Aaron Wilson covered one of the biggest and best beats for one of the largest newspapers across the south, the Houston Texans for the Houston Chronicle. But that came to an abrupt halt after comments he made on radio surrounding the Deshaun Watson case surfaced.
Wilson, who has covered the Texans since 2015, went on "The Greg Hill Show" on WEEI in March. The topic of discussion was the sexual assault allegations coming against Watson, the Texans quarterback. Wilson compared the Watson accusers to terrorists, according to a report in The Defector.
First, there's Watson, who said some women and their high-priced attorney were looking for six-figure settlements, which he refused. When asked by Greg Hill "What's going on down there in Houston?" the Chronicle reporter called it a "money grab."
"In his case, you know, it's kind of you don't negotiate with terrorists," Wilson said during the program on March 19. "People are demanding money, they're asking for money. It kept escalating, it kept going up and up and up. You're talking about more and more funds, I'm not going to say how much it got to, but my understanding is, you know, that there was an admission that, it was, you know, something, you know just that this was, you know, just a money grab."
The above quote was midway through the interview, in which Wilson also referred to Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing 22 women with cases against Watson, as an "ambulance chaser" for accusers seeking money.
Wilson was let go from the Chronicle, according to The Defector, which went on to say sports editor Reid Laymance informed the rest of the sports staff Friday afternoon through a Zoom call, and that he warned them to use caution when speaking on other media platforms.
In a tweet on Saturday afternoon, Wilson said he "made a mistake that I fully understand and own when I did not choose my words nearly carefully enough during a discussion."
"My efforts to convey perspectives on the situation clearly demonstrated an unintentional lack of sensitivity to the serious nature of these type of allegations, and I sincerely apologize for my remarks," Wilson wrote.
Wilson covered the Baltimore Ravens from 2001-15, and covered the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans prior to that, according to his Chronicle biography. He said his own "high standards" weren't met during the radio interview.
"I didn't maintain my own high standards that I've established and applied during my two decades covering many other similarly important and delicate situations in the NFL," Wilson wrote. "I will proceed much more carefully going forward and learn from this moment."
When Buzbee first wrote that he was filing a lawsuit against Watson, the quarterback responded by saying he is innocent of all allegations and that a woman was seeking a six-figure out-of-court settlement, which he rejected.
"I have never treated any woman with anything other than the utmost respect," Watson tweeted, adding "this isn't about money for me - it's about clearing my name."
Buzbee said it wasn't about money, but "taking the power back" for his clients.
"This case isn't about money. It's certainly not about seeking publicity or fame. I personally don't need it. These women don't want it. This case is about female empowerment, taking the power back," Buzbee said.
Watson has publicly made it known that he wants to be traded from the Texans after the team's front office made questionable personnel decisions, which included trading the team's best receiver (Deandre Hopkins) last year, and then this offseason releasing defensive star J.J. Watt. Both of those players are now with the Arizona Cardinals.
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