(Washington) Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, under suspension from the Professional Football League (NFL), issued an apology for the first time to women who accused him of sexual assault, Friday, before playing a preseason game.
Posted at 9:49 p.m.
“I want to say that I am sincerely sorry to all the women affected by me,” Watson said in an interview that aired on local television station Cleveland News 5.
The star, transferred in the offseason from the Houston Texans to the Browns, has always denied any wrongdoing and claimed to have “no regrets” about his actions.
No criminal charges have been brought against him, despite civil lawsuits filed by 25 women who have accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior during massage sessions, between March 2020 and March 2021, when he was playing. for the Texans.
“The decisions I’ve made in my life that put me in this position, I would definitely like to go back on them. But I want to keep moving forward, growing, learning and showing that I have a real personality,” he added.
The NFL, believing that Watson violated its code of good conduct, had pleaded for a suspension of at least a full season, with a mediator, Sue L. Robinson, appointed as disciplinary officer.
Mme Robinson concluded after investigation that a six-game sanction was more appropriate, arguing that Watson’s behavior, described as “predatory”, was “flagrant”, but that the five cases presented for his judgment showed a “non-violent sexual conduct”.
The NFL, which is advocating for a harsher penalty, appealed the decision and appointed former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey to hear its request.
In the meantime, Watson, who has settled at least 20 of the lawsuits against him, is free to play preseason preseason games, starting with Friday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Houston Texans have reached agreements with no less than 30 women who were ready to file a complaint against the club for its alleged passivity in the face of Watson’s behavior.
As for the Cleveland Browns, they assured that they had carried out a “thorough investigation” before signing him to a guaranteed five-year contract, worth $ 230 million, a record for the NFL.