This hearing process could be beneficial for Watson since the disciplinary officer decides whether there's enough evidence to warrant discipline. It's been mentioned that she's likely to examine each case separately rather than lump them all together. If she finds there is not enough evidence to discipline Watson, Goodell can't overturn her decision.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/06/26/deshaun-watsons-contract-could-be-delayed-a-year-per-report “As for the league, an indefinite suspension would “give the NFL the flexibility to keep him out for longer based on a variety of factors, including whether more cases surface,” per WSJ. NFL officials have reportedly “zeroed in” on five specific women “whose cases they believe include the strongest evidence.” The league is reportedly pushing for the “indefinite suspension” to be no less than one year.”
Texans should trade for Mayfield. Not to play him, but to keep him off the Browns to improve their draft pick. Browns have a good roster and if he plays I can see them getting a .500 or better record.
Anything less than a year would be a complete joke, honestly the way he structured his contract should earn him a second year suspension.
By leaking 1-year suspension target for Deshaun Watson, NFL is already applying pressure to case's arbitrator https://sports.yahoo.com/by-leaking...g-pressure-to-cases-arbitrator-013416595.html TLDR; Sources have told yahoo sports that the league leaked their push for a 1-year suspension to prepare for the scenario that the disciplinary officer (Judge Sue Robinson) may not agree with their recommendation. The league has keyed in on five or six allegations to present to the judge that they feel have the most evidence. Don't be surprised if the suspension is a light one...or possibly no suspension at all. There's a reason why 2 grand juries decided not to indict.
Dude, are you Watsons agent? It’s pretty pathetic how far you go to defend this scumbag. Go to the Browns boards, you definitely ain’t Htown.
They are pushing for a MINIMUM of a year, they want longer than that. Given the evidence and the established patten of misconduct, that year should be a gimmie. I think the only question is if it's one year or two.
Basically, If the Judge says "no discipline", it's over. If she says "yes discipline" Goodell can do whatever he wants with no appeal process for Watson.
Also, the Yahoo article said that Goodell is unlikely to overturn the disciplinary officer's decision if she decides a suspension is warranted, but not for the entire season.
I find it interesting that Robinson is a pretty seasoned judge who spent time under George HW Bush's presidency. So she probably leans more conservative, which might work in Deshaun's favor. But it is really hard to know without knowing all the evidence they have. I think it may be key that they have evidence straight from Deshaun that Solis was upset after her massage and he felt the need to apologize. That, to me, gives her case a lot of support because it is much less likely that she just decided to money grab later on for something she consented to in the moment, like Watson/Hardin seem to be alleging in some of these civil cases. But either way it will be nice to finally have some kind of resolution soon on the suspension front. The NFL dragged their feet on this one something fierce.
I can't wait for the Texan fans that were blasting Deshaun Watson for more than a year to pull mental gymnastics and say Buzbee was right about everything else...except for these allegations against the Texans.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/06/27/danny-woodhead-golf-remembering-tony-siragusa-mmqb The public-relations positioning in the Deshaun Watson case is underway. The NFL has gotten word out there, now on multiple occasions, on what it is seeking: a full-season suspension of Watson. The NFLPA has too, in explaining why it would argue for much lighter discipline, in pointing to precedent set in cases involving owners Daniel Snyder, Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones, where sanctions were either (arguably) light or nonexistent (Pro Football Talk had the report on that one). And so that leaves the NFL with the ability to say, “We tried,” if Watson gets a lighter penalty, and the NFLPA with the ability to say their case is about consistency, not morality. One source from the player’s side said their belief is the limited scope of the NFL’s investigation, and the league’s history with these sorts of investigations, should weigh in Watson’s favor. My understanding, along those lines, is that the NFL will present the cases of five women, four of whom the league spoke with, to arbitrator Sue L. Robinson, the former U.S. District Court judge. Twenty-four filed suit, though the league has spoken to women who didn’t sue Watson. Sources say settlement talks collapsed over the league’s insistence on a full-year suspension. Talks between the league and union on a potential settlement happened two weeks ago, and Robinson scheduled this week’s hearing last week, after the talks broke down. You’re hearing about all this, too, with an important week ahead. On Tuesday, Robinson will hold her hearing, taking arguments from Watson, the league and the union. At the end of the week, the deadline for pretrial discovery in the four remaining lawsuits will pass. All of which sets up so Robinson’s initial decision could become public just before the Fourth of July weekend. Of course, that wouldn’t be the end of it. Unless there’s no discipline, which I’d say is highly unlikely (though no one really knows what the arbitrator’s thinking), Robinson’s decision will then go to either commissioner Roger Goodell or his designee, who’ll then hear final appeals and render a ruling. And while Goodell could then impose what the league wanted all along, it might not be great for the league going forward to throw out an arbitrator’s decision in the first high-profile case since the new process went in as part of the 2020 CBA. Doing so, you could argue, would undermine a process they just negotiated in future cases, and could make it harder to get arbitrators on board to hear them. I’d also say it’s fair to think Robinson might be upset to begin with over how public the arguments being made by both sides have become in recent weeks. But for now, that just leaves us knowing where the league and union stand. And we might know more later in the week.
"Easy to act that way when you know nothing" -Hannah- 4 months before the first massage story comes out.
I'm reading the new lawsuit Tony Buzbee filed against the Texans. The causes of action (claims) are the following: civil assault (under the principal/agent theory), IIED, negligence, gross negligence, vicarious liability, and civil conspiracy. The lawsuit claims that in June 2020, the owner of Genuine Touch complained to the Texans that Watson was seeking out "unqualified strangers" for massages via Instagram, putting himself in danger of getting COVID or getting sued. The lawsuit claims that the Texans knew or should have known that Watson was seeking out "an eye-brow lifting number" of random, different women massage therapists from Instagram. We have a Jack Easterby sighting. The lawsuit states that Roland Ramirez (a Texans employee) admitted to the HPD that he and Jack Easterby helped secure a membership at the Houstonian for Watson Buzbee cites an excerpt from Roland Ramirez's deposition in which Ramirez states that it was "strange for me" when Deshaun Watson asked for a massage table to borrow. Per the lawsuit, Watson got an NDA from the Texans director of security, Brent Naccara (mirroring the NYT reporting). The lawsuit states that Watson testified that he began using the Texans' NDA. Buzbee claims the Texans removed a social media post made by Nia Smith in November 2020 that threatened to expose Watson for his misconduct during massage therapy sessions with Smith. It is not clear to me how the Texans removed this post, from the lawsuit itself. Buzbee references a massage therapist, Magen Weisheit, who the lawsuit claims routinely provided massage therapy services to multiple Texans players and accompanied the team when the Texans traveled to London. The lawsuit claims that when Weisheit learned about Ashley Solis's complaints about Watson, she (Weisheit) wrote via text "You Don't Have to Tell Me, But Out of Curiosity, Was It Deshaun Watson?" That text, per the lawsuit, was sent in March 2020. Weisheit stated that she intended to reach out to the Texans to advise them of the situation. Per the lawsuit, this means the Texans were "on notice" of Watson's misconduct as early as March 2020 There is an allegation in this lawsuit that at least two Genuine Touch therapists had sexual relations with multiple Texans players, the Texans knew of this activity, and at least one Genuine Touch therapist was fired due to sexual activity with Texans players Final initial note: the massage in question in this lawsuit is the Manvel, Texas massage that the NYT wrote about a few weeks ago. It occurred in November 2020, and thus would fit within any 2-year statute of limitations Reminder: the things that are alleged in lawsuits are not evidence (this applies to both lawsuits and the answer that will be filed by the Texans in a few weeks)
