NFL Players Association on Watson suspension: 'Every player, owner, business partner and stakeholder deserves to know that our process is legitimate'

The National Football League (NFL) handed down a six-game suspension on Monday to Cleveland Browns and former Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson for violating its personal conduct policy, Houston-based media outlets reported citing the Associated Press (AP) and ESPN.

According to the AP report ran by Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) said in a statement with the former first-round pick that the ruling by Judge Sue L. Robinson won’t be appealed and has urged the league to refrain from doing so. 

“Every player, owner, business partner and stakeholder deserves to know that our process is legitimate and will not be tarnished based on the whims of the league office,” the NFLPA said, per the AP.

The suspension is a major development in the nearly two-year-old legal saga surrounding the 26-year-old Watson.

More than 20 women alleged that the seventh-year field general committed sexual misconduct against them during his time with the Texans.

Houston Daily reported that 20 lawsuits against Watson were settled on Tuesday, June 21.

Less than five remain pending to which the plaintiffs’ attorney hopes will be heard next year, KHOU reported.

Houston ABC affiliate KTRK ran an article from ESPN that said the NFL argued for a yearlong suspension for Watson during a three-day hearing in late June before Robinson in her home state of Delaware.

According to the report, the league and Watson’s representatives discussed possible disciplinary measures against the signal-caller, whom the Texans traded to the Browns earlier this year after he sat out the entire 2021 season, but failed to come to an agreement.

The suspension doesn’t affect Watson’s participation in Browns training camp, but he’ll be prohibited from joining his new team during the first half of the suspension, ESPN reported.

Watson; however, will be permitted to practice with the Browns during the second half.

Earlier this year, a cadre of Houston-area grand juries declined to indict Watson.