He’s labeled himself as a “servant-leader” and his community-service projects have been lauded by his team and some in the media. Even after a blitzing New York Times piece revealing that up to sixty-six women were contacted for massage services, a HBO Real Sports segment that brought an additional lawsuit (twenty-six in total) and a disciplinary report from the very league that employs him stating that he did commit acts in line with the league’s own policies on sexual assault, he still maintains that he did nothing wrong or has any problems in need of address.
He’s unremorseful and unrepentant. He believes that everything is fine. In his mind, nothing about his behavior is disgusting or distressful. He doesn’t see the elements of sexual violence in the ways that he carries himself with women. He doesn’t see this as behavior that could derail his life going forward.
Based on Judge Robinson’s decision and the league’s upcoming appeal, neither do they. Nowhere is it stated that the league will pursue counseling or therapy as a condition of his reinstatement. The initial ruling calls for Watson to sit out six games and only use team-appointed massage therapists for services. That’s it. The root to all of this – the behaviors and belief patterns employed by Watson to engage in this behavior, called “egregious” in the league’s own report – appear to be cut from the game plan. A suspension and fine are just band-aids on a festering wound: Deshaun’s behavior toward women.
Deshaun has a problem with women and sexual consent. To privately message several women under the guise of receiving legit massage therapy services only to switch up intentions during those sessions is manipulation. To look at women as sexual pawns to play with and not persons subject to owning their sexual wants and desires reeks of misogyny. To dangle your position as an NFL quarterback in front of a fledgling therapist in need of a professional athlete on their clientele list to grow their business is coercion. In layman’s terms, he has trash thoughts and ideas about women and/or sexual consent and a fine and a nap on Sundays will not change that.
It’s easy to, colloquially-speaking, “throw the baby out with the bath water.” There’s nothing redeemable about Watson’s career. To rid the league of his services would be the only route to pursue at this point. In some ways, I don’t disagree with that. By the league’s own definition, Watson committed sexual assault. Arguments about Judge Robinson’s questionable qualifier of “non-violent” aside, the league argued successfully that he violated women and used the league’s shield to do so. If playing in the National Football League is a privilege, then he lost that very thing by using his status as an employee of the league to hurt and harm others (even if he doesn’t see it yet.)
But ridding the league of Watson does nothing to prevent him from hurting others in the future especially if he believes that no parts of his behavior need repair. Without addressing the issues that inform his behavior, Watson could very well continue to ignore sexual consent and agency. He may not jump into a massage therapist’s Instagram messages but he could approach any woman he knows and violate her consent. Most victims of rape and sexual assaults know their abusers. It isn’t the scary man hiding behind a bush. It’s a friend, a co-worker, a date, a class- or teammate, a family member or known person in their community. In some cases, it can even be a quarterback of an NFL franchise.
Therapy, support groups and counseling plus rehabilitation services are a start. If Watson is the follower-of-Christ that he claims to be, faith-based programs could be of help as well. He needs to learn that what he did to these women is not okay. It’s harmful, hurtful and dangerous. He certainly will not learn that on a football field but he also will not as he sits on the couch on Sundays either. For the health and safety of women, it’s imperative that Deshaun Watson seeks change. Hopefully the NFL and/or the folks around him draft him the help he needs. Sitting him out of the game is not enough.
ciara roslyn-james 