CLEVELAND — There's more turmoil surrounding Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson after a Texas woman filed a lawsuit Monday accusing Watson of sexually assaulting her during an October 2020 date at her apartment.
According to the lawsuit, the woman, identified only as "Jane Doe," said she met Watson in a bar while he played for the Houston Texans.
She said she and the quarterback exchanged text messages for several months.
According to the lawsuit, in October 2020, Watson came to the woman's apartment for dinner.
That's when the woman said Watson took off his clothes, laid naked on her bed and "aggressively insisted that she massage him."
According to the court filing, the woman rubbed his back, but then Watson grabbed her and sexually assaulted the woman.
Eventually, the lawsuit said, she was able to get free, ran to her dresser, grabbed a "heavy piece of decor for self-defense," and yelled at Watson to get out of her apartment.
The lawsuit said the woman did not report the incident right away because Watson was the Texans quarterback and was a "local celebrity," and she worried how she would be treated.
The woman is represented by attorney Tony Buzbee, who also represented 24 other women who sued Watson, accusing him of sexual harassment or assault during massage appointments while he played in Houston.
In 2022, after his trade to the Browns, Watson settled 23 of the lawsuits and was suspended for 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
At the time, Watson maintained his innocence, and two separate Texas grand juries declined criminal charges against him.
"I've always stood on my innocence and always said I've never assaulted anyone or disrespected anyone," Watson said in August 2022.
According to the latest lawsuit, the accuser suffers from panic attacks, nervous breakdowns, depression and anxiety as a result of what happened with Watson.
She's seeking at least $1 million in damages.
In a statement, Buzbee said the lawsuit speaks for itself but that "we intend to pursue this case with the same aggressiveness as we pursued the others," adding that he wants a jury trial in Texas.
The investigation is being led by Lisa Friel, NFL Special Counsel for Investigations, who led the first investigation into Watson, which led to the 11-game suspension.
We attempted to reach out to Waston's attorneys for comment on the latest allegations but have not received a response.
On Wednesday, Watson's attorney Rusty Hardin released the following statement regarding the allegations:
“Deshaun strongly denies the allegations in the Jane Doe lawsuit filed Monday.
We have asked him not to comment further while this matter works its way through the courts, but are comfortable he will ultimately be vindicated. We will be ready to defend this case in court at the appropriate time, but don’t intend to conduct our defense in the media. We would ask that people be patient while the legal process runs its course.
In the meantime, Deshaun is going to focus his energy and concentration on football.”
On Tuesday, the NFL sent News 5 a statement saying the league is reviewing the complaint "and will look into the matter under the Personal Conduct Policy."
The Browns also released a statement Tuesday saying, “we will respect the due process our legal system affords regarding the recently filed civil suit and follow the NFL’s guidelines on this matter.”
The NFL is not looking at the Commissioner’s Exempt list for Watson because the review has just started, and there have been no formal charges against him.
With reporting from Camryn Justice.
