Cleveland’s newest quarterback may be out of Texas, but his legal battles remain ongoing there. Rusty Hardin, the lead attorney for Deshaun Watson, joined with fellow attorney, and Hardin associate, Leah Graham to discuss their client’s case with Sports Radio 610’s Payne & Pendergast in Houston.
The NFL is still investigating the quarterback after allegations of sexual misconduct with massage therapists. He has been cleared criminally, but the league has yet to rule on potential punishment under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
The pair of lawyers joined the show for nearly forty-five minutes. It was Hardin’s final comments that seemed to lay out a bizarre defense for the former Houston Texan. Hardin would finish his segment, “I don’t know how many men are out there now that have had a massage that perhaps, occasionally there was a “happy ending”. Maybe there’s nobody in your listening audience that ever happened to.”
The latest comments by Watson’s attorney will do little to quell the anger that many feel about the player and most recently his massive, player-friendly contract.
The 80-year old attorney did want to clarify the alleged legality of what Watson was accused of. “I do want to point out: if it has happened, it’s not a crime, ok? Unless you are paying somebody extra or so to give you some type of sexual activity, it’s not a crime. And so at the end of the day, that’s another thing that would affect conduct. Doing something or saying something or being a way that makes you uncomfortable, is not a crime.”
There is clearly some frustration emanating from Watson’s legal team at the pace of the league’s internal investigation. “We’ve had two grand juries find that but nobody seems to want to listen.”
UPDATE
Hardin has responded to the reaction to his initial comments made on Payne & Pendergast today, saying in part: “On a Houston radio show interview today, I mentioned that a massage that has a “happy ending” is not illegal, meaning it is not illegal for someone to have consensual sex with a therapist after a massage unless the sex is for pay. Deshaun did not pay anyone for sex. I was using the term hypothetically and not describing Deshaun’s case.”
His full statement is below.
