In his first official act as the new face of the Cleveland Browns, Deshaun Watson repeatedly denied the allegations of 22 women who have said he committed sexual misconduct and claimed he intends to clear his name rather than settle their civil lawsuits. 

Watson sat between Browns general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski as he was introduced Friday to a fan base with conflicted emotions in weighing his quarterback talent and his character. Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam were conspicuously absent. 

“I know these allegations are very, very serious, but I’ve never assaulted any woman. I’ve never disrespected any woman,” Watson said in his first extensive interview since the allegations surfaced in January 2021. “I was raised by a single-parent mom … to be genuine and respect anyone and everything around me.” 

The Browns concluded what Berry called a “five-month odyssey” of investigating the allegations against Watson by trading six draft picks to the Texans and then signing the three-time Pro Bowler to a record-setting $230 million fully guaranteed contract after he was not indicted earlier this month in Harris County, Texas, on criminal charges. A grand jury in a second Texas county also failed to indict Watson on Thursday. 

“We used independent investigative resources within the Harris County and Houston law enforcement community in order to get an unbiased, well-rounded and comprehensive perspective on the allegations,” Berry said. “We didn’t want it to just be one-sided.” 

Tony Buzbee, the lawyer representing the 22 massage therapists who have filed civil lawsuits against Watson, previously told ESPN that no NFL team interested in trading for the quarterback (including the Browns) reached out to his clients as part of their due diligence. 

Berry said the Browns hired third-party legal counsel and were advised against directly contacting the plaintiffs because it might be considered interference with a criminal investigation. He declined to specify whether any independent investigators hired by the Browns spoke to Watson’s accusers. 

“This is a trade that we made to be evaluated over the long run,” Berry said. “We do think that there is a strong and detailed body of work about Deshaun, and we do have faith in him as a person.” 

Asked if he might seek counseling as a corrective behavior, Watson said, “I don’t have a problem,” and later added: “I don’t have any regrets. The things off the field right now that came up caught me by surprise because I never did anything that these people are alleging.” 

But Watson stopped short of sharing details of what happened in those private settings, in which he is said to have committed harassment and assault by forcing oral sex. He was especially vague on why has used more than 40 massage therapists over five years — many contacted through since-deleted social-media messages — but vowed to “tell my story” once the case is resolved. 

“With this day and age, especially in my age group, social media is a big business,” Watson said. “As businesses work and you move … and people have different schedules and blocks, you kind of meet people over time.” 

Watson said he understands that his reputation has been tarnished. He plans to rebuild it in a new city, where he will replace former No. 1-overall draft pick Baker Mayfield as Cleveland’s starter and return to the field after sitting out all of last season while getting paid by the Texans. 

“Working with women’s groups, it has to be something that I have to earn their trust back,” Watson said. “I don’t want to jump out and make it seem like I’m just doing it to try to clear my name. I’ve always been a community leader.” 

The NFL still could suspend Watson under its Personal Conduct Policy after completing its own investigation. 

“We’ll cooperate with them,” Berry said. “When they render their decision, we’ll obviously respect it.” 

Watson’s new contract is structured so that only $1.035 million of his $46 million payout in 2022 is salary (the rest is signing bonus). He thus would be subject to fines of about $60,000 per game. The optics look like cover provided against steep financial penalty, but Berry claimed the contract was back-loaded that way — Watson’s salary is $46 million each year from 2023-26 — as a way to fit it under the salary cap and gain an extra year of team control. 

The Browns initially were reported to be out of the Watson trade sweepstakes and it looked as if he might be headed to the Saints or Falcons. Watson refuted the perception that a money grab led to his change of heart. 

“It had nothing to do with the contract,” Watson said. “I didn’t know about the contract until I told my agent I wanted to come and be a Cleveland Brown. That was secondary after-the-fact. There wasn’t necessarily a turn-down. The media was kind of rushing me to make a decision.”