Deshaun Watson’s Suspension Will Test the N.F.L.’s Support for Women

And yet, Robinson said she was limited. She could have given out a much harsher penalty, but she refused to set precedent. Instead, she leaned on the N.F.L.’s history of leniency. The most common discipline for “domestic or gendered violence and sexual acts is a six-game suspension,” Robinson noted.

She went on to list the other suspensions of players, including one who had to sit for 10 games “for multiple incidents of domestic violence for which the player pleaded guilty to battery.”

Leaning on precedent is understandable, even laudable. But this decision was not made in a court of law. The N.F.L. does not have to accept Robinson’s recommendation, especially not in a case in which the player’s contract has been structured, as Watson’s was, to avoid a significant financial hit for a suspension. When he signed a fully guaranteed $230 million contract with the Browns in March, the team agreed to a base salary of $1 million, meaning Watson will lose just over $300,000 in game checks during his six-game suspension.

The league is a private entity. It can mete out punishment as it deems fit. If Watson, his lawyer and the players’ association have a problem with it, they can sue.

Let them go right ahead and keep the accusations against Watson front and center in the public eye.

Harassment of women is hardly novel in the N.F.L., which too often seems to stand for the Neanderthal Football League. I wrote as much last week when Congress — not the league — tried to make Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder account for his team’s knuckle-dragging culture and misdeeds.

The Washington Post reported that Snyder settled a sexual misconduct claim that stemmed from an incident in 2009. The N.F.L.’s investigation of Watson lasted 15 months. These drawn-out inquiries spiral into theater of the absurd only because the league and its commissioner have not established precedents that would allow for decisive action — the kind that would send a clear signal that the N.F.L. does not tolerate mistreatment of women.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/sports/football/deshaun-watson-nfl-discipline.html