Houston Texans 'well aware' of Deshaun Watson's issues, but failed to act, attorney says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston Texans are about to become a co-defendant in lawsuits by 24 women alleging sexual misconduct against their former quarterback Deshaun Watson.

In a statement released Wednesday, attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents all of the women making the claims against Watson, said they came to the conclusion based on what they've learned from Houston police that the Texans organization played an integral role in enabling the alleged behavior.

"What has become clear is that the Houston Texans organization and their contracting "massage therapy company" facilitated Deshaun Watson's conduct. In many of these cases, the Texans provided the opportunity for this conduct to occur," Buzbee's statement read. "We believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson's issues, but failed to act. They knew or certainly should have known. "

On top of the Texans, Buzbee indicated that "others" would be joining as defendants in the ongoing lawsuits against Watson.

Buzbee concluded his statement mentioning details from the HPD reports on the Watson investigation.

"The Houston Texans organization provided rooms for Watson at the high-end Houstonian hotel for his 'massages'; the Texans also provided massage tables and other support for Watson's proclivities-ostensibly to protect their 'asset.' We intend to make sure all involved in Watson's conduct are held accountable, in addition to and including Watson himself," Buzbee's statement read.

The impending move comes on the heels of a New York Times report that laid out details on Watson and the prolific amount of massage therapists he was alleged to have seen, based on the publication's review of interviews and records.

In all, Watson saw 66 massage therapists in a 17-month span, the Times reported.

And what could arguably be damaging to the Texans in terms of the Watson lawsuit is a revelation that the organization's director of security, Brent Naccara, reportedly provided non-disclosure agreements to Watson to give to some of the women to sign.

ESPN reported Tuesday that the Texans declined to comment on the NDA, but said in a statement that they first found out about the allegations against Watson in March 2021 when the first lawsuit was filed.

Eyewitness Sports has reached out to the Texans and Rusty Hardin, Watson's attorney. We are awaiting response.

Watson has denied all wrongdoing.

ESPN contributed to this report.

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