Though several stories of Deshaun Watson's alleged behavior have surfaced through the 19 civil suits that have been filed against the Texans quarterback to this point, another one came to light on Monday that was similar to the others in many ways. But it was simultaneously different from those for one main reason: this massage therapist wanted to share her experience, but she is not one of Tony Buzbee's many clients that are filing suit.
SI.com's Jenny Vrentas shared the story of one massage therapist under the condition of anonymity, instead referring to her as "Mary," and the details are as unsettling as many that we've heard from other testimonies to this point. Mary's goal in detailing her encounter was to "[prevent] this from happening to any other professionals in her industry," in addition to hopefully spurring Watson to get help. Vrentas says that SI reviewed text and social media messages to corroborate Mary's story.
“I just want a genuine apology, for us and our community, for putting us in these situations where we don't know what to do,” she told SI. “There are so many people that are against us, saying, ‘Why would he do that? He has no reason to do that. He has a beautiful girlfriend; he has this, this, this and this.’ All of those things are true, but fame doesn't create character.”
In Mary's account, recalling an incident from 2019, she "makes clear" that Watson did not touch her or force her into any sexual activity, as is the case with some of the lawsuits that allege he forced the massage therapists into touching his penis. However, some of what Mary describes sounds very much alike what Watson has been accused of, including his desire to remove a towel from covering his groin area during the appointment. She also says that she noticed "different fluids on his stomach" after Watson had developed an erection and had been "thrusting the air," and she described the liquid as pre-ejaculatory fluid much to her disbelief.
Immediately after he left, Mary called a relative, who spoke to SI and said that Mary delivered the same account of the incident on the day it happened. Beyond the appointment, Watson reached back out to Mary, but they never scheduled another meeting. Mary also said that seeing Watson's face on social media or hearing his name triggered her shock of the event, which resurfaced upon hearing the most recent allegations.
Because the massage therapist who shared her story with Vrentas is not one of Buzbee's clients, some view this as a potential turning point in how the league deals with all of these allegations.
As previously mentioned, there have now been 19 lawsuits filed against Watson, with a recent one saying that the quarterback deleted messages and reached out to different massage therapists in an attempt to settle.
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