The NFL has suspended Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson for six games, highlighting the league’s inconsistent disciplinary policies.
Watson has settled all but one of the 24 sexual misconduct lawsuits against him. The NFL had sought to suspend him indefinitely, allowing him to apply for reinstatement after the 2022 season, but retired judge Sue Robinson opted to stick with the league’s precedent for sexual misconduct. Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was suspended six games (though he only served four) in 2010 after he was accused of sexual assault.
The Roethlisberger suspension opened Pandora’s box, as it was the first time Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended a player under the league’s personal conduct policy without that player being arrested or charged with a crime. Now, the league allows itself to adjudicate accusations that are never brought to criminal court, leaving league policy all over the place.
The most notable example of the NFL’s inconsistency came in 2014. Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was accused of domestic violence. The league’s previous precedent was no more than two games, which is what Rice received. “I believe that you are sincere in your desire to learn from this matter and move forward toward a healthy relationship and successful career,” Goodell said in a letter accompanying the suspension.
The league then announced that future instances of domestic violence would result in a six-game suspension, followed by a lifetime suspension for a second offense. But the goodwill for Rice did not last much longer after that. Video released from the incident showed him punching and knocking out his wife in an elevator. The league then suspended him indefinitely.
Since then, the NFL’s personal conduct suspensions have been an inscrutable hodgepodge. In 2018, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Mychal Kendricks was suspended eight games for insider trading. In 2020, Antonio Brown was suspended for eight games after pleading no contest to burglary and battery charges. Some domestic violence cases got the proposed six-game suspension (like Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott), while others got four games.
Most recently, Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley got the suspension the league wanted to impose on Watson. Ridley will miss the 2022 season and have to apply for reinstatement afterward for gambling on NFL games while he was away from the team. While this was not a suspension under the personal conduct policy, it highlights more inconsistency from the NFL, which has embraced legal sports gambling and has business agreements with several sportsbooks.
The NFL has put itself in an unwinnable position when it comes to personal conduct suspensions, and the league hasn’t made it any easier on itself with its inconsistencies. Watson’s case may be the most high-profile example, but it isn’t the first time the league’s personal conduct policy has resulted in a questionable length of suspension, and it won’t be the last.
