At the start of 2020, Deshaun Watson was accused of sexual misconduct during a massage session. This then spiraled into having 23 more women claiming that Deshaun Watson did the same thing to them.
Now, Deshaun Watson hasn’t played a game of football since 2020. After possibly being able to make a comeback with the Cleveland Browns, he is now facing a lengthy suspension.
When Should We Expect a Decision?
Near the end of June, Watson attended a three-day disciplinary hearing for the allegations he faced. Roger Goodell wanted an indefinite suspension of Watson but disciplinary officer Sue Robinson will be making the decision.
There was no timetable for a decision to be made at the end of the hearing, but now a decision should be announced before the start of the Browns’ training camp on July 27th.
https://twitter.com/StainbrookNFL/status/1548811179035852801?s=20&t=tEgue8mpJxfodczNJ-_ryA
Could Watson Somehow Get Out of This?
The possibility of Watson not getting suspended seems impossible, but it could happen.
Some think that he can get off the hook, including Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
“I’m not going to be surprised if he’s not suspended at all.”
He says his reasoning is that there has been no evidence that Watson has done anything at all. He says that the NFL presented no evidence of any violence, threat, force, or coercion by Watson.
What if he Gets Suspended?
Watson already has a plan if he gets suspended.
Per Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, he says that Deshaun Watson and the NFLPA will sue the NFL if they do not agree with the ruling.
https://twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/1549060682729103363?s=20&t=tEgue8mpJxfodczNJ-_ryA
If Watson ends up not getting suspended or gets a suspension he can deal with, he may still not be out of the woods.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t able to hand out the suspension on his own, but he can modify the length of the suspension if Sue Robinson believes that Watson violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy. So basically, if Judge Robinson hands out a suspension, Goodell can change the length of it to what he sees fit.
The rules seem a little strange, but we’ll see what happens when the decision is announced.