Deshaun Watson responds to New York Times report that claims he met 66 massage therapists in 17 month span

For a number of months, Deshaun Watson seemed to be nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. He avoided jail and had settlement offers on the table at various points in dealing with his civil lawsuits.

In other words, the NFL investigation was the only mandatory process holding him back from getting back to normal life.

However, a 23rd and 24th victim have now come forward and the New York Times released a report that the quarterback had massages from 66 different therapists in under a year and a half.

Of course, the implication here is that the quarterback has even more victims that have yet to come forward. Watson responded to the returning storm on Instagram, according to Ari Meirov on Twitter.

On Instagram, the quarterback quoted a song that essentially denied everything. Here's a screenshot of the post with the lyrics from Rich Off Pain (feat. Rod Wave) by Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and Rod Wave:

"See, the blogs can't break me down, see, I'm the voice, I don't reply. But the Rumors y'all done heard, I'ma humbly deny, yeah, yeah"

The song lyrics serve as a broad denial while also avoiding a direct statement with any public back and forth questioning from the media. Basically, through the lyrics, he's pushing back against the media (blogs) and the accusations (rumors) through this "humble" denial.

Deshaun Watson's NFL career

New England Patriots v Houston Texans

At this point, the time spent dealing with the lawsuits has been an era unto itself. The era of accusations and lawsuits began soon after the conclusion of the 2020 NFL season and have been ongoing for roughly a year and a half.

For a quarterback who's been in the league for five full years, this serves as nearly 1/3rd of the quarterback's career.

Early in his career, many had high hopes for the young player. He was drafted 12th overall by the Houston Texans in 2017 and after an encouraging rookie campaign that saw him throw for 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions, expectations were high.

Over the next two years, the quarterback continued to grow and improve. In 2018, he threw for 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions, going 11-5.

In 2019, he threw for 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, going 10-5, also winning a playoff game.

In 2020, the quarterback's statline jumped to a new height, but his team's win-loss dropped to a new low.

Watson threw for 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions but led a 4-12 campaign. Soon after the conclusion of the season, the quarterback received a tsunami of accusations and lawsuits. The lawsuits factored into him missing the 2021 season.

Following the 2021 campaign, Watson's criminal charges were dismissed, but the civil lawsuits and the NFL investigation remained.

Nevertheless, the Cleveland Browns traded for the quarterback under the impression that the worst was over. The Browns claim they vetted him and checked into the situation themselves before they signed the quarterback.

However, in recent days, two additional accusers have surfaced, threatening to return the quarterback to square one. With the situation very much in the public eye, pressure is building on the NFL to suspend Watson.

It will be interesting to see what happens next for Watson and the Browns as the 2022 season draws slowly closer.