Deshaun Watson Unable to Answer the Question that Needed a Clear Response the Most

The Cleveland Browns went to great lengths to try to defend and ultimately sell the decision to acquire quarterback Deshaun Watson in a trade, but his inability to answer the question at the heart of his legal troubles is worrisome.

For as prepared as the Cleveland Browns were in two separate press conferences to defend their decision to trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson, both from a football operations and ownership perspective, their comfort with Deshaun the person, their willingness to spend a total of six draft picks and $230 million, taking on challenging inquiries about the optics and ramifications, there was a pivotal question everyone knew Watson was going to be asked that would provide him the best opportunity to help his own cause. Despite being given two opportunities, his responses amounted to confusing piffle.

"Deshaun, as details have come out, some people have wondered why you've used the number of massage therapists that you've used? Can you kind of explain that number?" 

The question was posed by Dan Labbe of cleveland.com. If there was one question that needed to be asked of Watson, it was this one.

"Uh yeah. I can't get too far into the detail because there's an ongoing investigation still, but I can say with this day and age, especially with my age group, social media is a big business part that goes into it. So that's a factor into it, but as far as the details, I can't get too far into it because there's an investigation going on . Hopefully, once everything is resolved, I can speak freely on it."

Ten minutes later, Jeff Schudel of The News-Herald circled back, taking a crack at it from a different angle. 

"I'm gonna go back to 40 massage people. Why not just find one you really like and stick with that person? 40 just seems like so many."

"Well, I never- as far as a team and when I say team, not the Cleveland Browns, my agency and things like that, 40 is just over the time. It's not in one period of time. I've been in Houston for five years, so you go to different people and that's just how - like I said before, I can't get too far into the details, but as businesses work and you move and meet different people and people have different schedules and blocks, you kinda meet different people over time."

These two questions get to the heart of the matter and provided the best platform for Watson to begin alleviating concerns about continuing his football career with the Cleveland Browns. Even as two grand juries declined to indict Watson on criminal charges for lack of evidence, the sheer number of female massage therapists Watson used raised a red flag. With at least a week and potentially months to consider a way to answer this question, addressing those concerns, Watson provided two helpings of unintelligible word salad.

Nerves? Being worried about saying the wrong thing? Feelings that likely played a role, but if there was one question that required a thoughtful, prepared answer, even if it was written down ahead of time and read live, it was this one. It was the one question Watson had to get right. The fact he didn't have a good answer suggests there isn't one. The truth may not reach people's worst fears, but if it ever truly comes to light, it's almost certainly going to be uncomfortable and could quickly become vile.

It seems as if Watson might have been trying to say that massage therapists sought him out through social media with the intent of using him as an advertisement for their businesses. That's certainly a possibility. A famous athlete, the face of the Houston Texans endorsing their services could be a great way to bring in customers, especially with his reputation before these charges came to light. And perhaps Watson was so generous that he was willing to do this dozens of times over the course of five seasons in Houston.

There is evidence, however, that Watson used social media platforms to seek out these women for massage appointments. Social media is certainly a tool that can be used to seek out small businesses like these, but especially for someone in Watson's position, it's fraught with potentially embarrassing perils, even if it doesn't rise to criminal behavior.

In the article by Jenny Vrentas for Sports Illustrated with "Mary", a woman who is not suing Watson or connected to lawyer Tony Buzbee, this particular massage therapist had no idea she was going to be working with Watson until 15 minutes before the appointment.

After that initial session where Mary outlines inappropriate behavior by Watson, SI confirmed direct messages via Instagram where the quarterback tried to reach out to her for additional appointments on different occasions, seemingly unaware of their previous encounter.

Watson attempted to defend the number of massage therapists he used by saying that it wasn't at the same time, that it took place over five seasons with the Texans. The number 40 is a conservative estimate based on the 22 women who are accusing him and the 18 women that volunteered to defend his character. Mary would make 41 for example. The potential is there for that number to be much larger.

Watson then goes on to describe how he would encounter so many, describing word of mouth, referrals and tight schedules. Even if it didn't come out well, this is the most logical point he made. The appointment made with Mary, the reason she didn't know who it was until it was ready to start, was because it was set up by referral from another massage therapist.

Since Watson was unsatisfied with the massage therapists the Texans provided, he had the means to find one he liked outside the team and stick with them. That is what most professional athletes end up doing. For as something as important as their body, their livelihood, they want to find a comfortable, reliable routine.

Watson wants you to believe that 40 isn't a big number stretched over five seasons, but as Schudel put it, "40 just seems like so many."

Aware enough to know what message might be sent if he avoided the questions entirely, Watson's inability to provide coherent answers only validated concerns critics have with acquiring him, undermining so much of what these press conferences set out to do.

To his credit, Watson provided a far better response when Labbe followed up his initial question, asking Watson if he was reevaluating his methods for procuring massage therapy for the future.

"Definitely. This is something that with my team and now with the Cleveland Browns, the organization, we find a plan and move forward with it."

Even as he tried to downplay 40 earlier, this might be the closest thing to acknowledging his approach wasn't working.

Deshaun Watson may prove to be everything the organization hopes he will be. A great quarterback capable of leading the Cleveland Browns to the Super Bowl on the field and an equally effective ambassador and member of the community off of it, but Watson's introductory press conference failed to provide a compelling reason to view him through anything but the most skeptical of lenses.