The Latest on Deshaun Watson

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Deshaun Watson take the field for an NFL game: January 3rd, 2021 to be exact, when he threw for 365 yards on 28-of-39 completions with three touchdowns and one interception in a 41-38 loss against the Tennessee Titans as a member of the Houston Texans. That’s a year and a half of no football! Watson was accused of sexual assault by 25 women, involving accusations of inappropriate behavior while getting massages at a spa. He already missed the whole 2021-22 season, and a big decision will be coming tomorrow as his hearing began on Tuesday, but is expected to conclude Wednesday.

It’s been heard that the NFL is recommending an indefinite suspension of nothing less than a year, according to Mike Jones of USA Today https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-recommends-indefinite-suspension-no-024506564.html . There's no timetable on how long it could last until an ultimate decision is made by Sue L. Robinson, a former judge who’s now the disciplinary officer of the NFL. One of his lawsuits was dropped earlier in the year when the judge ruled the petition the victim was putting up had to be amended with the plaintiff’s name.

Watson and the 20 of the 24 plaintiffs were settled last week after reaching a confidential financial settlement, according to https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/browns/2022/06/21/deshaun-watson-browns-settles-lawsuits-allege-sexual-misconduct-massages/7688001001/ . If the NFL were to give a one year suspension, it would give them an opportunity to prolong Watson’s adjournment from the league if more incriminating evidence comes out during the hearing that proves he’s guilty.

It has been a long, strenuous process for Watson, the NFL, and the teams he’s been on (Texans & Cleveland Browns). The NFL looks to enforce harsh punishment to show they do not tolerate sexual misconduct under any circumstances and will be keeping an eye on the situation like a hawk. The NFL has even made it clear that if Watson accepted a year-long suspension, it wouldn’t alter the duration of the punishment if new evidence were to come out that Watson was indeed guilty of these allegations of sexual misconduct.

Watson opposed the year-long suspension and was just looking to get past this and get reinstated again to get his career back on track. Do you believe Watson will play this season for the Browns? And if he’s suspended, how long do you think it’ll be until he makes his way to the gridiron for an NFL game again?