The latest controversy in the National Football League involves quarterback Deshaun Watson who was accused of sexual allegations by 22 women.
The Cleveland Browns are facing backlash after signing Watson who missed the entirety of the 2021-2022 football season due to allegations of sexual misconduct from numerous women.
According to NFL.com, after a grand jury decided not to indict Watson in the criminal investigation against him, he was free to negotiate with teams who sought his services after requesting a trade from the Houstons Texans before last season.
On March 11, a grand jury in Harris County (Texas) determined there was not enough evidence to charge the quarterback after several allegations from multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct arising from massage therapy sessions. Although he is cleared of the criminal charges, he is facing 22 civil lawsuits from several of his accusers. The NFL is still investigating the matter and most likely will suspend him based on information acquired.
It was reported by multiple outlets last week that several teams met with Watson, and surprisingly, the Browns emerged as the team he chose to resume his career. On Sunday, an official announcement came from team officials. The Browns gave up three first-round picks, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2024 fourth-round pick, and a 2024 fifth-rounder to obtain the controversial player.
In a written statement, Cleveland Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski
said, “Our organization did a tremendous amount of background on Deshaun. We understand the concerns and questions that exist but are confident in the extensive work Andrew and his staff have done to feel confident about him joining our organization. It was important for us to meet with Deshaun in person as part of our team’s evaluation process, we had a candid conversation regarding his approach to coming into our organization and community.“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to coach Deshaun; he is ready to put in the hard work needed to help our team improve and make a positive impact in our community.”
The backlash started immediately after the news was leaked last week that he was joining the team.