The continued flexing of games means that everything is truly determined by tv ratings. Planning to go to a game on a Sunday afternoon? Better do it early in the season.
There are now apparently allegations from 9 different women against Watson. The lawyer might be a little scummy, but this is not good.
That was apparently enough for the NFL to start their own investigation.
His numbers were pretty similar to Dalton’s, he’s ten years younger, and he got one quarter the money. “Not particularly bright” might be charitable.
There are three suits so far and Buzbee claims he’s sitting on a fourth yet to be filed.
Also, not a little scummy but like a total scumbag publicity hound to the extent that my first reaction was “oh, Tony Buzbee’s involved? He probably went looking for women to ‘encourage’ to bring allegations”.
Not to say those allegations aren’t true or false, but his involvement is a real knock. His credibility is definitely better than Rudy Giuliani’s or Lin Wood’s but not so much better that it should make anybody feel comfortable.
I’ve been assuming Cal McNair put him up to it. Watson may or may not be guilty here, but the timing is certainly no coincidence.
Maybe. Wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case but also wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t. It’s also the kind of ‘power’ move that Jack Easterby would think was clever.
It’s like if you had credible evidence for voting irregularities in 2024, then choosing Rudy Giuliani as the lead attorney is a dumb move. But that alone doesn’t mean the evidence isn’t real. It certainly doesn’t help in the court of public opinion.
You’re assuming they give a shit about the victims. It’s a bad move to hire Buzbee if you want this to be clean and tidy. It’s a bad move if you want to ensure that you get “justice” for the victims, such as it is. It’s a great move if your primary goal is for a very public, very messy, all around shitshow for everyone involved. If the objective is to cause pain for Watson, this is exactly what you do.
Why assume Houston is behind it? Maybe it’s one of the teams that would like to acquire Watson trying to drive his price down.
I think, if it is something that’s being manufactured by someone, Houston’s leadership seems to be a likely suspect. It’s been clear, all offseason, that the relationship between Watson and the team’s front office has gone completely toxic.
Sure, but if they’re considering dealing him, why make him look worse? And if they’re determined to keep him, why destroy his public image?
(As I type this, I realize I’m delving into conspiracy theories for fun, whereas we could be talking about real women who may have actually been sexually assaulted. So I’m not going to speculate further in this derailment.)
In other related news, after signing Tyrod Taylor a few days ago for a one year deal, the Texans just picked up Ryan Finley from the Bengals. I guess they are trying to cobble together a plan D or E, or is this likely just getting some better back up QBs as a normal course of managing a team.
As you note, it’s all hypothetical. But my thinking is this. First, Houston is a fucking shit show. Like crazy and vindictive at a level that none of us fully grasp. And these guys don’t want to deal Watson, but he sees how terrible the management is and how disrespectful to players they are. So he wants out. The Texans management has been embarrassed and are now basically cancer when it comes to free agency. Watson’s statements thus far will cripple this organization for years, damage done.
They believe that Watson is never going to play for them again, but they also know that he’s one of the most valuable trade assets in the league. An off the field “scandal” isn’t really going to harm his trade value by that much, but it will hurt his reputation with sponsors and with fans. That’s what this is all about. Retribution. Watson has cut them badly and they are hitting back. They are sending a message to other players that you don’t do business in the media and you don’t spit in ownerships face. They are setting the tone for future players, that there are consequences when you play games in the media. The media cuts both ways.
If this does have the side effect of softening the market for Watson that makes it easier for the Texans to say no to any offer and keep him under control. They want to keep Watson in house even if that means he’s holding out, and they want him to be obedient. Watson probably made it clear that he was done with them so they unleashed the hounds, now Watson pays the price for being so uppity.
Watson might not ever play NFL football again. A prison sentence isn’t out of the question. The scope of these allegations is far, far beyond a shady conspiracy to damage a guy’s reputation. It was a silly idea in the first place.
It’s theoretically possible that Watson is guilty, but the Texans covered it up because he was their guy, and have just stopped now…
Every team has 2 QBs, and it’s rare to not have 3. 4 is a lot, unless that 4th has a secondary role (like punter or wide receiver). I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard of having more than 4, I doubt they’ll have that many once the season starts.
Care to provide a cite?
Everything I’ve heard so far is that he was inappropriately naked for a massage and requested a tug. Which, depending on the venue might not be that crazy a thing to do. And certainly would not be a felony in 90% of situations.
The “third” complaint (because there’s so many we have to number them now) alleges forced oral sex in addition to the coerced touching of privates…
This Reddit post has a link to #s 4-7: https://old.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/m8jjf2/full_texts_of_the_4th_5th_6th_and_7th_lawsuits/
Exactly. If all the allegations are true that’s prison. Given the situation it’s likely they aren’t all true (or provable in court) so to me that’s a big if, at this point.