Tony Buzbee, Lawyer for Deshaun Watson's Accusers, Addresses Skeptics

Tony Buzbee, the lawyer representing the seven women who have accused the Houston Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault in civil lawsuits, on Friday spoke publicly for the first time since the allegations emerged this week. Buzbee forcefully challenged skepticism about the claims of assault, which he said had been echoed by as many as 15 other women, and about the timing of the lawsuits filed so far.

The claims have surfaced against the backdrop of Watson’s request to be traded from the Texans — whose executives have so far refused to honor his wishes — and could dampen other teams’ interest in a player regarded as one of the best in the N.F.L. at his position. The accusations have also been broadcast by an audacious personal injury attorney who has little or no history with such cases and who has used Instagram and Facebook to solicit potential clients.

All of the complaints, filed in Harris County, Texas, accuse Watson of a pattern of lewd behavior: exposing himself to women he had hired for massages; dictating that they work on sensitive areas like the groin and inner thigh; and moving his body in ways that caused his penis to touch them.

“The case ain’t about money, and it’s certainly not about seeking publicity or fame,” Buzbee said at a news conference at his firm’s office in downtown Houston. “I personally don’t need it, and these women don’t want it. This case is about female empowerment, taking the power back.”

The accusations, which first surfaced on Tuesday night, have engaged two of Houston’s better-known lawyers in a legal fracas that centers on one of the city’s most beloved athletes. The N.F.L. is investigating the accusations against Watson, and Buzbee said he would hand over files to the Houston Police Department for potential criminal investigations.

The Houston Police Department said in a statement Friday that it was “unaware of any contact between HPD and Houston attorney Tony Buzbee regarding the allegations contained in his recently filed lawsuits and no incident reports regarding these allegations have been filed in our jurisdiction.”

After Buzbee’s news conference, Rusty Hardin, who represents Watson, issued a statement calling the allegations against his client “meritless,” but declined to comment in detail until next week, when “we’ve completed our review of the numerous, evolving allegations from Mr. Buzbee.”

Watson, 25, hasn’t commented publicly about the allegations since he posted to Twitter on Tuesday night that he had “never treated any woman with anything other than the utmost respect.”

One accuser said in her complaint that Watson had tried kissing her on the mouth, while another said he ejaculated during a massage. According to another complaint, Watson, after contacting the woman through an Instagram direct message, spoke with her on the phone before his appointment and said, “I make a lot of massage therapists uncomfortable and it’s really hard for me to find someone who will meet my needs.”

The incidents, according to the lawsuits, occurred from March to December last year. Buzbee first alluded to the allegations against Watson on Instagram on Tuesday night. The post was accompanied by a photo of a smiling Watson.

A former Marine, Buzbee lives an outsize life. He has an office on the 73rd floor of the tallest building in Houston and drives a Ferrari. He also ran for mayor in 2019.

He has worked on personal injury cases for years, but is perhaps best known for his involvement in mass tort and class action cases, including the litigation following Hurricane Ike and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a decade ago. He does not appear to have represented many women in sexual assault and harassment cases.

Buzbee’s reputation for bluster and, depending on one’s view, grandstanding, is not new. In the 1990s, when he was a law student at the University of Houston, he sat in the second row in a class taught by John Mixon, then a professor there.

Mixon called Buzbee one of the most confident students he had encountered in his decades of teaching. Buzbee had a knowing smile, and when he spoke, he did so with authority.

“No professor would have tried to intimidate him,” Mixon said.

The Texas legal community is known for showy lawyers, including many who come from humble backgrounds and have a street-fighting bravado that defines their approach to the profession. “The bookworm lawyer should probably go to Wall Street or corporate practice,” Mixon said. “These guys will eat them alive.”

Indeed, the first two words on the website for Buzbee’s law firm are “Just Win.” A photo on his Facebook page includes a silver sculpture in the shape of a shark. On Friday, Buzbee flaunted his fearlessness, saying that he once sued the sheikh of Abu Dhabi and that he had received at least 10 death threats in this case.

He then invited anyone who might have been assaulted or harassed by Watson to contact his office.

Hardin has represented his share of high-profile athletes, including defending the pitcher Roger Clemens against perjury charges in 2012 and representing the N.F.L. running back Adrian Peterson, who was accused of felony child abuse in 2014.

Watson’s agent, David Mulugheta, publicly defended his client in social media posts Friday.

“Sexual assault is real. Victims should be heard, offenders prosecuted,” Mulugheta wrote on Twitter. “Individuals fabricate stories in pursuit of financial gain often. Their victims should be heard, and those offenders also prosecuted. I simply hope we keep this same energy with the truth.”

Mulugheta’s post was criticized on social media for its characterization of the frequency of false claims, which studies have found to be rare, at a rate from 2 to 10 percent of all reports of sexual assault.

Still, Buzbee’s very public approach to soliciting clients has raised questions about his strategy. He acknowledged that “when you make these allegations, the first thing that happens is people say it’s a money grab.” Like it or not, he added, “people blindly follow sports and are loath to believe victims.”

Kim Gandy, the past president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, said Buzbee’s efforts to raise the profile of his cases and to invite more victims to step forward may be intended to bolster each woman’s claim.

“Just from history, it’s very clear that athletes, especially beloved local athletes, get the benefit of the doubt unless the evidence is overwhelming,” Gandy said. “Sad to say, you need multiple cases to prove one.”