Deshaun Watson: NFL to appeal Cleveland Browns’ quarterback 6 game suspension
On Monday, Watson was suspended for six games this season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy in private meetings with massage therapists while he was with the Houston Texans.
The NFL had asked Sue L. Robinson, the former judge hired by the NFL and its players union to decide on Watson’s punishment, for a suspension covering the 17-game regular season and the playoffs.
No player accused of non-violent sexual misconduct, as Watson has been, has received a suspension longer than six games, Robinson said in her 16-page ruling issued Monday.
“While it may be entirely appropriate to more severely discipline players for nonviolent sexual conduct, I do not believe it is appropriate to do so without notice of the extraordinary change this position portends for the NFL and its players,” she wrote.
“The NFL notified the NFLPA that it will appeal Judge Robinson’s disciplinary decision and filed its brief this afternoon,” league officials said Wednesday. “Commissioner Roger Goodell will determine who will hear the appeal.”
Watson has repeatedly denied the accusations.
The NFL Player’s Association has already said it would not appeal. The union declined to comment Wednesday.
CNN has reached out to the Browns for comment.
The attorney of Watson’s accusers said the NFL “does not care about the rights of women” following the Cleveland Browns quarterback’s suspension for sexual misconduct allegations.
Appearing Tuesday on ESPN’s “First Take,” attorney Tony Buzbee attacked the investigation, saying he hopes the NFL will appeal the case, but his clients are angered and disappointed by the lenient suspension handed down by a disciplinary officer.
“Don’t expect the NFL to do anything heroic here,” Buzbee said.
Two grand juries in Texas declined to charge Watson with any crimes.
Twenty-four civil lawsuits have been filed against Watson — 23 have been settled confidentially.
Watson’s attorney Rusty Hardin told CNN he will not comment until after the NFL decides whether to appeal.
Judge Robinson said she was suspending the 26-year-old for his “predatory conduct.”
“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,” Robinson wrote in the 16-page ruling.
But, despite those findings, Judge Robinson critiqued the NFL for asking for an unprecedented full-season suspension which would be far lengthier than other players accused of non-violent sexual conduct.
On Tuesday, Buzbee — the attorney for the plaintiffs in the case against Watson — told ESPN he hopes the NFL moves forward with an appeal because that gesture would be well received by the accusers.
“I think that would change the messaging and I think it would be well received by the women I represent,” he said.
In her findings, Robinson wrote that her decision is limited by the record that was presented to her by NFL investigators who are former prosecutors with decades of experience investigating sexual assault…
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