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Deshaun Watson is getting support from 18 professional masseuses who are vouching for the Houston Texans quarterback.
According to Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, the female massage therapists have completed more than 130 sessions over five years and have never experienced any inappropriate interactions.
The 18 women are giving on-the-record messages of support for Watson.
“These women say they are deeply troubled by the accusations made against Deshaun and that these claims are wholly inconsistent with their experiences with him and who they believe him to be,” Hardin said in a statement, via TMZ Sports.
“All of them stated that Deshaun never made them feel uncomfortable or demanded anything outside the scope of a professional massage. None of them experienced any of the behavior alleged by anonymous plaintiffs in the numerous lawsuits filed by the same Houston attorney.”
One masseuse, Myah Roberson, described her interaction with Watson and said the allegations against him made her chuckle.
“I started working with Deshaun in December 2019 after being referred to him by another therapist,” she said. “He sent me a screenshot of a diagram that the head trainer of the Texans gave him, highlighting the muscles that needed to be worked on, which included the groin and hamstrings. He asked if I felt comfortable working on those areas and I said yes, because I am used to working on athletes.
“We began using a towel, and that became the norm. When I saw that the first lawsuit mentioned a towel, I chuckled because I gave him that idea. And it’s not inappropriate because they teach you in massage school that using a towel is okay. Some of these accusations are so ludicrous. I just can’t see him doing any of those things. He was never inappropriate with me. I never felt threatened in any way.”
We still have a long way to go as the lawsuits play out, but this is the first time that we have seen a group of people publicly willing to speak out in support of Watson.
Watson has adamantly denied the allegations and any wrongdoing.
