Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson struck a deal with the NFL to play games in 2022. Then he insisted he was innocent coming off a staged in-house apology last week.
Watson has been suspended for 11 regular-season games and fined $5 million as part of an 11th-hour agreement struck Thursday between the league and NFL Players’ Association, the league announced.
He also must “promptly undergo a professional evaluation by behavioral experts” and “follow their treatment program.”
Still, Watson said in a press conference Thursday that “I’ve always stood on my innocence and always said I’ve never assaulted anyone or disrespected anyone, and I’m continuing to stand on that.”
He said this despite Judge Sue Robinson saying Watson’s pattern of conduct, in rampant alleged sexual assaults, had been “more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL.”
This comes after Watson had told a Browns team reporter last week that, “I’m truly sorry to all the women that I’ve impacted in this situation” and “my decisions that I made in my life that put me in this position I would definitely like to have back.”
David Mulugheta, Watson’s agent at Athletes First, deleted his own tweet that read: “To be clear, Judge Robinson repeated the NFL’s narrative. She received a brief from the NFL weeks before we had the opportunity to talk to her. In our 1st call with the Judge she referred to ‘Deshaun’s pattern of behavior’. Her mind was made up before we ever presented a counter.”
After deleting that tweet, Mulugheta tweeted: “Deshaun has always stated he is innocent of sexual assault. Nothing has changed in what he said. He also said he is remorseful, the decisions he made have created this situation. The settlement allows him to move forward with his life and career.”
The bottom line: Watson and his camp are splitting hairs between an apology and admission of guilt here that is difficult for the general public to stomach or process as valid. Yet he will play football this season all the same.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski, who played Watson in the Browns’ preseason opener, said he won’t put Watson on the field the rest of the preseason.
So the next time Watson will be eligible to play a game is Dec. 4 at the Houston Texans, against the franchise that traded him, in the city where he allegedly committed rampant sexual assaults and harassments that prompted his trade to Cleveland and this suspension.
Thursday’s agreement preempted a ruling by NFL appointee Peter Harvey, who heard the league’s appeal to Robinson’s initial six-game sentence. Robinson had noted Watson’s “lack of expressed remorse” in her initial ruling.
This compromise happened despite the NFL’s hard push and strong rhetoric, all the way up to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, that Watson should be suspended indefinitely.
Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, who paid Watson a record $230 million fully guaranteed this offseason — and who structured his contract to reduce any major financial hit to his 2022 salary — stood in Watson’s defense in person on Thursday, as well.
“I think in this county, and hopefully in the world, people deserve second chances, OK?” Jimmy Haslam said. “I really think that. I struggle a little bit … is he never supposed to play again? Is he never supposed to be part of society? Does he get no chance to rehabilitate himself?
“And you can say, well, that’s because he’s a star quarterback,” Haslam added. “Well, of course. If he was Joe Smith, he wouldn’t be in the headlines every day.”
What a horrifying admission, saying the quiet part out loud, that Watson’s football ability is what has afforded him his second chance.
By the way, why does he need a second chance if he’s innocent? Rhetorical question.
The NFL and Browns each will contribute $1 million, too, to create a fund of $7 million along with Watson’s fine, per the league’s announcement. The fund will support non-profit organizations that “educate young people on healthy relationships, promote education and prevention of sexual misconduct and assault, support survivors, and related causes.”
“Deshaun has committed to doing the hard work on himself that is necessary for his return to the NFL,” Goodell said in a statement. “This settlement requires compliance with a professional evaluation and treatment plan, a significant fine, and a more substantial suspension. We are grateful to Judge Robinson and Peter Harvey for their efforts in addressing these matters, which laid the foundation for reaching this conclusion.”
The length of Watson’s suspension fulfilled the prediction of Miami-based attorney Brad Sohn.
Sohn told the New York Daily News in early August that he viewed this process as a “case study in optics” with both the league and union needing a win, and that this would all turn out to be an extended negotiation with an 8-to-10 game suspension and a fine.
So finding a middle ground lets the NFLPA claim that the new collective bargaining agreement’s personal conduct policy works, while the NFL gets to enhance the discipline but still look like it’s respecting the process and Robinson’s initial six-game ruling — a recommended punishment that appeared to fall well short of her findings.
