Published May 5, 2021 on Defector
Kelly Stauffiger is a licensed massage therapist in the Buffalo area, her job for the past 15 years. She’s also had a contract with the Buffalo Bills for five NFL seasons, so she’s been closely following the news of the 22 women who have filed civil lawsuits accusing Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and misconduct during massage appointments. When she read the third lawsuit, the one that said the Houston Texans quarterback forced the massage therapist to perform oral sex, Kelly felt nauseous.
“I got sick after that,” she said. “I thought about the situation she was in, how she could be forced to perform oral sex, how she blacked out and then defecated on herself. That must have been so traumatic.”
The accusations against Watson have brought a spotlight onto the profession of massage therapy and its intersection with the world of professional sports, shoving onto the front of newspapers and websites a profession rarely mentioned in the sports pages or on sports talk radio. How do athletes and professional sports teams establish relationships with massage therapists? What resources do massage therapists have to protect themselves when they are propositioned for sex? And why would an NFL quarterback need or want to work with several dozen massage therapists?
Defector spoke to two NFL athletic trainers, licensed massage therapists who work with NFL players, and current and former NFL players to find out how teams and players use massage therapy, and what it’s like to be a massage therapist working with athletes. They described massage therapy as a key part of recovery for many NFL players, and the massage therapists who spoke to Defector said they were always treated professionally by pro athletes. Two of the NFL players who spoke said the number of massage therapists sought out by Watson, according to the lawsuits, did seem high to them.
And to the massage therapists, the scenario of a client assuming they would perform sex acts felt all too familiar.