CLEVELAND, OH – With a reported lengthy suspension from the NFL looming, embattled Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson abruptly changed course in settling 20 of the 24 lawsuits with 24 Houston-based massage therapists.
According to attorney, Tony Buzbee, all but four of the pending lawsuits are to be dismissed and settled out of court, with the terms being confidential. After steadfastly denying his innocence and vowing to clear his name in court, is a settlement an admission of guilt? Does Watson’s decision make him still guilty?
Don’t know and not exactly.
I am not an attorney, lawyer, paralegal or ESQ, nor am I going to try and flex my faux legal credentials obtained from the Facebook College of Online Legal Studies, with a major in Criminal Law from Meta University, nor my J.D. from TikTok Graduate School of Social Media Law and Clickbait and Views Studies.
Not trying to make light of what is a very serious and hotly debated issue regarding sexual assault, but last time I check, one if innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around if you are busy perusing in and around social media. It’s so easy for those to voice their opinion—and rightfully so, regarding such a heinous act, and alleged crimes—that were dismissed by two Texas grand juries.
From my observation, many already had Watson all but guilty before he was properly charged in a court of law. Last time I check, we have a little thing called due process and as a trained journalist, I have personally and professionally refrained from posting any content stating one way or the other.
If the recent Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation case has taught new media anything is that anything you publish, post and share will come back to haunt you.
That, as well as the fact that many who have speculated about the details of a person—or persons and individuals without proper knowledge of the actual events—are a sad example of what’s wrong with our hyper-sensitive and over-zealous social media-driven world of overreacting before facts are revealed.
Such legal proceedings are above my knowledge base, nor will I pretend to speak on matters or issues that I am not qualified to, I’ll leave that to Watson’s legal team and the courts to decide.
Now, regarding the Browns, and a likely suspension, based on precedent, as well as not wanting to take a serious PR hit and getting dragged—and or cancelled by the #MeToo crowd—the NFL would be wise to hand down a 8-10 game suspension minimum, upwards to a year bad from football.
Will it satisfy all parties in terms of length? Possibly, but let’s be real here, the ones pushing—and mashing those keyboard muscles of theirs—the hardest for a lengthy suspension—and/or lifetime ban—are the ones still butthurt and licking their proverbial wounds in seeing their fallen hero, Baker Mayfield get unceremoniously get dumped by their now (former) favorite football team, and already preparing to rock his new team’s jersey.
Oh well. Facts.
With Watson now settling many of his cases with the last four still pending, it’s a big step in the right direction for all parties involved. Guilty or innocent, at least there is now some closure. Like it or not, Watson is still your quarterback, Cleveland. Let’s all focus on moving forward and hopefully enjoying a potentially great season.