USA TODAY Sports
Why bother throwing out bad news on a Friday afternoon in late June when they can instead be buried near five o’clock on Saturday?
At a time when many were waiting for the NFL to initiate the process of disciplining Brown’s quarterback Deshon Watson under personal conduct policy, proposing a significant halt, which would then be followed by a hearing before an independent (sort of) disciplinary officer, the league mixed Step First and Step Two together.
According to ESPN.com’s Adam Shefter, who has had nothing to report on Watson since he falsified the false story that the grand jury’s decision not to charge Watson with nine criminal charges was in any way an acquittal, Watson’s disciplinary hearing was due to in Tuesday.
It is unclear when Watson and the NFL Players Association learned of this schedule. If they had known about it before 4:49 pm ET on Saturday, they hadn’t said anything about it. It gives the impression, right or wrong, that the whole thing is hastily intertwined.
Retired Federal Judge Sue L. Robinson will preside over the hearing and issue a decision on discipline, if any, to be imposed on Watson. The league will offer a penalty at some point. PFT announced nine days ago that the NFLPA expects the league’s proposal to be “unprecedented”.
The forthcoming procedure is also unprecedented. Adopted in 2020, not yet implemented. Apparently, the league does not intend to announce Watson’s proposed suspension before the formal review process begins before Judge Robinson. It remains to be seen whether the proposed suspension in the media will expire.
According to Schefter, a decision can be made within a week or it can be issued when the training camp opens. While Judge Robinson imposes some discipline on Watson, either party can appeal to Commissioner Roger Goodell, whose decision will be final. Watson escapes Goodell’s jurisdiction only if Judge Robinson concludes that Watson should not be punished at all.
Attorney Rusty Hardin tried to argue that there really should be no punishment, given that no grand jury has indicted Watson on criminal charges. This position, as explained above, is wrong, self-serving and illogical. Recently, Harris County Attorney’s Office made it clear that the lack of an indictment did not constitute acquittal.
As PFT also reported nine days ago, the NFLPA intends to point out the penalty or lack thereof imposed on owners who may have violated the Privacy Policy, including Commanders owner Daniel Snyder, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. . This defense may lead to a hearing delay, but the NFLPA and Watson have every right to expedite it. With a policy that clearly states that owners adhere to a higher standard than players, the penalty or lack thereof imposed on owners who may have broken the rules becomes directly related to the appropriateness of the proposed penalty for Watson.
Whatever happens, it will start happening in what is usually the slowest week of the NFL news cycle. This year this will definitely not be the case.
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