Almost exactly one year ago, Ashley Solis, a 28-year-old licensed massage therapist, filed the first lawsuit against Watson, saying that he purposely touched her hand with his erect and exposed penis during a March 2020 massage appointment at her home. Over the ensuing weeks, similar allegations against one of professional football’s brightest young stars piled up at a stunning pace.
Watson has denied any wrongdoing, and Hardin has said any sexual acts that happened during massage appointments were consensual. Hardin said earlier this week that he was “delighted” the grand jury was set to make a decision about whether Watson would face criminal charges, and confidently asserted that he did not believe his client would be charged.
Understand the N.F.L.’s Recent Controversies
Card 1 of 5A wave of scrutiny. The most popular sports league in America is facing criticism and legal issues on several fronts, ranging from discrimination to athletes’ injuries. Here’s a look at some of the recent controversies confronting the N.F.L., its executives and teams:
A demoralizing culture for women. After the 2014 Ray Rice scandal, the N.F.L. stepped up its efforts to hire and promote women. But more than 30 former staff members interviewed by The Times described a stifling corporate culture that has left many women feeling pushed aside.
Racial descrimination lawsuit. The former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who is Black and Hispanic, sued the N.F.L. and its 32 teams for racial descrimination in their hiring practices. Mr. Flores was later hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers as a defensive assistant coach. (The lawsuit goes on.)
Sexual harassment claims. Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Washington Commanders, is the subject of an N.F.L. inquiry after sexual harassment allegations were made against him by former employees. In July, the league fined the franchise $10 million after an investigation into allegations of harassment in the team’s front office.
The fallout from brain injuries. Recent violence and deaths by suicide have again highlighted the league’s longtime issues with C.T.E., a brain disease found in a number of deceased players. In addition to a nearly $1 billion settlement, the N.F.L. agreed to stop using race-based methods in evaluating dementia claims.
The fact that the grand jury decision, which would not have determined of guilt or innocence, held such importance for those involved reflected the stakes of the case. The women who spoke with the grand jury on Friday wanted their accounts of misconduct against a star athlete to be taken seriously. And Watson sought not just to be cleared of wrongdoing, but to position himself to be traded from the Texans in order to resume his N.F.L. career with a different team.
The N.F.L.’s free agency period opens on March 16, the day the league’s new year starts.
Watson, one of the N.F.L.’s best young quarterbacks, has not played in a game since the final week of the 2020 regular season. Disenchanted with the Texans after a desultory 4-12 season amid front office dysfunction, Watson requested a trade. But the effort to resolve the rift between Watson and the franchise took a back seat to the avalanche of lawsuits filed last March that accused Watson of sexual misconduct.
Since then he has been in N.F.L. limbo. The league opened its own investigation but did not opt to punish Watson or sideline him, in part because he had not been criminally charged.
The Texans said in a statement last March that they would “continue to take this and all matters involving anyone within the Houston Texans organization seriously” and that the team would not comment further until the league’s investigation had ended, a process with no public timeline.
Watson participated in the team’s training camp held last summer, at risk of being fined $50,000 per missed day. The Texans chose to leave him on the inactive list for the entire 2021 season, moving forward with Davis Mills and Tyrod Taylor as their quarterbacks, again winning just four games.
David Montgomery contributed reporting from Houston.