A long way from innocent

Deshaun Watson was not charged with a crime, but we should know better than to say he was exonerated. The case of Jerramy Stevens epitomizes why we should be more circumspect.

I thought of Jerramy Stevens on Friday when a grand jury in Houston declined to indict Deshaun Watson.

That’s not because Watson reminds me of Stevens, the tight end and recidivist criminal from Lacey, Wash. Stevens has been arrested in at least four of our nation’s 50 states. It’s not to compare the nature of the sexual offenses they were said to have committed, either. Stevens was investigated for rape in 2000, Watson was being investigated for multiple instances of sexual misconduct while receiving massage therapy. Twenty-two women have filed a civil suits against him over his behavior. Eight of those 22 women were among the 10 who made formal criminal complaints with the police.

The reason Watson’s case reminded me of Stevens is the way that some people — including one reporter in particular — reacted to the lack of a criminal charge against Watson.

That Tweet is the reason I decided to quit Schefter, blocking the reporter not because I think he cares what I write but because I don’t want to pay him or his work any further attention. I’m going to write about that tomorrow, but this newsletter isn’t about Schefter specifically but rather that line of thinking his Tweet embodied, equating the lack of a criminal charge to a statement that the allegations were false. We know better than that by now, or at least we should, which is precisely the reason I thought of Stevens.