mav1234

One woman is accusing him of sexual assault, the others are not, from what I understand.

Rape can occur without verbally saying no. I don't know the details and I'm not accusing Watson of rape, but what I read said he used language about making or breaking her career to coerce her into it. This may still become a criminal complaint too.

The issue is this isn't one case. It's at least 7... We don't know why the first plaintiff chose this guy but after that first person it does make some sense to go with this lawyer.

There is no way at all McNair is paying these women or responsible for this in some way. The timing was suspicious I admit and the lawyer is sleezy but the more info that comes out the worse it looks for Watson.

Calling all the accusers escorts that are lying just to make a payday does seem like an attack to me.

If 4 QBs go in the top 7, I think we've already traded up to get one of them.

Wonder what they'd ask for in a trade. if we aren't pooling assets to acquire a big name QB anymore, could be a viable target.

Okay sure but why the hell is Watson touching women with his dick tht told him no before or trying to kiss them? Weird poo all over.

Burden of proof is also different in civil vs criminal court. It does help Watson a little if the police decline to pursue this, but it doesn't mean that he would be "cleared" in civil court

The DAs office just has said they haven't been given material. That doesn't tell us much though about if there is an active investigation though. Agree on court. But it doesn't look good.

I don't care about a few game suspension in and of itself, but I do care about the reason he is being suspended and the likelihood of what else is involved.

Watson may think that he didn't do anything wrong because if someone said no he didn't push them. But comments about making or breaking someone's career, which were in third case involving oral sex, is definitely coercion if true.

Given he was flying women in from elsewhere, I doubt being located in Houston had anything to do with it. Moreover, his initial incredulity suggests he didn't see anything wrong in what he was doing. At this point it seems possible that he thought he was paying for sex workers of some kind and not for a massage, and so he made advances during the massage - not at all okay. Two of the cases now involve him forcing himself on a woman to some degree, although the coercion seems soft-power based (still bad). Given the number of women and the time frame, it makes me wonder just how many "massages" he got where we'll never hear from the women involved.

he may be noting how little accusations alone can dissuade some from supporting an individual...

Yeah, but at the time I read the police understandably weren't confirming that. I don't trust this lawyer at all (but I do think he is representing at least some people that likely have some kind of legitimate grievance). We will see how this plays out...

Examples exist of accusers of any one incident like this lying, but 1) multiple people lying??? And 2) people being paid off to lie like this?? I don't know of a situation similar, can you provide details?

are these supposed to be incriminating?

If ESPN's first comment was at 7 am, it would imply they waited 8 hours after the story broke and was all over social media, which I actually doubt. No idea on Chad Wheeler - the fact I had to google it suggests how well that story has been covered

Not me. I'm all for trading the farm for Watson if he comes out of this clean. I'm just skeptical this is all drummed up by a crooked lawyer. We'll see.

dunno how that didn't get him disbarred.

I hope you're right, but this is pretty crazy for clout alone.

Watson wanted out. None of the other options you listed are feasible.

Only one victim seems to be accusing him of an act that could be criminal I think, no?

I admit the lawyer in this case seems scummy as all hell and there's a lot of weird circumstances. I also agree that we can be critical of each case individually. The thing is, we're up to 9 women that are claiming some degree of improper - and even criminal - behavior. It is hard for me to imagine the lawyer has orchestrated THAT big a conspiracy... But there will be time for this to at least partially work out.

The alternative - that a relatively powerful individual crossed boundaries and, because of his status, women complied with his requests - is not only an unfortunate reality of this world but rather commonplace. I hope it isn't true, but false claims are much rarer than some comments in these threads suggest. I do think there would be a criminal investigation if some of the claims floating around were true, but I have a hard time believing that this is completely, totally made up. Edit: It is worth noting that the way some here responded to the initial reports that the first couple incidents were about asking for a happy ending, it seems relatively common for men visiting a masseuse to do such things. There's a whole power dynamic that comes into play with a superstar athlete, etc... I don't know. This situation is fuged.