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A story leaked the other day that the NFL had yet to even interview Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson with regard to the 22 civil lawsuits of sexual misconduct filed against him earlier this year. Based on what we currently know about the situation, Fox Sports Radio laid out a very possible scenario for Watson’s future.
Deshaun Watson will not be playing in an NFL game until, at the very minimum, 2023. If everything plays out the way it’s playing out, he’s done until at least 2023.
Maller goes on to predict Watson will find himself on the commissioner’s exempt list within the next month, at which point he’ll be suspended with pay until such a time as Roger Goodell actually takes action and removes Watson from the list. According to Maller, the 22 women who have filed these cases are scheduled to provide their depositions in September, with Watson not scheduled to give his deposition until, at minimum, February of 2022.
The likely court date after that is May or June of 2022. In the event Watson ends up on the wrong side of a court ruling, the NFL is likely to hand out, at bare minimum, a season long suspension, which runs him into 2023. If Watson is found guilty of the allegations, the NFL should could decide to make an example of Watson and ban him for life. No one should be above the law when it comes to assault, particularly of a sexual nature. Not the rich, not celebrities, not athletes, no one.
The City of Houston may decide to file criminal charges, at which point, the whole process begins again and Watson watches his 2023 NFL campaign evaporate. Either way, unless a settlement negotiations are under way and a deal is reached between the two legal camps, there’s a good chance Deshaun Watson played his last game as a Houston Texan and maybe as an NFL star. If Watson is angered that the Texans wasted his rookie contract, he should be even angrier that these allegations may have wasted what’s left of his athletic prime. Whether that anger is rightfully aimed at the man in the mirror or the accusers remains to be seen.
If Watson is guilty, the NFL needs to take appropriate action. If he isn’t, our culture will hit a landmark moment in what false allegations can do to a star athlete or anyone else.