Deshaun Watson’s Return Is Met With Boos, and a Win

The Browns made Watson the face of the franchise and signed him to an unprecedented contract based on his ability to win games and distance himself from the accusations.

Two Texas grand juries declined to indict Watson on criminal charges, and Watson settled 23 of the 26 lawsuits filed against him (one case was withdrawn for privacy reasons). While Watson has said his defense lawyers have advised him not to talk about any of the legal proceedings, including the two open lawsuits, his absence for more than half of this N.F.L. season came as a result of a settlement agreement between representatives from his legal team, the players’ union and the league. A third-party disciplinary officer had determined that Watson demonstrated a pattern of conduct that was “predatory” and “more egregious than any before reviewed by the N.F.L.,” but issued a shorter suspension than the one reached in the settlement.

The silence this week from Watson and the Browns regarding anything besides throws and catches meant that Watson played in front of 66,523 fans in Houston, as well as millions through TV and radio broadcasts, without having publicly addressed his behavior with the massage therapists since August. . Watson apologized “to all of the women I have impacted in this situation” as his N.F.L. discipline was being decided, but later again asserted his innocence and said he was apologizing because people had been “triggered.”

Watson declined to say on Sunday whether he felt remorse for the actions that led to his suspension, saying he has been advised by his legal and clinical team to not answer questions like that.

“Of course, it’s a tough situation, the suspension was tough, but at the same time my main focus was to just try to be 1-0 as a football player today,” he said.

Lauren Baxley, one of the two women with an open lawsuit against Watson, told The New York Times that his return to the field was “incredibly painful to consider.”

“It is difficult to balance my efforts to heal, while being acutely aware that most in the media and sports world will continue to praise his athleticism and ignore his range of assaults against dozens of women,” Baxley wrote in a text message. “Whatever nanoscopic punishment he may have fulfilled to the satisfaction of the N.F.L. brings neither healing nor justice to us, nor protection for future women in his presence.”

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