Deshaun Watson Finally Apologizes to Women Who Accused Him of Sexual Misconduct

Cleveland Browns v Jacksonville Jaguars
Cleveland Browns v Jacksonville Jaguars / Don Juan Moore/GettyImages
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Deshaun Watson is expected to play for the Cleveland Browns tonight in their preseason contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Before he got on the team bus to head to the game, Watson shocked everyone by finally apologizing to the dozens of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

Here's what Watson said to Aditi Kinkhabwala:

"I’m truly sorry to all the women that I’ve impacted in this situation. (There are) decisions that I made in my life that put me in this position I would definitely like to have back. But I want to continue to move forward and grow and learn and show that I am a true person of character and I am going to keep pushing forward."

Watson continued:

"I know I have a lot of work to put in, especially on the field to be able to make sure I'm ready to play whenever that time comes, whenever I can step back on the field. But, also, the biggest thing is I want to continue counselling and I want to make sure that I'm growing as a person, as an individual for my decision-making on and off the field. I want to make sure that I'm just evolving in the community as much as possible, and that is for the Cleveland community, that is the NFL community and beyond."

My only question: why the hell did this take so long? An apology doesn't make up for anything that happened, but all he had to do was issue this statement in April of 2021, show remorse and begin the process of rehabbing his image. He'd have been back on the field a long time ago.

Watson is still facing a lengthy suspension from the NFL but we don't know how many games he'll miss yet.