Last month, Rusty Hardin released a memo which included a list of 18 message therapists, who went on the record in defense of Houston Texans Quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Masako Jones, who has six years of experience as a message therapist, had this to say in her statement:
“I have worked with Deshaun several times since October 2019 and he’s never been anything other than professional and polite. We would focus on areas that were strained or injured, his shoulder, quads, calves, adductors, glutes, feet, things like that. That’s not odd or inappropriate; you have to think about how athletes use their bodies, the stances they’re in, how they move during games. All of those areas are typical, especially for football players. Deshaun never made me feel uncomfortable or intimidated. He’s rather quiet compared to other professional athletes I’ve worked with. I am just completely floored by these lawsuits. The behavior described in them doesn’t sound like him at all. I can’t even imagine him saying those things or doing those things.”
Jones told ESPN she can recall at least two occasions when Watson developed an erection during her massage sessions with him. That detail was not included in her statement released by Watson’s legal team.
Dany Craig also spoke in favor of Watson at the time as well.
“I massaged Deshaun three times. He was always pleasant. I never had any uncomfortable or inappropriate experiences with him. He often listened to his music and said very little. During my career, unfortunately I have experienced inappropriate situations where I stopped a massage. This never happened with Deshaun. He was respectful to my craft. Deshaun specifically came to me requesting I work on his lower body. I worked his hamstrings, quadriceps as well as his glutes and lower abs. Asking for these muscle groups to be massaged is not uncommon for athletes. Working those muscles from origin to insertion is imperative to properly treat the muscle. If a therapist is inexperienced in this type of work, I could imagine it may make them uncomfortable trying to translate the ‘layman’s’ suggestion on how to stop the discomfort. It is important for a therapist to talk through any request with the client to determine exactly what hurts; as even the most educated person loses their anatomy knowledge when in pain.”
From ESPN’s report:
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“Dany Craig, a licensed massage therapist in Atlanta since 2008, told ESPN she worked with Watson three times in early 2020 at her Atlanta home, where she typically sees clients. Craig, 46, said that when working on the groin area, it’s inevitable that massage therapists will brush up against the genitals of male clients.
“I’ve brushed several penises, testicles. It’s not a big deal. You just move the body part out of the way and you keep working,” she said.
But it became apparent during Craig’s interview with ESPN that she was not aware of the nature of the allegations made against Watson by nearly two dozen women and had not read any of the lawsuits.”
“By no means am I saying that these women shouldn’t be able to tell their stories, because they should,” Craig said. “The women deserve to be heard, and people like me should probably tell their truth as well for some sort of balance, and then let the court of law decide what happened.”
This news comes on the heels of Jas Brooks, whose stateent was brought into question after attorney Tony Buzbee released a portion of an undated text message exchange that Brooks has since described as being between herself and one of her “closest friends.”
“I told you i stopped working with him?” Brooks texted her friend.
“Yeah why” the friend responded.
Brooks then replied in a series of messages:
“Bc i was hearing too much stuff about him messing with other people”
“Like other therapist and esthetician’s. He’s been doing a lot the last 3-4 months”
“And i even told his ass he needed to be careful Bc his name is getting around”
“I just hope don’t nobody call me to question me”
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Brooks attempted to add context to her comments and accused Buzbee of “playing a very dirty game and manipulating words to work in the favor of his clients.” Brooks said she stopped working with Watson “for reasons unrelated to his current pending case(s).” She also wrote that she “had been hearing things from another therapist” about Watson. While she didn’t elaborate, she did say she stopped working with Watson “due to my personal preference of not liking to work behind other therapists.”
