mav1234

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.

It's possible these women just assumed they'd never get any recourse for a man trying to take advantage of them, and so kept quiet, until it hit the public. Just look at the reactions in this thread... I can't imagine 9 women all made poo up at the behest of the McNairs or whatever.

Nobody is trading for Watson now.

At least one is reportedly a message therapist with an office.

Right. This got a lot more serious in a short time.

Although I kind of agree, if he didn't think what he was doing was wrong, he may not have thought he needed to. The sexual assault allegation seems to be resting on words rather than actions ("make or break her career"). Watson wouldn't be the first dude not to realize the connection between making someone's career and a request for sex. This isn't to say he is or isn't guilty - the docs allege some evidence exists but until its actually shown I'm hesitant to say much. Hard to be sure how it'll all play out, but this doesn't seem to fit his image. Not that it means much...

The timing is crazy as all hell. The fact it went from refusing to pay a settlement for harassment to rape allegations and who knows what else is concerning on so many levels. I'm withholding judgment on the situation because the timing and connections are unreal, but this isn't looking good for Watson.

at least, yes. I think we had better weapons than houston too, but who knows. regardless, I think its worth it

"hope yall get the situation resolved" what the hell

Houston scored more points than us AND gave up 60 more over the season. Waatson want close to the problem there. He isn't playing defense.

I wanted him back, but not for that amount of money.

Your statement that "numbers are numbers, truth is truth" may be true, but that doesn't tell you how "well" drafting Watson worked out for them. In the 15 years before drafting Watson, the team had 2 total seasons at or above 10 wins. In the 4 seasons after drafting him - including 1 in which he played only 6 games - they had 2 seasons at or above 10 wins. edit: put another way, as the full time starter, the Texans had 2 seasons of at least 10 wins out of 3. That... is really good, especially given we're talking about *the Texans*, who were comically run for years.

Watson's record as a starter is 28-25 according to Pro-Football Reference (https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WatsDe00.htm) which includes 4-12 in 2020. edit: keep in mind he only started 6 games in 2017, where the Texans were 3-3. As a started, his year-by-year record is 3-3, 11-5, 10-5, and 4-12.

How long do you think Watson will be a Panther in this situation? We'll have time to build through free agency and with remaining picks. And we can only trade picks 3 years out, and Watson would be the equivalent of our 1st this year, anyway. So we'll see.

There's no real comparable situation to this, honestly. Hard to know the outcome. This is definitely a gamble. But I'm happy to have an owner and GM willing to gamble to win. Playing conservative hasn't gotten us a superbowl yet.

Our defense allowed 62 fewer points than the Texans... The Texans scored 34 more points than us, despite having a QB that accounted for twice the TDs... Our roster is more talented and/or better coached at many positions... but not the one that matters most. Even if our defense regresses *next year*, we have multiple years to build more talent around Watson and win it all.