The NFL is between a rock and a hard place – a big, BIG rock and a big, BIG hard place, to be sure.
It happened Monday morning right out of the gate when former federal judge Sue L. Robinson handed down a suspension of only six games to Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Will Deshaun Watson have your support on Oct. 23 in Baltimore? Photo: Joshua Gunter, clevelanddotcom pic.twitter.com/J0WMy2rilZ
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) August 1, 2022
Now, let’s be clear in saying that Watson getting six games for the egregiously – and we do mean egregiously — way he conducted himself with a large number of women over a long period of time, is akin to someone who has been a repeated offender in armed robbery over a long period of time getting community service.
In both cases, it’s a relative slap of the hand.
No, really. I’m not kidding.
These Watson escapades constitute an all-timer.
The NFL wanted much worse for Watson. Commissioner Roger Goodell and his top people properly gauged the magnitude of Watson’s character-lacking behavior and pushed for him getting at least a year off. An example had to be made of him, especially in this day and time when sexual misconduct toward women is finally what it should have always been – that is, a hideous act that must be penalized fully and completely.
But the NFL has repeatedly let wayward team owners and other executives skate on sketchy behavior, and now all of a sudden the league trying to bring the hammer down on a player didn’t fit, according to Robinson. That is, while Robinson agreed with the NFL that Watson’s behavior was sickening, there was no precedent to penalize him as he should have been.
Now the NFL must figure out if it should appeal Robinson’s decision and drag out this historically-bad black eye for the league, or if it should just back down, lick its wounds and move on, not having the courage of its convictions to keep going after Watson.
Either way, the NFL looks bad.
The NFL is its own worst enemy on this one.
Not doing the right thing with the owners in the first place, was not doing the right thing.
Next time, NFL, do the right thing. It’s a life lesson for all of us, actually.
