Was this ever in doubt? The NFL brought this case to Judge Sue Robinson in order for her to cast the 1-year suspension on Watson. When she refused, Roger Goodell and the league office needed to appeal the ruling or risk being seen as weak.
This Deshaun Watson vs. NFL fiasco has become the most dominating media story since Deflategate, which was seven years ago now. That is how complex, intricate, and confusing this case has become. And it is only just the beginning.
Everything kicked off two days ago when Judge Sue Robinson, the NFL’s specially appointed arbitrator in the case, decided to lay out (pretty graphically, I might add) the allegations and condemn Deshaun Watson as guilty of most of the allegations being said against him by the four female masseuses. A clear-cut case, right? Well, no, Judge Sue Robinson also decided to only suspend the quarterback for the first six NFL games as she felt that the NFL had only a six-game suspension precedent for abuse crimes.
So, in other words, Judge Robinson decided that Watson was “more likely than not” to have abused the four women in the cases the NFL brought before her, but that his actions were only worthy of a six-game suspension. Yeah, I think that’s strange too.
Now, I understand her legal reasoning behind only giving him six games. Precedent is a huge factor in US Law, and one that decides most cases. That is how important the concept is in the US’s legal code. Plus, I get that she is pointing out that the NFL has been horrible in their suspension judgments in the past, which is why she can only give Deshaun Watson six games.
Yet, this Deshaun Watson case really shouldn’t fall under the “NFL has set a bad precedent, so I can only suspend him for X number of games” mindset. What Judge Robinson has concluded that Deshaun Watson has done is pretty sick.
When I wrote an article about this Watson case a few days ago, I only saw the ruling of the six-game suspension. I didn’t see the findings until much later. And now that I have seen the findings, I have to admit, I’m pretty horrified that Watson can still play football professionally. And I have to say that I’m taking the NFL’s side now.
Judge Robinson specifically found and wrote that she believed (more likely than not) that Deshaun Watson abused and assaulted four women while undergoing a massage therapy for three straight years! THREE YEARS OF ABUSE?!?! That’s insane and disgusting. I know Ben Roethlisberger and Jameis Winston were both accused of similar crimes, but they were never (essentially) called guilty on them by a US federal judge. Watson has been called guilty and then some.
I don’t know how he expected to get away with such behavior, especially given how “high-profile” his standing in the NFL was (and still is). Nevertheless, the Judge’s reports did indicate that he justified his behavior because of his stature in the NFL. So, maybe he just didn’t care about being caught. He obviously didn’t care about those masseuses.
Nonetheless, even though I am sometimes harsh on the NFL, I’m fully on their side on this case. Deshaun Watson shouldn’t be playing in the NFL if the Judge Robinson’s rulings (if true, which I’m 100% sure they are) on the accusations are true. Period.
Still, with the NFLPA fully supporting Watson, I’m not sure how the NFL will be able to enforce a 1-year suspension with Judge Robinson’s ruling now hurting its case too. I guess we’ll have to wait and see in the next rendition of this fight.
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