Deshaun Watson will be sidelined for much of the 2022 NFL season, after the league and its players’ association agreed on a settlement that sees the Browns quarterback suspended for 11 games and fined $5 million. The earliest Watson could return was Week 13’s game against his former team, the Houston Texans, on Dec. 4 at NRG Stadium.
This came after the league appealed the original ruling by an independent arbiter to suspend Watson for 6 games after having been found in violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Watson was accused by 24 women of sexual assault, coming to a settlement with all but one of the accusers while maintaining his innocence.
On Thursday, during a press conference, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam commented on the decision.
“I think in this country, people deserve second chances,” he said, according to PFF’s Ari Meirov. “Is he never supposed to play again? Is he no longer supposed to be part of society? That’s what we’re going to do. We gave Kareem Hunt a second chance and that worked out pretty well.”
Hunt was the subject of controversy in Nov. 2018 after a video released by TMZ saw him having physically assaulted a woman that previous February. As a result, he was ultimately released by the Chiefs, signing with the Browns in Feb. 2019 but ultimately missing the first 8 games of the 2019 season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
