Sue Robinson, the jointly appointed disciplinary officer in the Deshaun Watson case, began hearing from the NFL, NFLPA and Watson’s camp Tuesday. The league and the union entered the hearing at extreme ends of the punishment spectrum.
The NFL’s stance of a year-long suspension — or an indefinite ban that could extend beyond 2022 — has been circulated for several days now. The NFLPA is attempting to argue Watson should not be suspended, per USA Today’s Josina Anderson and the Washington Post’s Mark Maske (Twitter links). If Robinson rules Watson’s actions did not violate the NFL’s personal conduct policy, leading to no missed games, the NFL cannot appeal, Maske adds. That scenario has long been seen as extremely unlikely.
This gap led to settlement talks breaking off. Those discussions producing an agreement would have removed the appeal component from these proceedings. Absent a negotiated punishment, the sides are making their arguments to Robinson. The hearing has wrapped for the day, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It is expected to continue Wednesday, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports notes (on Twitter), and Robinson’s decision is expected this week. With a prime news-dump window Friday, ahead of a holiday weekend, it would not surprise if the initial Watson ruling came down then.
Although 24 women filed civil lawsuits against Watson over the past 15 months, alleging sexual misconduct and/or sexual assault, a Monday report indicated the NFL was planning to center its case on five of those accusers’ accounts. Two of the accusers were among the 10 women to make criminal complaints against Watson, Anderson adds (via Twitter). Neither the Harris Country nor Brazoria County (Texas) grand juries brought charges against the recently traded quarterback. Watson has denied all wrongdoing, but that has not stopped an avalanche of turmoil from engulfing him, the Browns and the Texans over the past three months. This probably being the NFL’s top offseason storyline has certainly not been a good look for the league.
Once Robinson issues a ruling, an appeal — from the NFL or NFLPA — can commence. The 2020 CBA changed league disciplinary measures, but the NFL handling the Watson appeal still allows for one side to wield a fair amount of power here. Roger Goodell can oversee the appeal or pass it along to someone else within the league’s power structure, USA Today’s Mike Jones notes (video link). While the NFL could opt to ensure Watson is shelved for the entire 2022 season via appeal, the league may not want to undercut Robinson’s decision — a historic case and the first to be heard by a neutral arbitrator.
Robinson meeting the parties halfway, via an eight- or 10-game ban or an indefinite suspension that leaves the door open for Watson to return this season, may have been more likely before the additional lawsuits and the expansive New York Times report detailing this saga surfaced in recent weeks. May’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel segment and the ensuing NYT story also led to the Texans being included in existing civil lawsuits and hit with a separate suit. That latest lawsuit also said “at least 30” women have alleged sexual misconduct against Watson during massage therapy sessions. Twenty of the initial 24 civil accusers settled with Watson, but the suit against the Texans leaves open the possibility more will come forward.
But with this being a restructured setup compared to the league’s major scandals during the 2010s, it cannot be assumed Robinson will lean toward a harsh ban. That said, Watson’s side, which has seen the quarterback’s off-field troubles escalate rather than die down since his trade to the Browns, has been expecting a significant punishment for a bit now. The initial decision should be known within days.
Let him play.
100% on Goodell. He’s made up suspensions, change the of length for similar infractions. Let the owners do as they please. This offseason 2 popped for PEDS. 1 was handed down a 6-week suspension, the other 4.
I’ve never seen any constancy from the league for discipline under his watch.
If Watson doesn’t get a full year, Ridley should sue the league
Goodell effectively still has final say. One side will 100% end up appealing, which means it just goes to him for final say.
And still waiting for discipline on Richard Sherman.
Well if he doesn’t get the Trevor Bauer treatment…. SMH
Different league. Different Code of Conduct. But keep bringing up Bauer. Maybe he gets the Roethlisberger treatment instead.
Yeah, Big Ben was just as bad
You act like the court of public opinion thinks that way. If he gets anything less than a year there will be major image issues. It’s a different time from when Big Ben was assaulting women. They fire people for retweeting a joke.
That is the problem with social media
I agree completely. But most people (not including the Browns homer) understand big business has been folding to pressure from purple-haired non-gendered people that don’t even buy/use/watch their product.
Don’t you believe sex trafficking is wrong?
Allowing a sexual predator to represent the league in any fashion is Outrageous.
This guys gonna be visiting kids in Cleveland doing community stuff LOL so gross. Much slimy
Why isn’t Rusty Hardin dragging out this process?
A lengthy suspension handed down by a former federal judge seems like a not so great thing for his future civil trials.
Also, does anyone think if they suspend him for whatever he gets this year…AND THEN, next year the civil trials happen and (assuming) he’s found liable after a bunch of awful stories come out…what, the NFL will just say “well, he’s served his time” and let him play amid a guilty verdict and fresh egg on the NFL’s face? No way. He’ll get another suspension.
Since when do suspensions get negotiated? I guess when the commissioner does nothing but sit idly by.
Would there actually be any point in having a players union if suspensions and fines couldn’t be appealed?
We’ll the union needs to protect this scumbag so that when the next sexual predator/deviant has over 2 dozen accusers they’re treated just as fairly.
Even criminal cases get negotiated. Don’t you watch Law and Order?
Each incident is cause for suspension. That’s 25 incidents of violating the conduct code (that we know of). 4 games per incident equals 100 games. That seems fair to me.
I’m guessing you’re not a judge or anything. You could educate yourself on law though
How many times are we going to talk about this?? It isn’t law. It’s NFL conduct code and suspensions. I’m not putting him in jail. Just trying to apply the conduct code he agreed too. He admitted to the accusations when he agreed to pay damages. If he didn’t do anything, then why would he pay damages? I’m not a judge, but innocent people don’t pay for things they didn’t do.
Roethlisberger originally got 6 games and he had two victims. The appeal got it reduced to four games. An indefinite suspension seems fair because if you give him the same treatment as Roethlisberger, that’s three games per victim reduced to two on appeal, which would be 48 games. If we still had a 16 game season, that would be three full seasons.
It doesn’t work that way. Roethlisberger I believe was accused of rape. Watson isn’t
I can’t even imagine standing in front of a judge and, with a straight face, trying to make the case that Watson doesn’t deserve any suspension at all. I really can’t even fathom it.
Apparently the Grand Juries fathomed it. I’m sure they started with the fact that 2 Grand Juries refused to indict him but you have the evidence that the Grand Juries didn’t I guess
I’ve made this point before and you’ve conveniently ignored it, biased as you are, but I’ll repeat it: the NFL is judging him based on the NFL’s own code of conduct, not the laws of the land. The fact that grand juries did or didn’t indict Watson has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not he gets suspended by the NFL because they are judging him against a different set of rules.
I know that but they’re still judging him on whether he assaulted those women. Do you think Robinson has evidence or information that the Grand Juries didn’t? He will get a suspension because he violated the Code of Conduct but without strong evidence, the NFLPA is definitely going to start with that and with the fact that Kraft also violated the Code of Conduct and received nothing. Prostitution and sex trafficking is still a crime. It’s what lawyers do. Buzbee is trying this case in the media hoping that the Texans settle just to make it go away. That’s why he’s doing a few at a time to always be in the news cycle. Certainly you understand that
A few at a time? He settled 20 at one once… And just let go of the grand jury rant. This has been tried in the court of public opinion and whatever suspension he gets will be viewed through that lens. The NFL, NFLPA, the judge- They all know that anything resembling a slap on the wrist will look really bad. He can appeal, but he’s gonna get at least a year off.
Reading comprehension isn’t your strongest thing is it? Buzzbee is filing the lawsuits a few at a time to keep it in the cycle. Instead of filing 24 all at once, he’s doing them a few at a time. He may get a year. I expected at least 8 games. A year with the wording of indefinite is actually a plus for the Browns. It’s better than a year without the indefinite attached to it. His contract rolls over according to the Cleveland writers. You’re going to have to get over the fact that Watson will be the Browns quarterback for a long time
Filing a few at a time has made no discernible difference on how this is playing out. Settling 20 at once was a huge headline. Hardly laying low.
And I frankly couldn’t care less who Watson plays for. He’d be in hot water regardless. If you weren’t such a homer, you’d get that.
I’ve never said he doesn’t deserve a suspension. Never. I just don’t believe he should get a life sentence. He’s not accused of rape and that is what I think people think he did. I comment on articles in my local newspaper and even though I don’t always agree, at least those people come with an argument. The people on here are just not educated
You’ve made numerous remarks making light of what he did.
No, he may not have raped any of them, but he aggressively sought sexual gratification from all of them as only a thoughtless, callous, entitled athlete can do. And stupid enough to think he could do it over and over and no one would ever say a word about it.
You have a reading comprehension problem. He deserves a suspension. He aggressively sought sexual gratification? What the heck does that even mean? I don’t believe he forced anyone. Does it make you wonder why nobody called the police on him while he was there? Or right after? I haven’t heard of one. Wouldn’t you think that one of these women would have called the police and reported this? I’m not defending him because I believe something happened but I don’t believe it’s to the extent of criminality.
So anyone who questions or disagrees with you is uneducated or has reading comprehension issues? You just don’t like being disagreed with. Not a good look, dude.
You didn’t answer what does aggressively sought sexual gratification mean? You’ve just described most college guys on a date. Did he force himself on any of the girls? I don’t believe he physically restrained them even after they said no. They were free to leave the room I believe. Was he inappropriate? I believe he definitely was inappropriate and I believe the women who were offended should get compensated. I don’t believe what Watson did amounted to anything criminal. The Grand Juries seem to agree
Forget the grand jury already! And 24 women don’t sue a man for what a teenage boy would do. Does that even have to be explained to you?? Good lord, get a damn clue. Comment when you have something to contribute that’s not some homer driven bs to justify your hope that that pos is gonna save that franchise. You’re owner sold his soul and the future of that team on the back of a guy that no sane father would ever want near his daughter. There’s your facts. End of story.
You’re wrong. Watson is a good guy. Sorry you can’t handle that. You’ve already made up your mind so you’ll never admit that you’re wrong. Thanks for playing the fool again and again
They have the evidence now that he has accepted responsibility and paid damages to his victims.
Haha. This site is full of uneducated people. Unless he admitted in the settlement that he did something, he didn’t admit to anything. There is no evidence or he would have been indicted. Pretty simple really. Does that mean he didn’t do anything? No. I just don’t believe what he did was assault. Exposing himself? Yes. Propositioning the women? Yes.
Settling is admitting. Why would an innocent person settle??
Cheaper. Wanting to move on. Lots of people and businesses settle to avoid a lengthy process.
Well… part of that “wanting to move on” is that move on under the assumption that it was “cheaper” to admit fault and pay (paying is admitting fault) because the court would make you pay more when they heard the evidence, otherwise it would be cheaper to pay nothing and keep your name and reputation clear.
Do you know how much a high profile lawyer like Rusty Hardin would charge to litigate 24 individual civil cases? Maybe the Browns urged him to settle to help speed up the process. They want him to settle his civil cases, take the suspension and move on to football, either later this year or next year. No civil cases in March. It’s been widely reported that the NFL wants this to go away as soon as possible too
I don’t care why he admitted guilt. Lot’s of defendants everyday admit guilt to get lighter sentences or because they can’t afford to pay a lawyer. It doesn’t matter the reasons to me that he admitted that he owed damages, but he did and agreed to pay. That is not controversial. You are the only person who thinks Watson is innocent. He agreed to pay damages, which means to me and the rest of thinking world that he did it.
Show me in writing where he admitted guilt. Come educated to an argument. You look foolish.
Donald Trump has settled over 100 cases by paying damages. That’s just the one I Googled. Either you’re blind or stupid but rich people do it all the time. I guarantee you that he would not have pled guilty if this was a criminal case.
Poor people do it all the time too. Taking a plea deal is still an admission of guilt. Trump settling is an admission of guilt. Watson settling is an admission of guilt. Innocent people don’t pay. They prove their innocence in court. Guilty people pay their victims. One of us looks very foolish. It’s the one who won’t stop defending an admitted sexual deviant.
He didn’t admit it. Big corporations pay. Police pay. Cities pay. Like I said, Watson would not plead guilty in a trial. So I guess if these women accepted payments and dropped their suit then they are admitting that it didn’t happen? Why else wouldn’t they want to expose Watson? You’re not saying that it was only for the money? No way
Because they got paid for the damage he caused. Watson has been “exposed” (nice choice of words!) already. First by suing him. Second he agreed to pay for damages that he caused when he settled. I understand that all of those people settle suits. Every one is an admission that they will more than likely have to pay anyway, so they just pay now and save everyone the time when the outcome is not really in question. If they thought that after a lengthy trial they would pay nothing, then there would be a lengthy trial. If I sue Watson tomorrow, I promise he won’t settle with me.
I guarantee that if you were a woman that gave him a massage, even if nothing happened and you hired Buzzbee, there’s a good chance he would settle. His legal bills could be 3-5 million. I honestly think the Browns may have pressured him into settling. 5 days before he settled,he said he wouldn’t. Someone changed his mind. You’re really naive if you think settling admits guilt. The guy makes 46 million a year and he wants to move on. It doesn’t matter even if he won the civil suits, people believe what they want to believe. There are still millions of people who think Trump won the election and OJ Simpson didn’t kill anyone no matter the evidence in both. With Watson, there is no evidence
Don’t need any more evidence. He agreed to pay damages. Don’t care why. Agreeing to pay is the same as admitting fault. Not agreeing to pay is not admitting fault.
Nope. If he admitted to assault, then I guess we can expect him to be arrested any day now? I mean you just said he admitted. Here we go Brownies here we go. Woof woof
Agreeing to pay damages means admitting to causing damage. This isn’t rocket surgery. I’m sorry your hero is a creep, but he is… an admitted creep.
The NFL made him pay in exchange for a light suspension. 4-6 games
Did you read the article? They want an indefinite suspension with a baseline of a year. You should read the article. Don’t care the reason why he admitted he owed damages. He did.
Doesn’t matter what they want. The union doesn’t want any suspension and since Kraft was arrested for sex crimes and didn’t get a suspension or fine, they may settle in the middle. 6 games
Rocket surgery? Wow. Have your Mom post for you. She’ll make better sense
Did it on purpose. Sorry you also have no sense of humor. my mom thinks “rocket surgery” is funny and let me post it.
He’s having his stroke in installments. A complete shut in who lives for for this. Pitiful.
Shut in? Boy, you really don’t know me.
Watson should receive an indefinite suspension (without pay). Anything less spits in the eye of every female-related celebration the NFL claims to worship.
How bout 10 game suspension and from now on he only gets massages from guys? (“I think it moved!”)
He should be getting them from his cellie Bubba for the next few years.
BTW, he specifically sought out black females because he supposedly wanted to patronize small black/female owned businesses. When he makes his request to a masseuse not fitting that profile it won’t fulfill his twisted perversions.
What standard does Robinson use to make her ruling?
Reasonable doubt? Preponderance of the evidence? Whatever she feels like?
Is this spelled out in the CBA?