Deshaun Watson
On Tuesday, Deshaun Watson will appear before NFL disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson, a former federal judge, to resolve the league's response to more than two dozen sexual misconduct allegations involving massage therapists. Watson hired her.
Journal reported Saturday that the NFL is seeking an "indefinite suspension" to see Watson sit for "no less than a year." Plenty of other media outlets have confirmed that thinking, a sign the league wants it to be known publicly how seriously it wants to punish Watson.
This is to soften the impact of a severe eventual sanction or to claim moral superiority, even if it is shorter.
Robinson was appointed jointly by the NFL and NFLPA, and the union will defend Watson and likely appeal any decision, while Watson himself will have extensive legal representation.
However, the league's history of the discipline and a system in which the final determination of any penalty rests with Commissioner Roger Goodell or a designee suggests that whatever the NFL wants here, the NFL will get.
In other words, don't expect to see Watson play for Cleveland in 2022.
While a full-season ban once seemed unlikely in this case, spring full of accusers continuing to show up has extended this into a nasty PR situation for the NFL.
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