Deshaun Watson Adamant of Innocence in Introductory Press Conference
Deshaun Watson introduced himself to Cleveland as a member of the Browns flanked by general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski. Notably absent from the proceedings was ownership. Dee and Jimmy Haslam are having a separate press conference with the media over Zoom.
The theme for Watson in this press conference was a man who intends to be a great quarterback and servant leader for this football team while also fighting for his innocence, his name and his reputation, making it clear where stands.
Starting with his opening statement and continuing throughout the proceedings, Watson repeatedly denied any wrong doing.
“I understand these allegations are serious. I never assaulted any woman. I've never disrespected any woman. I was raised to be genuine and to respect everyone around me."
“I’ve never done the things that these people are alleging.”
The one area where Watson wasn't clear was his reasoning for utilizing so many different massage therapists. This is what Watson said before deferring to it being an ongoing investigation.
"Well, I never- as far as a team and when I say team, not the Cleveland Browns, my agency and things like that, 40 is just over the time. It's not in one period of time. I've been in Houston for five years, so you go to different people and that's just how - like I said before, I can't get too far into the details, but as businesses work and you move and meet different people and people have different schedules and blocks, you kinda meet different people over time."
This is a whole lot of words that don't say much other than to say that he doesn't think averaging eight per year is too many. Eight per year feels like a lot.
"Social media is a big business part that goes into it and that's a factor."
Maybe it's suggesting that massage therapists were hoping to use fame as a client to advertise their business on social media. Watson has been documented using social media to find massage therapists, but that doesn't seem like it has anything to do with what he's trying to say. A question that was never going to get a good answer got a garbled mess of a response.
When he was asked about the potential of settling the 22 civil cases he's facing, he responded, “That’s not my intent. My intent is to continue to clear my name as much as possible and that’s what I’m focused on.”
This is something that Watson has been saying since the first of two grand juries opted not to recommend charges again him in Texas. He's prepared to fight, which is something that could go on for quite some time.
In contrast, when Andrew Berry was asked point blank whether he believed Watson was innocent of all wrong doing, Berry avoided the question.
"We feel very confident in Deshaun the person, we have a lot of faith in him and we believe as he gets into our community and our organization, he's going to make a positive impact."
Undoubtedly avoiding painting himself into a corner he might regret later, it's nevertheless difficult to ignore the reality that the Browns or at least Berry aren't totally convinced Watson did nothing wrong. Whatever they think he might have done wrong did not rise to a high enough level for them to avoid making the deal to acquire him.
Berry detailed what went into a five month investigation regarding Watson. A process that Berry felt good enough about to pursue Watson, but evidently not quite good enough to stand with him regarding his innocence.
The Browns and Watson may be united in where they see the team going with him leading it. They intend to compete for the Super Bowl.
But while Watson views himself as someone trying to regain his good name, the Browns are focused on Watson being good for the Browns and the community; the future.
