The NFL is a business, these are words constantly echoed by the people that most closely report on the league. That is most certainly true.
Especially after the trade of Deshaun Watson, a man facing 22 civil suits alleging sexual assault, being traded to the Browns for three first round picks and several late round picks. It’s the sort of move that makes you sick to your stomach. The sort of move that shows you, the NFL, while broadcasting that “Football is family,” clearly does not care about women, or sexual assault victims.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam clearly does not, the quote that the Browns wanted “an adult at quarterback,” while anonymous, if you read between the lines it can be surmised that came from ownership. Well, now you have an adult, an adult that has sexually harassed 22 different massage therapists, according to the 22 civil suits still pending.
Those women, aren’t lying, despite what disgraced NFL insider Adam Schefter might tell you in his tweets. Despite what agent, David Mulugheta, the most powerful agent in all of the NFL, has hand fed Schefter and much of the NFL media.
Anyone who reads Jenny Vrentas’s incredible reporting on the situation will see quite clearly there is a disturbing pattern. A pattern of abuse, that Watson perpetrated again and again and again according to these civil suits. Despite the criminal charges against Watson being dismissed by a grand jury, sexual assault criminal charges are increasingly hard to prosecute against and hardly ever stick, see the following Virginia Law article on the topic: https://www.law.virginia.edu/news/2001_02/zug.htm That does not mean the women in these civil suits are lying.
What do they stand to gain by doing that? And if Watson stands so firmly in his claim he’s done nothing wrong, why is he not bringing defamation suits against these women for tarnishing his name and reputation?
Watson has shown no remorse, no contrition, nothing other than outwardly stating he is innocent. He is not just a monster, he is a remorseless one.
Those who claim Watson is innocent until proven guilty haven’t read the cases. We as a society have still not come around on the idea that we should believe women when they come forward with allegations of sexual assault. We should though, what do these women have to gain by lying about this, by reliving the most traumatic day of their lives in an extremely public manner over and over and over again.
You don’t come forward with the most painful day of your life, with a subject that will humiliate you, if it didn’t happen.
Haslam, Browns top Brass Andrew Berry, and head coach Kevin Stefanski, clearly don’t believe the women that have come forward. According to Tony Buzzbee the lawyer representing the 22 women coming forward, the Browns never reached out about the cases, despite what the organization claims. Or, worse, they simply don’t care. The NFL is about winning, the NFL is not about protecting women.
As a young person who follows the league, it is extremely discouraging. To have a sport I so love, have such a nasty and grimy underbelly. I commend the people with courage enough to walk away from watching the sport, I simply haven’t found that yet, but this story has me close.
The terrible reality, is that in three months, we will all forget about this. We will move on to the Football aspect of the story. The time to talk about the disgusting reality of the situation is now though, the time to remember the Browns don’t care about fans who have had issues with sexual assault is now. Because tomorrow, the frightening reality, is that this will get lost in the news cycle tomorrow.