Rusty Hardin shed some light on how he approached the Deshaun Watson case, and, apparently, at least some of it was centered on his stance that happy ending massages are not a crime.
The Cleveland Browns quarterback is awaiting the conclusion of an investigation by the NFL into allegations of sexual misconduct with massage therapists. Two grand juries cleared Watson, so he isn't being charged criminally, but that doesn’t mean the league won’t take significant action.
Hardin and attorney Leah Graham spent north of half an hour Friday offering their perspectives on SportsRadio 610 in Houston. Near the end of the conversation, Hardin gave a bizarre defense of happy ending massages.
“I don’t know how many men are out there now that have had a massage that, perhaps, occasionally there was a happy ending,” Hardin said (41:27 mark in player above). “Maybe there’s nobody in your listening audience that ever happened to. I do want to point out, if it has happened, it’s not a crime, OK? Unless you are paying somebody extra or so to give you some type of sexual activity, it’s not a crime.
"And so at the end of the day, that’s another thing that would affect conduct. Doing something or saying something or being a way that makes you uncomfortable is not a crime. So, we’ve had two grand juries find that, and nobody seems to want to listen."
It should be noted that Hardin’s comments were completely unprompted. It had been roughly five minutes since a host asked a question, which was about grand juries and answered by Graham before Hardin later expounded on it and, eventually, launched into the happy ending defense.
And, of course, just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it’s right. Ultimately, that very well might factor into the NFL’s decision to punish Watson.
Regardless, there’s a lot for Watson to repair right now. His lawyer giving an unprovoked defense of happy endings and the legality of making people uncomfortable might not help the cause.
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