Judge Sue L. Robinson’s decision to suspend Deshaun Watson for six games surfaced and not many people were happy about this outcome that has played out since March 2021.
Monday’s episode of “Good Morning Football” brought on a strong opinion on the matter from Kyle Brandt.
Brandt explained why the six-game suspension disappointed him, arguing that Watson engaged in behavior that warranted a much more serious punishment:
Transcribed via Bro Bible:
“You start to lose track of the human element of this story. This is not a player that’s being suspended for PEDS, or even gambling. This is a very poignant human story involving women and there’s this thing about well, it’s not 30, it’s not two dozen, it’s five. Who cares if it’s one? Do you understand? It could be one and there’s also this non-violent phrase that’s being thrown out like it’s some kind of Band-aid. The word is coersive. And I look at six and I find it very light.
I hope it doesn’t stay that way personally. I think that Deshaun Watson leveraged his status as an NFL player against women. In my opinion. And I think it happened more than one time and I think it was was in closed doors in small rooms against women who were probably intimidated. And it pisses me off to even talk about it. And frankly it pisses me off to see the number six. And I don’t think it’s going to stay that way and I hope it doesn’t.”
Watson, who played for four seasons with Houston before being traded to Cleveland in March, recently settled 23 of 24 lawsuits filed by massage therapists alleging sexual harassment and assault during appointments in 2020 and 2021.
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After learning the ruling was imminent, the NFL Players Association issued a joint statement with Watson on Sunday, saying they will not appeal disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson’s ruling and urged the league to follow suit.
“Every player, owner, business partner and stakeholder deserves to know that our process is legitimate and will not be tarnished based on the whims of the League office” the union said in a statement.
Roger Goodell and the league are expected to appeal as they were calling for a much longer suspension.
As he awaited the ruling, Watson has been in training camp with the Browns. He has continued to take most of the reps with the first-team offense, which will be turned over to backup Jacoby Brissett while he’s sidelined.
