from The MMQB NFL Podcast. Listen to the full episode on podcast players everywhere or on SI.com.

Gary Gramling: This is why we’re doing yet another show on Deshaun Watson. Every once in a while, there is a sports story that will have consequences beyond the sports world. That’s what this story has been. Just a very small part of this is the football aspect—a great player and how great he might make a team that he’s been traded to, in terms of wins and losses, Super Bowls, etc. But it’s much more than that; this has been a story about the intersection between the immense power we grant superstar athletes and—quite frankly—the plague of sexual violence that we have in this country. And for many, this has been a really good moment to sit back and learn about these things. Yet, this story has kind of been hijacked from the start by, whether it’s lawyers or agents or media members who are so desperate to gain and keep the favor of those lawyers and agents, because those little, insignificant, transactional crumbs and information that they’ll get from those powerful sources ends up being their lifeblood. But, a little more than a year ago, Jenny Vrentas set out, and I set out to help her with this, to report this Deshaun Watson story independently. We did not know what we would find. The stories we did find? They were free of spin. And what we found was disturbing, it was upsetting, it was alarming. And meanwhile, the misinformation that’s been coming out, I mean, we still have these just bizarre conspiracy theories going around about what has happened here. It’s just been staggering, and the truth has been buried several times over now. So on this show we’re going to try to unearth the truth of the Deshaun Watson cases once again. And to do it, we welcome back New York Times reporter, the person who has led on this story from the very start and, yes, one of our very favorite people in the world, Jenny Vrentas. Jenny, welcome back. 

Listen to The MMQB NFL Podcast