IF IT AIN'T BROKE...
Here's why Deshaun Watson resorted to the oldest trick in the book
Jun 16, 2022, 5:29 pm
Deny, deny, deny. Composite image by Brandon Strange.
watson ultimatum (2)
Deshaun Watson spoke to the media Tuesday and repeated his mantra: “I never assaulted anyone. I never harassed anyone. I never disrespected anyone. I never forced anyone to do anything."
What did you expect him to say? Watson is more under wraps by his legal team than the burritos at El Tiempo Cantina. From now until – let’s see what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has to say – Watson will be more rehearsed than Shakespeare in the Park. Marshawn Lynch was a quote machine at the 2015 Super Bowl compared to Watson’s legal marching orders. His entire press conference Tuesday was an exercise in saying nothing about nothing. And that’s the way it’s going to stay this entire season – or how much of a season Watson gets to play. It could be all, some, none, but most believe all has left town.
Remember last training camp with the Texans when Houston media chased Watson every step he took and he never said anything? Cleveland, he’s all yours now. Tuesday’s “press opportunity” was just a dress rehearsal.
Q. You’ve said that you won’t offer financial settlements to your accusers. But a report says you offered $100,000 to them.
A. There’s a lot of articles that’s out there and facts and things like that … I can’t really get too far in details with that with the process that was going on before I became a Cleveland Brown. That’s a whole other discussion.
Q. You’ve said that you’ve hired about 45 masseuses over the five years you’ve played in Houston. A New York Times article says you’ve hired 66 masseuses in just 17 months.
A. I don’t know. That’s more of a legal question that I can’t really get into details about. So you probably need to ask my attorneys and things like that to confirm.
Deny, deny, deny. So far, 24 women have filed civil lawsuits charging sexual misconduct against Watson. More may be waiting in the wings. Watson denies every allegation. The cases won’t head into a courtroom until 2023 unless Watson and the women reach a settlement.
Until then, Watson will know less about these cases than Sgt. Schultz from Hogan’s Heroes, and he knew “nothing.”
Clamming up and “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” isn’t exactly a new tactic. The truth will come out eventually and it’s presumed that Watson is innocent.
Lenny Bruce, the controversial comedian from the 1950s once said, if your wife barges into the room and catches you in bed with another woman, deny it. Just say you’re not there. Once you admit to anything, they’ll never let you forget it.”
That actually was a scene in the 1967 film Advice for the Married Man. In a scene now known as “Deny, Deny, Deny,” a wife catches her husband having sex with a young lady.
Wife: What are you doing?
Husband: Where?
Wife: There! With her!
Husband: Who?
Wife: Her! How could you?
Husband: What?
Wife: That!
Husband: When?
During the past two months, we heard Amber Heard go into graphic detail about the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her former husband Johnny Depp. The actor simply responded, “I have never assaulted any woman in my life.” Sound familiar? A jury believed Depp, didn’t buy Heard’s story and now Heard will have to pay $10 million that she doesn’t have to Depp.
Probably the most unbelievable denial occurred during O.J. Simpson’s civil trial after the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and waiter Ron Goldman. Investigators found bloody footprints from size 12 Bruno Magli shoes mixed with evidence from the crime scene. Simpson wore size 12 shoes.
Attorney: Mr. Simpson, do you own Bruno Magli shoes?
Simpson: No, I wouldn’t wear those ‘ugly ass shoes.’
Attorney: Well, what about this photo of you wearing those ugly ass shoes?
Simpson: I never wore those shoes.
Attorney: Well, here are 31 more photos, all taken at different times, of you wearing those same shoes.
Simpson: Those aren’t my shoes.
Simpson was found responsible for the murders in that civil case. The jury, so to speak, is still out on Watson.
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Adding a player of Kevin Durant’s caliber was too valuable an opportunity for the Houston Rockets to pass up, even though it meant moving on from Jalen Green just four seasons after they drafted him second overall.
Durant was officially acquired from Phoenix on Sunday in a complicated seven-team transaction that sent Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns and brought Clint Capela back to Houston from the Hawks.
General manager Rafael Stone is thrilled to add the future Hall of Famer, who will turn 37 in September, to a team which made a huge leap last season to earn the second seed in the Western Conference.
Asked Monday why he wanted to add Durant to the team, Stone smiled broadly before answering.
“He’s Kevin Durant,” Stone said. “He’s just — he’s really good. He’s super-efficient. He had a great year last year. He’s obviously not 30 anymore, but he hasn’t really fallen off and we just think he has a chance to really be impactful for us.”
But trading Green to get him was not an easy decision for Stone, Houston’s general manager since 2020.
“Jalen’s awesome, he did everything we asked,” Stone said. “He’s a wonderful combination of talent and work ethic along with being just a great human being. And any time that you have the privilege to work with someone who is talented and works really hard and is really nice, you should value it. And organizationally we’ve valued him tremendously, so yeah very hard.”
Green was criticized for his up-and-down play during the postseason when the Rockets were eliminated by the Warriors in seven games in the first round. But Green had improved in each of his four seasons in Houston, leading the team in scoring last season and playing all 82 games in both of the past two seasons.
Pressed for details about why Green's time was up in Houston, Stone wouldn't get into specifics.
“It’s the NBA and you can only do trades if a certain amount of money goes out and a certain amount comes in and there’s some positional overlap or at least overlap in terms of on ball presence,” he said. “And so that’s what the deal required.”
In Durant, the Rockets get a veteran of almost two decades who averaged 26.6 points and six rebounds a game last season and has a career average of 27.2 points and seven rebounds.
Houston loves the veteran experience and presence that Durant brings. Stone noted that the team had arranged for some of its players to work out with him in each of the past two offseasons.
“His work ethic is just awesome,” Stone said. “The speed at which he goes, not in a game … but the speed at which he practices and the intensity at which he practices is something that has made him great over the years and it started when he was very young. So of all the things that I hope rubs off, that’s the main one I think is that practice makes perfect. And I think one of the reasons he’s had such an excellent career is because of the intensity with which he works day in day out.”
Durant is a 15-time All-Star and four-time scoring champion, who was the Finals MVP twice. The former Texas Longhorn is one of eight players in NBA history to score at least 30,000 points and he won NBA titles in 2017 and 2018 with the Warriors.
Now he’ll join a team chasing its first NBA title since winning back-to-back championships in 1994-95.
“Everything has to play out, but we do — we like the fit,” Stone said. “We think it works well. We think he will add to us and we think we will help him.”