The NFL and NFLPA moved to decide the Deshaun Watson matter via settlement. After off-and-on talks for months, the league and the union came to an agreement Thursday. Watson will be suspended 11 games and fined $5MM, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com reports (on Twitter).
Counseling will also be mandatory for the Browns quarterback, per the settlement. Watson said last week he had begun counseling. This agreement, a five-game bump from the original suspension announced by disciplinary officer Sue Robinson, will prevent this saga from spilling into court — long rumored to be the NFLPA’s course of action if a full-season ban came down.
Although Watson will not be permitted to play in games until December, he can return to the Browns’ facility Oct. 10, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The recently traded quarterback can resume practicing Nov. 14.
Settlement talks did not progress too far ahead of Robinson’s initial suspension, but with appeal appointee Peter Harvey expected to bring stronger punishment, the NFLPA became more amenable to negotiating with the league. Prior to Robinson’s ruling, the league was willing to drop its push for a full-season ban. The NFL was open to a 12-game penalty and a fine of at least $8MM. While this suspension and the fine are not quite what the league wanted initially, the NFL’s desire to see Watson sidelined for much of this season will come to fruition.
While Watson’s absence will obviously hinder the Browns’ hopes at a successful 2022 season, this settlement does open the door to his debut being in Houston. The Browns, who have a bye in Week 9, will travel to face the Texans in Week 13. Watson, 26, was with the Texans for five seasons — the last of which as a non-playing member on the 53-man roster.
It remains to be seen if Cleveland will stick with Jacoby Brissett for the duration of Watson’s suspension, as Jimmy Garoppolo connections have increased in recent days. Andrew Berry would not yet confirm Brissett would start Week 1, with Pro Football Focus’ Doug Kyed noting the third-year GM only expressed confidence in the Watson fill-in (Twitter link).
Unless a Garoppolo trade happens soon, or in the unlikely event Sam Darnold retains his starting Panthers job, Week 1 will feature a Brissett-Baker Mayfield matchup. The Browns will not have Watson for games against the Jets, Falcons, Chargers, Patriots, Dolphins, Bills, Buccaneers and initial games against each of their three AFC North rivals.
One of the 24 women who filed civil lawsuits against Watson alleging sexual assault and/or sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions has not settled her case. Absent a settlement, that matter will be tabled to 2023. Unless more lawsuits come down, this saga is on the homestretch regarding punishment. Two grand juries did not bring charges against Watson, but Robinson ruled he violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy by committing nonviolent sexual assault. Roger Goodell said last week the league found the Browns QB committed multiple violations of the policy, leading to the appeal.
With the CBA giving Goodell power to appeal and ultimately, via Harvey, follow through with a 17-game ban, the league would have been favored to prevail in a court case. It did so against Tom Brady and Ezekiel Elliott, who served their suspensions — after delays — despite court fights. The Watson drama, due to the volume of accusers and the nature of the alleged misconduct, became one of the highest-profile off-field matters in NFL history. Thus, it is unsurprising to see the league go forward with a settlement that prevents a weeks- or months-long court battle.
In the leadup to this settlement, Watson appeared to show more remorse for the alleged off-field misconduct. A Goodell statement Thursday indicated Watson “committed to doing the hard work on himself that is necessary for his return to the NFL.” The sixth-year QB has never admitted wrongdoing, however, and continued to lean in that direction Thursday, saying (via CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala, on Twitter) “I have always stood on my innocence” and that he “never assaulted or disrespected anyone.”
“I’m looking forward to just moving forward with my career and being able to get back on the field as soon as possible,” Watson said. “That’s the plan, to continue to grow as a person, an individual, and keep moving forward.”
Watson, who missed much of his rookie season due to an ACL tear, will end up missing 28 games in connection with these allegations. The Texans held off on trade talks for much of last year, after Watson had requested to be dealt just before his off-field saga began, and the three-time Pro Bowler’s market cooled once the controversy erupted. Houston deactivated its former starter for all 17 games last season. The Dolphins came closest to trading for Watson in 2021; at that point, the QB was only believed to have waived his no-trade clause to go to Miami. But the now-Mike McDaniel-led Dolphins moved forward with Tua Tagovailoa this year, opening the door to one of the most unusual trade sweepstakes in NFL history.
The Browns, Falcons, Saints and Panthers met with the embattled quarterback this year, and while Carolina was in on Watson the longest, Atlanta was believed to be the passer’s preference. That is, until the Browns came down with their historic five-year, $230MM fully guaranteed contract offer. The Texans traded Watson to the Browns for a package headlined by three first-round picks. Watson’s former employer is now in position to see the quarterback whose off-field actions led to the franchise being sued — producing 30 settlements with Watson accusers — come December 4.
Thursday’s settlement will prevent Watson’s contract from tolling. The NFL also increased the monetary penalty for a quarterback attached to a $1MM 2022 salary — a point of contention among the league and its 31 other teams. Watson will lose the $5MM and a $632K of his 2022 base salary. His 2023-26 salaries — which are in line to produce league-record cap numbers ($54.99MM) — will be unaffected.
Typical NFL. Primed to make a statement and bring the hammer down on him, and instead they bend the knee and slap him on the wrist. If only Watson did something truly evil and horrific like betting on a game, he’d be banned for life.
I don’t want this to sound like support for the player at all, but for a player not facing any criminal charges, this is still a big suspension. The fine is meh.
The player only isn’t facing criminal charges because his attorney and the judge went out drinking before the trial and then the judge magically suppressed all evidence from the prosecution.
Same lawyer that Haslam used that got all his subordinates bent over with Flying J by forcing them the perjure while Haslam walked free.
Kudos to you if you this to be true. I don’t.
The same attorney part is certainly true, can’t confirm the drinking part but wouldn’t doubt it.
Ask Trevor Bauer!
Calvin Ridley got an entire year suspension, Watson got 11 games. Big suspension??? Not even close. It’s a slap on the wrist and lesser things have gotten way more. @chound
@chound – perhaps charges weren’t pursued due to out of court settlements, which I’d perceive to be admittance of foul play, criminal or not.
Well its the NFL
Sexual assault 30 women – 11 game suspension
Be an inactive player and place a bet on a NFL game – 1 year suspension
Have to have your priorities
Yes, can’t have people questioning the credibility of the game….but sexually abusing women…no worries mate!
Watson was not found guilty of anything. Grand juries didn’t even indict him.
Sue Robinson found him guilty of sexual assault and lying during testimony.
Civil Court and crim8nal court are not the same. Duh!
I know that. What’s your point? He was still found guilty and he’s still being punished. He still lied about what he did. I guess none of that matters to you because he throw ball good on game day. Just let him abuse all the women he wants to.
Greeeeeaaaaat. You are an example of what is wrong with the world. Congratulations.
You’re not found guilty of anything in civil court. Clearly you don’t know that.
Do you remember O.J. Simpson? He was found guilty of wrongful death in civil court.
Clearly you have no clue what you are talking about.
You gonna be ok?
Should have been a year+.
It will be a year plus. 27 games total. So you got what you asked for. No I am not a Browns fan so don’t come at me like that. I honestly do not know how long it should be but he has been unofficially suspended already a year and now 11 more games.
Exactly
He hasn’t missed any games yet due to suspension, the games he sat out last season (& received full salary) was 100% a result of him stating he would never suit up for the Texans again. THEN, his accusers came forward.
Absolutely not. He chose to sit out for that year because he claimed the Texans were racist for not hiring a black coach. Then they do, then he throws a hissy fit because it wasn’t the black coach he wanted.
People will come at you for stupid takes so if you want to prevent them from doing so, don’t make stupid posts.
He wasn’t suspended in Houston, he SAT OUT.
He wasn’t suspended and the allegations didn’t start until into last year. He wanted a new contract and was sitting out on his own.
With his comments after the guy still has no clue. He says he is innocent and doesn’t need to say sorry because he apologized to all women. The will be interesting what the counselor has to say. Maybe they can add more games if he has same attitude. The guy is a POS hope his leg gets bent around and shoved up his backside to the knee.
Calvin Ridley betting $1,500 on a game he wasn’t playing in cost him his $11.16m salary and 17 games. This is all Watson gets?! Disgraceful.
Watson would be losing more than that if CLE didn’t give him such a conveniently structured contract.
He would also lose more if the NFL had manned up and suspended him for a season, delaying his free agency by a year
I’d recon he’s already paid out at least a third of the money he’s getting in this contract in settlements, so he’s taken a hit as is.
Could not have said it better!!!
And meanwhile, the NFL has partnered with online betting companies to suck in more profits from their fanbase despite the massive hypocrisy.
The NFL is the worst! And the Browns are the worst for trading for Watson! How can I support an organization like that?!
Go to game, tailgate, buy a Chubb jersey. It’s easy.
The Browns and Texans should be punished for their parts of this problem. Lose picks and salary cap of $20 million for the next 3 years. They shouldn’t be allowed to walk free from this MESS. Also not allowed to be allowed to have their games showed on TV for 2 years.
The Browns giving Watson that contract may have been a little sleezy, but nothing they did violated any rules. If the league cared about the salary lost in specific then they could have levied a fine in kind or suspended him the full 17 to make his contract toll. They did not. As bad as the Browns look for this, Watson’s infractions were far worse than CLE’s, and if the allegations about TEX are real then you can say the same for them.
This tells me that you can play in the league with a non or violent sexual assault! All you get is a slap on the wrist! Ridley need file Suit about his suspension.
browns are still screwed and this guy’s gonna get booed everywhere he goes
Yeah, the Browns paid in PR. They didn’t have to make the move but did.
Especially when they went after him and he pretty much laughed and said no way, then they went all in and all of a sudden he was willing to go there. Have some dignity!
lol… Right because the Texans knew what he was doing. You can prove this. Therefore punish the Texans.
The browns most definitely new what he had been up to. However the rule in the NFL is if you can help us win we will forgive you. Murder someone? Don’t worry about it we’ll have you back on the field in eight games. Rape someone? No sweat we’ll have you back on the field in 6 to 11. Whatever you do though don’t let someone videotape you doing any of these things. Because the moment video comes out you’re going to be banned for life like Ray Rice.
The NFL is a farce.
The Texans did pay off 30 massage therapists. That’s an admission of guilt
not really
Of course it is. Just like Watson paying them off. Roethlisberger too. Kobe too.
it just means they’re willing to pay to have them shut up about it..
doesn’t necessarily mean they were telling the truth .. especially if they accept money over justice
How can you not believe the women. I can’t believe you’d stick up for Watson
I believe some and believe others were hopping on the money train..
in no way does that mean I’m siding with Watson or believe his innocence
Stupid argument
I still wanted more than this in terms of suspension and fine but it is better than where it started.
“Looooowered Expectaaaaaatioooonnnssssss.”
So the Browns 12th game is in Houston. Well played, NFL.
Nice, just proves how everything is staged.
Pete Rose gets banned for life for betting on his team to win while DeShawn Watson sexually assaults dozens of women and doesn’t even get one year.
Different sport with different conduct and regulations towards its employees. Also fun fact, Pete “if she’s bleedin’ she’s needin'” Rose signed off on that lifetime ban.
Anytime Rose didn’t bet on his team to win he bet against them. He should 100% be banned for life. Once he started betting on games he was a part of it effected every single game he managed, regardless of whether he has money on the table or not.
And he flat out denied anything, until he wanted to sell a book. Just wait until the next book to find out even more on Pete.
Yep. No doubt in my mind he bet against his team at least once.
100% false. He only bet on his team to win. That said, he’s a disgusting human being that deserves everything he got.
That you know of; ever wonder why he willingly signed a lifetime ban?
Like others have said, he only admitted that later in life when he was about to release a book. Anytime he didn’t bet on his team to win it was a bet against them.
Yeah… so…I don’t know if you’re aware of this but Pete Rose played in the MLB and deshawn Watson plays in the NFL. They have different rules different governing bodies different penalties. It might help when you’re sharing your opinion if you understood the difference.
The comments here essentially amount to who can hate him more while also trying to sound virtuous and it just comes across as self righteous and ironic. Bad behavior is ok if it targets worse behavior I guess. A crowd of people chanting obscenities at him makes them look no better. The guy is a scum bag, he probably learned a big lesson and has a chance to rebuild his life and career. Hopefully he can. We’ll see. A grand jury said he didn’t commit a crime so he isn’t going to get banned for life for non-crimes.
Grand Juries don’t decide whether a crime has been committed; they decide whether the evidence presented is sufficient to proceed with the charges alleged. It hinges on “the evidence presented” and that’s entirely on the DA
Deshaun’s own comments: “I never harassed anyone. I never disrespected anyone. I never forced anyone to do anything.”
That doesn’t sound like a guy who’s learned a big lesson. About the only part you have right is he is a scum bag, and he’s a scum bag who (along with help from the Browns) has done just about everything to circumvent any type of real punishment.
Feel however you want to feel about it, but saying others come across as “self righteous” is a joke. One could say you’re doing the same in your carefully measured defense of the guy. People are expressing their opinions, the same as you.
The Browns,the Texans,and Watson are smiling together because they received a slap on the hand.
He doesn’t play for the Texans. They got rid of the problem.
They enabled it, lucky for them they crafted ironclad NDAs to hand out like candy on Halloween.
NDAs are handed out all the time for a variety of reasons. Doesn’t mean the Texans enabled it at all. Did he say, “Cal, I’m sexually assaulting women, I need an NDA?” No chance. He either went through the Texans legal department, which is available at most large companies, or lied his butt off to get it.
Now it’s obvious haven’t read up on anything involving this case.
Who just hands out an NDA and doesn’t find out what it is for? There has to be a reason. The team can say they didn’t know but it makes them look like incompetent fools. I guess it is the Browns so it fits.
I think he’s saying it was the Texans handing out the NDA.
Yes my fault still stand by the comment about Browns. Texas seems to be close.
The Texans are very incompetent
In order to enable something you have to know what’s going on you dope. They did not enable him. Every NFL team provides non-disclosure agreements to their players because their players are freaking millionaires who are targets of litigious jerk offs.
Sure thing b ass86,another clown that doesn’t actually know the case. The Texans providing hotel rooms and NDAs for a service you have people on the payroll to do at the teams facility wouldn’t happen if they didn’t already know of his behavior and why nobody on staff would work with him. Those NDAs were provided to him as soon as word started getting out.
No chance he learned a lesson. He will get in trouble again. He has $225 million left from his new contract.
Sorry if the crowd chanting mean things hurt your feelings.
Dude, I don’t know what you heard. They were cheering about Watson’s former ice hockey playing prowess and chanting, “You flick pucks!”
Probably celebrating with a massage.
Bears still would have been better off drafting him over Mitch. Those picks would have looked really nice for the rebuild right about now.
Too lenient. When (not if) Watson does his massage thing again, I hope the NFL will do a lifetime ban.
This should have been the starting point for Susan’s original discipline.
Somewhere out there, Calvin Ridley is not a happy camper
Hope Ridley sues the NFL about his Suspension.
He still deserves his suspension, as he broke the golden rule. However what he did was not near as bad as Watson’s. His should just be much longer.
Better than 6 but whole year would have sent a stronger message. First game back against Houston!
One of those masseuses should have claimed they saw him betting on NFL games.
The shield lives up to its name, protect their own. Apology tour and charitable donations are next for Watson.
Bingo. They’ll dust off the old playbook and get to work while Ridley sits because you can get away with a lot in the NFL, but don’t dare do anything to threaten the shield.
Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2024, image rehabilitation complete.
He is not going on an apology tour. Did you see his interview? He has no regrets and was defiant. Said he apologized to all women and didn’t need to do it again but he was innocent.
This agreement between the NFL and the players union tells me that they both don’t care about women at all! We the fans should ban together an boycott the NFL. The fine is chump change to Watson. He’s still getting $45 million from Cleveland. If Watson work anyplace else in this Country he would of been fired and not brought back to work. So are you telling me Watson offensive is lesser than Trevor Bauer offensive. So Non violent sexual assault to violent sex assault isn’t the Same. Both are crimes!!! I’m canceling out my NFL Ticket and returning tickets to NFL games because the League makes me sick to my stomach! The NFL makes me sick!!!
Technically he missed all of last year, so that’ll make 28 games +5M. I’m pretty sure he got paid for last year.
No last season Watson didn’t wanted to play and still received his salary of $10 million. He Was Being Payed for not playing.
He said last season on his own accord. He shouldn’t have received a dime, but pulled his full salary.
Not said, but sat.
I hope the only woman who hasn’t settled yet takes Watson to Civil Court and goes after his $230 million guarantee money. Only ways that Watson will learn a lesson is to lose all his Money!
The ginger hammer is getting weak. Can’t believe he folded
The difference in the Ridley (or even Pete Rose) & Watson is the offense(s) for gambling are spelled out. Watson’s case is new territory. Although I think he should have gotten more punishment (say 25 games, one for each complaint), the problem Judge Robinson had was what to compare this vs. other previous punishments. That’s where the 6 games came from. You can’t possibly spell out the consequences for every vile act 1 or 2 of the 1500+ players commits. They should spell it out clearly; 1st offense 1 year, 2nd lifetime ban. That’s for any violation of the personal conduct policy. Players fear nothing for their transgressions. Need to toughen up, it’s a privilege to play in the NFL, you lose that privilege when you make stupid decisions.
The league playing judge, jury and prosecutor is pretty shaky. There is no criminal conviction here, ruining a man (or a woman’s) career for what is hearsay is a trend which should worry us.
The compromise benefits all.
Hearsay? They actually interviewed some of the victims.
Shaky? Maybe the players shouldn’t have agreed to CBA that spells out the process of violating the conduct policy.
@Hawktattoo I’m still waiting for the Robert Kraft suspension. His conduct also damaged the reputation of the league. Exploiting trafficked women. I believe the owners commit in writing to upholding the standards of the NFL and not damaging the reputation of the league. Hence all the chasing around behind the Redskins and Dan Snyder.
Yes, Watson’s behaviour is more egregious as Watson sought out these young women, many of whom would not have anticipated his lubricious proposition. But it’s roughly in the same category.
I agree..I am still waiting. Kraft got off way too easy, OK bad choice of words. And yes Watsons is worse but both bad. I was mainly referring to the process now. In the 2020 CBA players agreed to it.
The owners are suppose to be held to same conduct policy. Snyder will be a test of that.
Kraft was the test. And the NFL failed the test. Almost all the owners are scoundrels.
A cowardly settlement.
Sexually attacking a woman is now worth the equivalent of a half game.
24 women violated criminally = 11 games
There were actually 66 victims according to the NY Times – but only 26 wanted to take him to court.
Guessing the others signed NDAs and couldn’t sue even though they wanted to.
There were 66 masseuses. How many were victims and how many were happy to accept a large tip? I have no idea and neither do you. It’s a horrid vacuous lifestyle but no one has suggested these were crimes of violence or even that anyone was threatened.
Women are perfectly capable of doing very strange things both for money and without money changing hands. Particularly the contemporary generation which has grown up with the internet.
There’s still something suspicious about how all this suddenly came to light after Watson said he’d never play football for Cal McNair and the Texans ever again.
Someone announces they want out, which means it’s notably harder to serve court summons, beit for civil or criminal. You have no choice but to come out before someone leaves the state.
Huh? He wasn’t moving to another country with no extradition treaty with the US.
Court summons have to be delivered in person, and civil court can’t cross state lines.
So what you’re telling me is all you have to do when you commit a crime is just move to another state and even if they know where you’re at, they can’t do anything about it? He was already in Cleveland when some civil cases were added
Generally yes, unless its completely heinous you can just leave a state and with different tags on the car evade a warrant.
Goodell and owners are signaling that they don’t want the dirty laundry of owners brought out in court should Watson filed suit.
So Goodell just said to every player you can do whatever you want to as many as you want as long as it’s non violent
More importantly, he said this to the fans. Are you all going to keep cosigning this behavior and being fine with it? If not, stop supporting the league. Otherwise shut up and stop complaining if you continue to watch games, go to games, buy merch, or gamble on games. You support this crap if you do those things and have no ground to stand on to open your mouth and complain about it.
The man, still today, claims innocence. His mental problems distort his reality. His addiction to self pleasure and narcissism out weigh his understanding on “acceptable behavior”
The man doesn’t get it.
Which means, this has been going on unnoticed for years. With no constraints.
NFL should mandate that he seeks counseling about his expectations by women who are professional message therapist
Please notice therapist hyphenated is the-rapist, which in this case is Deshaun Watson
The Clemens Browns has decided this behavior is acceptable
It’s yet to be determined if their fans will compromise to the degree their management has
I would have way more empathy for a man who repented from this behavior than one who feels his actions were “innocent”
Is there not any team mates, who have courage and conviction to call this man out?
Many on this stream have way more common sense on this behavior than the fanatics in Cleveland
Stand up, stand out
Otherwise you are part of the problem instead of the solution
He doesn’t have a mental problem. He just thinks women are objects to be used however he wants. He’s a disgusting pig of a person. I am tired of people trying to blame their crimes and personal failures on having some sort of medical condition.
BS
Gross.
NFL is all bout the money….. Period. Think they really care they have a “apologetic” pervert playing for the worst franchise in the NFL? Nope.
If they cared about money, they would get that creep out of the league. I’m not watching that idiot or his team play. The next step for all of us that care, is to not by products from companies that support the Browns. Starting with First Energy, and then these Watson sponsors as well… Medical Mutual · Power Home Solar · CareSource · MANCAN · Rally’s · Whelan Security · Keurig Dr Pepper
If you live in northern Ohio, you’re stuck with a FirstEnergy subsidiary for your electric service.
Big business doesn’t care about knee-jerk fan thinking. Look at how the anti-union Amazon and Starbucks get gentle treatment in mainstream news outlets.
Look at how putting pressure on FedEx and other sponsors finally got the team in Washington to change their racial slur name. I know that they are stuck with FirstEnergy in Ohio, but First energy is not stuck with the Browns. I’m not sure Dr. Pepper would consider fans that are disgusted by them supporting an admitted serial sexual predator as “knee-jerk”. Amazon and Starbucks are union busting, which all corporations support, but being connected to Watson and his 30 (and counting) victims cannot be good for business.
First Energy has their own problems. Most deals for advertising are for the entire NFL, not just the Browns. Boycotting rarely works. Just ask Nike and Kaepernick. No sports league care about a small percentage of fans that are upset enough to boycott them. Everyone on here, no matter how mad they are, are still gonna tune in to the NFL every week
Nobody boycotted FedEx. And it worked. They changed their name. The sponsors not wanting to be associated with Donald Sterling cost him his franchise. I understand what you are saying, but I doubt that Dr. Pepper and the other sponsors that I listed would want to be a sponsor of sexual assault, and people who care should start asking them.
You’re dreaming if you think major companies or even fans of other teams are going to give up what they love just because Watson got 11 games instead of 17. It’s just not gonna happen for one player that most people could give a sh#t about. Nike has never been stronger since they hooked up with Kaepernick. The NFL got stronger and stronger even after Ray Rice, Roethlisberger, Kaepernick and Hunt. Sadly, nobody really cares enough in this country to give up football.
I’m not sure what Kaepernick has to do with the rest of these guys? Taking a social justice stand, whether you agree with it or not, should not get you lumped in with guys that are physically and sexually assaulting women. I’m not suggesting boycotting sponsors or the NFL. I simply sent Keurig Dr. pepper a friendly email, asking if a wholesome family company such as theirs is really going to be a sponsor of sexual assault? I would never dream that my email would stop the NFL from playing games this year, but Dr. Pepper might not want to be a sponsor of sexual assault, and I am curious enough to ask them.
Do you volunteer at any women’s organizations? Have you donated your money for these causes? I think what Watson did was bad, but if the people on here would show as much concern for regular women abused by regular guys as they do Watson, the country would be better off.
I volunteer once a week (Wednesday night) with my local Safe Place organization. We host a peer support group for women that are victim’s of domestic violence. We volunteer to do child care while the women meet. Furthermore, we play, do crafts, and provide the kids with a meal. Not that it matters, but point taken. I was suggesting that instead of telling each other what we think of Watson, we should let the companies that are listed by the Browns as corporate sponsors what we think. That is all. Don’t think it will change the world, but might be worth an email?
Well then I guess you’re one of a few. Nobody likes what Watson did but like I said before, if people would be more concerned about sex trafficking and women that are forced into prostitution, we’d be much better off. Watson will come back and play but there’s still women being abused by their boyfriends and husbands that need the outcry from everyone
Agreed. I hope he gets help and doesn’t assault any more women. Based on his lack of accountability, his lack of remorse, and the leniency of the suspension, I wouldn’t bet on it.
Doing the math, it looks like he got a suspension of 27.5 game minutes for each of the 24 women who brought allegations…
You get a thumb’s up just for the reference of your handle.
That’s gross
No, it is called a song by T-Rex. If you want to hear music excellence, listen to some Marc Bolen led T-Rex, “Bang a Gong.”
That is good for Watson to know going forward when he is assaulting his next victim.
And for every other guy doing the same thing but has yet to be caught. No reason to stop. You’ll still get multi-millions of dollars and not have to fear any criminal punishment and still get to play for the NFL; Not For Ladies.
This is lame. The NFL is a joke. You are a clown if you still watch and support this business in any shape, manner, or form.
The NFL failed to send Watson a proper message. Now it is time for the fans of the sport (NOT THE BUSINESS) of football to send a proper message to the NFL. This is not right. We don’t support the actions of a serial sexual abuser, but obviously they do. We won’t support you.
If you continue to support this business, that means you co-sign Watson’s behavior and are okay with it.
Your stuff is getting old. Go away if you don’t like the NFL
You can Kiss my Ass
Response was to the Brownies guy.
And his response was to you. He’s the one that upvoted my comment.
I am watching the NFL right now. The teams both suck and my team is awful. I can watch the NFL and still not support the Clowns. You do you I will do what I want. I am a grown a**. man an old one but smart enough to make my own decisions.
So you support the Browns, Watson, and how the NFL has handled the situation. You are supporting the NFL by watching one of its other properties, generating money not just for the team you do support, but the NFL in general, and then through revenue sharing, the Browns and Watson.
I am glad you are a big, tough, strong, grown, old man that supports serial sexual predators and think they should be allowed to walk free and repeat offend. You made a bold choice sir, and it is your right to do so, no matter how morally corrupt your decision is. Pat yourself on the back, give yourself a round of applause, and look in the mirror and say, “Yeah, I am okay with what Watson did. He’s a great guy.”
Other people are agreeing with me. Maybe you need to read the room, dude.
This message board ISN’T the NFL, so why should I go away? This is a place where people voice their opinions. You don’t have to like or read mine if you don’t like them, but I am not going to go away. My message is clear.
If you want to support murders, rapists, drug dealers, abusers, violent domestic abusers, and other terrible example of humanity, you go right ahead. That speaks volumes about your own character. You condone this stuff and love it. You idolize these people as heroes. You’d be happy if one of these people did something like this to your family members. Cool. Glad you are okay with that kind of garbage.
You do realize that being on here allows PFR to charge more for the ads at the bottom. You may want to rethink your boycott. PFR thanks you for your support. I could care less about Watson but you keep posting the same ridiculous stuff. I’m not going to give up rooting for my team because of what Watson, the Browns and the Texans did
You are complaining about how the NFL handled this. Whatever team you root for is part of the NFL, therefore you condone what Watson did and how the NFL handled it if you continue to support the NFL.
PFR is not the NFL. I don’t care what they charge for anything.
You know you’re gonna be like everyone else on here when it comes down to opening week in the NFL. You’ll be watching just like me
I haven’t watched a game in 4 years and I am not gonna start watching again any time soon. These brain bashing morons don’t deserve to take up that much time in my life. They aren’t important to me.
Better get ready to throw out your iPhone next year. Apple will pay 3 billion for the Sunday Ticket. You definitely don’t want to support a company that uses your money to give to the players
I don’t use any Apple products.
I’m sure you buy something that advertise during NFL games. You are a one man boycott. Good luck with that.
Absolutely not. I don’t support companies with my money that come out and say they hate me just because I exist.
So you live in America so you are liable for all the stupid things they do. Not going to get into politics but if you pay taxes you support the crap they do. Either stop paying taxes and not support the government or leave. Russia is looking for a few more comrades.
I do live in America and we have PERSONAL responsibility.
I pay taxes because I am legally obligated to do so whether I support the current administration in office or not.
I am not complaining about America and I love it, so your analogy is not applicable in a myriad of ways, and I don’t want to leave the best country in the known universe.
There has never been any consistency to how the NFL handles violations of the personal conduct policy. The same standards should hold whether your an owner or player. Goodell will have to deal with Daniel Snyder and the mess in Washington next, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.
Unless you have a code of conduct that specifically applies to your players that the players all agreed to.
Goodell works at the behest of the owners.
If you don’t like how the NFL conducts business, stop supporting it. If you continue to watch games, go to games, buy merch, and otherwise give them your money, then you voted with your dollars to support all of this. You are giving them your stamp of approval. So, stop complaining.
Apples and Oranges. The Owner agreement is probably VERY different than the NFLPA agreement – thus you should not expect owners and players to be treated the same. Watson is in complete violation of the player’s conduct agreement thus they should have banned him forever if they had any interest in actual compliance.
The NFL actually operates under 1 policy of conduct. There is not different ones for players and owners. I think we will see owners held more accountable in the future.
There is a code of conduct policy specifically FOR THE PLAYERS. It is in the CBA. There is not one in the CBA for the owners.
Interesting since the first sentences say..policy applies everyone representing nfl…this includes owners, players, office staff etc.
Is that the one that is in the CBA?
You seem to think you know a lot about something you haven’t paid attention to for four years. I will give you a dollar to go away.
Paying attention and supporting are not the same thing. You do know this, right?
I can pay attention to you and still think you are a useless piece of garbage that doesn’t deserve my money.
Yes there is. It was rewritten in 2020…..after you stopped following all things related to the NFL
Show me where it is in the CBA.
If he’s “always stood on his innocence” (whatever that means) then why did he apologize to the women and vow to change?
Congrats, Rape City Browns fans…
Your QB isn’t just a POS, he’s a moron who thinks you are even dumber.
Must be a common trait among people with 20+ sexual assault accusers.
Cleveland Browns is now America’s Team of Most Wanted in the NFL! Both D.Watson and K.Hunt knows first hand how to beat on women.
You can include the other Ohio team in that too. Ohio wins
Every single Browns fan trying to justify cheering for their team that employs a serial sexual predator:
“Well, look at what so and so did…”
And? What’s that got to do with YOUR team and YOUR SUPPORT of this scumbag?
Why? His lawyer and his Goodell and the NFLPA explained how the “court of public opinion” works to Watson and exactly what he’d have to do to put this behind him. Publicly arguing his innocence, dragging the dirty laundry out in detail in the media, was not an acceptable option.
These were not assaults based on what’s come out publicly, but solicitation. Solicitation is also a crime, but it’s not assault.
Curious the group hate going on. There are far worse criminals walking around free now, enjoying the afternoon on their multi-million dollar yachts, travelling in private jets. Most of Epstein’s friends are still walking around free and in their jobs, not even publicly named, let along shamed. Including a very prominent US politician. The videos are with the FBI (the Little Saint James island raid was to pick them up) and strictly under wraps.
Non violent sexual assault was the terminology used by Sue Robinson.
Way to try to justify the unjustifiable.
Sorry but as US bombs fall on innocent Yemeni &
Syrian families and young US families have their houses repossessed due to the recessions while restauranteurs lose their life’s work due to illogical local lockdowns while international tourism carries on only to have lockdowns released too late to save small business, it seems to me there are far more unjustifiable actions in the world worthy of our ire.
Morally ambiguous young man does distasteful things. Morally ambiguous young man is soundly punished personally and professionally for his actions. Some of the people he offended are extremely well-compensated for the insult they had to endure. Looks like what should have happened did happen.
Apples to oranges dude, you still don’t get it.
But I will rewrite the second paragraph of yours to make it truthful.
Young punk thug thinks he can get away with anything because he’s been getting away with everything all his life simple because he throws ball good. Young punk thug sexually assaults 66 women. Young punk thug, because he throws ball good avoids prison, gets a slap on the wrist, and still has his job where he will make more money than God. No justice was served.
Exactly…
Deshaun Watson should be able to sexually assault whoever he wants because Yemeni’s get bombed.
Smart take there.
No the take is that some guy propositioning masseuses during nearly naked massage is neither unheard of nor a violent crime. It’s an offensive act, not necessarily a criminal one (depends on the jurisdiction).
There’s a lot worse going on in the world, far more worthy of our indignation. While I type this and you read it, there are children going hungry in America, women being beaten by men, children being sexually exploited. It’s a terrible world and there’s a lot for us to fix. Deshaun Watson has lost a lot of income and paid some very big fines (more money than most of us will earn in a lifetime) for his actions.
Watson has paid/is paying for what he did.
Do something useful. Find someone in distress now to save.
You know what is the exact polar opposite of useful?
Minimizing and excusing bad, predatory and criminal behavior with dime store whataboutism.
Helps literally no one.
And, quite often, it is done to justify skeletons in their own closet.
I am. I am actively showing people how they can stop a lot of this horrible behavior by some of the worst predators in the world. If you stop supporting the NFL, you stop promoting the Players that have 15 children with 13 different women and are not fathers to any of them.
You stop excusing drug trafficking, violent beatings, shootings, rapes, domestic violence, and sexual assaults by people that get off just because they play a game and can pay off people to look the other way.
You are in distress right now, brother and I am trying to save your soul. Stop supporting the sinners.
Watson hasn’t paid for what he’s done. That comes after this life is over and he meets his maker.
But will he wear the C in Week 12? Attitude reflects leadership, Captain.
C: Captain Crap
Here comes brownsbacker9/pittsburgh2/3BM or whatever the hell he’s calling himself today to prove us all wrong and tell us how wrong Watson was done dirty and how he shouldn’t be suspended at all, and instead given an extension
Did you know that somewhere, some other guy, did something 10-15 years ago? I mean…
What do you mean? I guess I don’t get it? Are you saying that because Vikings raped and pillaged Watson is cool?