The NFL will attraction Cleveland Brown quarterback Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension and search a harder penalty for violating its private conduct coverage for “egregious acts” of “sexualized contact” with therapeutic massage therapists, the league mentioned Wednesday.
The NFL mentioned in an announcement it has notified the gamers’ union it’s appealing. It had three days from the ruling to attraction, the league mentioned within the assertion.
Retired Judge Sue L. Robinson presided over Watson’s case and issued the suspension Monday.
“The NFL notified the NFLPA that it will appeal Judge Robinson’s disciplinary decision and filed its brief this afternoon. Commissioner Roger Goodell will determine who will hear the appeal,” the league mentioned.
Tony Buzbee, an legal professional representing two dozen therapeutic massage therapists who’ve accused Watson of misconduct, lauded the NFL’s determination to attraction Wednesday.
“Bravo to the NFL. It’s never too late to do the right thing,” he mentioned in an announcement.
Watson’s legal professional, Rusty Hardin, couldn’t instantly be reached for remark Wednesday. No one with the gamers’ union may very well be reached.
The choose dominated there was “sufficient circumstantial evidence to support the NFL’s contention” that Watson sought sexual contact with a number of therapeutic massage therapists he reached by way of social media.
The quarterback “knew such sexualized contact was unwanted,” the choose added.
But she questioned the NFL’s need to bench Watson for all of 2022.
“According to the NFL, if this recommended sentence is unprecedented (as characterized by Mr. Watson and the NFLPA), that is because his conduct is unprecedented,” Robinson added.
Robinson additionally mentioned in her determination, “It is inherently unfair to identify conduct as prohibited only after the conduct has been committed, just as it is inherently unjust to change the penalties for such conduct after the fact.”
The most common suspensions for acts of home violence have been six-game bans, in line with Robinson, including that Watson is entitled to the advantage of some mitigating issues.
He’s a “first-time offender,” had “an excellent reputation in his community prior to these events” and was already sidelined all through 2021 as the allegations hovered over him, the choose mentioned.
“Mr. Watson is hereby suspended for six (6) regular-season games without pay,” she dominated. “Although this is the most significant punishment ever imposed on an NFL player for allegations of non-violent sexual conduct, Mr. Watson’s pattern of conduct is more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL.”
Watson was additionally ordered to restrict his massages to “Club-directed sessions and Club-approved massage therapists.”
A consultant for the gamers’ union on Monday mentioned that Watson would abide by Robinson’s decree.
Union spokesman Brandon Parker urged Goodell to not contest the choose’s determination, saying that “Watson and the union will not be appealing the ruling.”
Scott Berkowitz, president of RAINN based mostly in Washington D.C., an anti-sexual violence group, applauded the choice to attraction the six-game suspension. The group referred to as on Watson to overlook the whole season.
“While no disciplinary action will undo the trauma inflicted by Watson, a suspension of at least one year will send a strong message that his actions have no place in the NFL, or in our society,” Berkowitz said in a statement.
The National Organization for Women has called the six-game suspension “unacceptable, insulting and dangerous — but not surprising.”
“The NFL has had a violence against women problem for years — and everyone knows it,” the group said in a statement. “Deshaun Watson must not be allowed to profit from his horrific behavior, and the NFL must change its business model that allows, enables, and hides sexual misconduct into one that respects women and holds abusers accountable. “
Watson signed a five-year, $230 million guaranteed contract with the Browns in March.
He has missed a substantial period of time on the sphere, having not performed for the Houston Texans all of final season as his authorized challenges unfolded and the staff sought to trade him.
Lindsey Pipia contributed.
