The NFL said Wednesday it is appealing Cleveland Brown’s quarterback’s Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension imposed earlier this week for violating the league’s personal conduct policy for “egregious acts” of “sexualized contact” with massage therapists.
Retired judge Sue L. Robinson presided over Watson’s case and issued the decision on Monday.
The NFL said in a statement it has notified the players’ union it is appealing. It had three days from the ruling to appeal, the league said in the statement.
“The NFL notified the NFLPA that it will appeal Judge Robinson’s disciplinary decision and filed its brief this afternoon. Commissioner Roger Goodell will determine who will hear the appeal,” the statement said.
Robinson ruled there was “sufficient circumstantial evidence to support the NFL’s contention” that Watson sought sexual contact with several massage therapists he reached via social media.
The quarterback “knew such sexualized contact was unwanted,” the judge added.
But she questioned the NFL’s desire to bench Watson for all of 2022.
“According to the NFL, if this recommended sentence is unprecedented (as characterized by Mr. Watson and the NFLPA), that is because his conduct is unprecedented,” Robinson added.
Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. No one with the NFLPA was reached.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
