Deshaun Watson Off the Field Thread v2

Out of the Rafters at the Q said:

The punishment isn't defined in the CBA. Robinson specifically called out previous punishments as the reason for her 6-game suspension. If the NFL wants future suspensions to increase, then they need to set a new precedent for future suspensions. They could do that now. They could do that in a future case. But, unless they want to wait for a new CBA, setting a new precedent is the path that Judge Robinson specifically outlined for the league.

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No they can't. They have to wait until the next CBA. The NFLPA will have a say and it will have to come during the next CBA. Not days after an unfavorable ruling.

Keep up.

CBBI said:

I have a suspicion that most people would not be stumping this hard for Watson and the NFLPA going after the owners had a team not named the Browns been the one that traded for Watson

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For sure. But even in a general sense if this was in regards to a different team, I would not at all feel good about the NFL using this case as an opportunity to gleefully exploit their power over the players union. The implications for the future are much worse.

CBBI said:

I don't think the goal of the NFLPA would be to "win" a lawsuit anyway.

IMO it would be to create a circus that the NFL doesn't want to deal with.

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I agree.

That’s why if they do appeal it probably ends in a new settlement, a harsher punishment but he still will play this season.

Los216 said:

No they can't. They have to wait until the next CBA. The NFLPA will have a say and it will have to come during the next CBA. Not days after an unfavorable ruling.

Keep up.

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The NFL has finally say over all suspension length. Why couldn’t they? They couldn’t make it written CBA law but they could absolutely just start suspending dudes longer than they used to. That’s all it takes to set a new precedent.

InBoobieWeTrust said:

What do you mean dude? Their CURRENT punishment process IN THE CBA, includes the right to APPEAL, and lays out who gets to hear the appeal and make the decision.

More like, if the NFLPA wants to change the NFLs ultimate appeal power, they can try to negotiate that during the next CBA.


The CBA gives ultimate power to the league here.

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Judge Robinson recommended 6 games based on past precedent that the NFL set. If the NFL wanted a longer suspension then they should've specifically addressed the conduct that Judge Robinson mentioned. They didn't.

She said that she would levy a longer suspension if the league would've addressed that previously. They didn't. They're trying to pretend like they care about something days after the decision when they have had years to adjust and get it right.

Los216 said:

No they can't. They have to wait until the next CBA. The NFLPA will have a say and it will have to come during the next CBA. Not days after an unfavorable ruling.

Keep up.

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The amount of conviction you have when coming from a place of ignorance is truly impressive.

InBoobieWeTrust said:

The NFL has finally say over all suspension length. Why couldn’t they? They couldn’t make it written CBA law but they could absolutely just start suspending dudes longer than they used to. That’s all it takes to set a new precedent.

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Yeah and I'm sure the NFLPA will just sit there and do nothing............

Los216 said:

Judge Robinson recommended 6 games based on past precedent that the NFL set. If the NFL wanted a longer suspension then they should've specifically addressed the conduct that Judge Robinson mentioned. They didn't.

She said that she would levy a longer suspension if the league would've addressed that previously. They didn't. They're trying to pretend like they care about something days after the decision when they have had years to adjust and get it right.

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And I get that is very frustrating.

But there is nothing in the CBA that says they can’t do that. In fact it is clearly defined in the CBA that they CAN do that.

CBBI said:

My thing is this...

I just don't see what the tangible benefit is for the NFL to appeal the decision.

Will they get brownie points for "looking tough"? Certainly! But what does that actually benefit them? My belief is that anyone who would give the NFL praise for increasing the suspension would 100% still consume their product anyway even if they chose not to appeal.

An appeal almost assuredly = a lawsuit. And even if the lawsuit is not a successful one (I don't think it will be), it won't be thrown out in court in a matter of days. It will be a matter of weeks and perhaps a matter of months.

Does the NFL really want to keep this story right in the forefront of people's minds when they could more or less just let it die over the next 8+ weeks? I'm skeptical.

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The benefit? Robinson is basing Watsons suspension on prior precedent. The NFL is basically setting a new one, for a player who has done something no other player has really been accused of. So the next time a player decides to sexually assault/expose his genitals to between 20-26 women, and be completely unrepentant while sticking to his contention he did absolutely nothing wrong, the NFL won't be stuck seeing that sociopath being given only 6 games.

Out of the Rafters at the Q said:

If you don't read it, you should have a touch of perspective and realize that challenging those who did read it over specifics is probably a fool's errand.

Go out in the hallway until you finish your reading, then you can join the rest of your peers who did their homework.

Seriously, it's incredibly short. It's like 3000 words total. People have written posts on RCF that are longer than it.

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Granted most of those people are you or Gouri …

Los216 said:

Yeah and I'm sure the NFLPA will just sit there and do nothing............

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1. I don’t think the NFL will appeal
2. If they do…

I’m sure the NFLPA will file a federal lawsuit that they know they will eventually lose, but in hopes of bringing the NFL to the negotiating table to get a suspension less than the full season(possibly indefinite) suspension that I think the NFL will levy after the appeal.

Then I think they’ll talk, posture publicly for a couple weeks and settle in the low double digits for games and some kind of high 6 or low 7 figure fine.

Chris said:

Granted most of those people are you or Gouri …

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What ever do you mean?

CBBI said:

If you actually believe this nonsense...

Whew baby.

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How long did people use the commonly low year 1 base salary as a tool to dunk on The Browns for the contract? What was it about the contract that changed the FACT that CLE was always the best fit from an on field football perspective? Nothing.

CLE was always the best choice but that is not how it was presented. Just like how there was intentional ignorance about the low year 1 salary to make us giving him $230M look "bad" there was distain from the thought of Deshaun Watson even playing in CLE.

And once Baker Mayfield requested a trade the whole situation turned to a circle jerk of people laughing at CLE.

We literally had people saying we should shutdown the Deshaun Watson thread from embarrassment. Then once it was announced that he was being traded here all of the year but talking points were out in full force.

I mean, I vividly remember a 10 minute segment with the slow emotional music being played in the background and slow motion shots of Arthur Blank while we were being "sold" on the ide of the for ATL ball boy coming back home to rebuild his image. Then he was traded to CLE and not only was there no more talk about Deshaun Watson rebuilding his image but now the focus was on how CLE could do such a horrible thing that we were being told would've been acceptable had it happened to ATL, CAR, or NO.

These arguments are as good as coaching arguments. The only difference is we only have to wait 20 more hours to get a definite answer, so get your arguments in, there's not much time left!!


Here's a part that stands out to me--

If this was all so egregious and heinous to the NFL, why didn't they put Watson under administrative leave last year? Seems odd that they would come back and insist on a longer punishment now when they could have placed him administrative leave a year ago. Then they could easily call it 23+ game suspension and this would be over by now.

macbdog said:

The benefit? Robinson is basing Watsons suspension on prior precedent. The NFL is basically setting a new one, for a player who has done something no other player has really been accused of. So the next time a player decides to sexually assault/expose his genitals to between 20-26 women, and be completely unrepentant while sticking to his contention he did absolutely nothing wrong, the NFL won't be stuck seeing that sociopath being given only 6 games.

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They still can't apply that new precedent to Deshaun Watson without prior notice.

Basically if the NFL wants to set a new precedent it will have to apply to the next guy and not the one who they did not give prior notice to which would be Deshaun Watson.