Two women who have accused Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Deshaun Watson of inappropriate sexual conduct are upset with the Browns organization for giving Watson an NFL-record $230 million guaranteed contract following their trade with the Houston Texans to acquire him earlier this offseason.
Watson is currently facing 22 civil lawsuits from women who have accused him of inappropriate sexual conduct during a number of massage sessions. Watson has denied any wrongdoing, and two grand juries in the state of Texas have declined to pursue criminal charges.
“It’s just like a big ‘screw you,'” Ashley Solis said an interview on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (h/t ESPN’s Jake Trotter). “That’s what it feels like. That we don’t care. He can run and throw, and that’s what we care about.”
Solis also said that she felt that she as threatened by Watson following the massage session.
“He just said, ‘I know you have a career to protect,'” she explained. “‘And I know you don’t want anyone messing with it just like I don’t want anyone messing with mine.’ To me, that’s when I got really scared.”
“I felt like he’s being rewarded for bad behavior,” Solis added.
One of Watson’s attorney’s, Leah Graham, told HBO that Watson has “no regrets because he did nothing wrong.”
“He did nothing wrong in these massages,” Graham said. “And although — to your first question, ‘How can he be innocent?’ I think the real question is, ‘What evidence is there of any guilt?'”
