Deshaun Watson is sentenced to a six-game NFL suspension for sexual harassment. Many think: too little. Judge Sue Robinson explains the sentence.

Munich/Cleveland – The defining issue of the past offseason is over for now.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson was sentenced to a six-game suspension for sexual harassment. This means he will miss his new team, the Cleveland Browns, until mid-October.

Many fans and even reporters are puzzled by the shortness of the suspension. Judge Sue Robinson’s sentencing statement offers clarification.

No use of force as a factor

Crucial to the comparatively lenient sentence is the fact that none of the plaintiffs could be shown to have used force.

In doing so, Robinson followed the sentencing of similar cases involving Ben Roethlisberger and Jameis Winston. “Big Ben” was also suspended six games for sexual abuse in 2010. Winston was handed three games in 2018 for “inappropriately touching an Uber driver without her consent. “

“Other cases of non-forcible sex offenses have been punished far less harshly than what the NFL requested in this case,” the sentencing memorandum reads verbatim.

The league reportedly called for Watson to be suspended for an entire season.

Why were Hopkins, Ridley and Co. suspended longer than Watson?

Uncomprehension prevails on social media about the fact that other players have been suspended for comparatively much less serious offences, some of them for longer.

In 2016, Tom Brady was suspended for four games for the ominous “deflate gate”, which has never been conclusively proven to date. He allegedly let air out of game balls.

DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals was suspended for eight games for taking performance-enhancing drugs and will thus miss longer than Watson. He also maintains his innocence to this day.

The hardest hit was Calvin Ridley of the Atlanta Falcons. He bet on his team to win in 2021 during his football hiatus and will miss the entire 2022 season suspended for it.

NFL reserves right to appeal Watson verdict

These punishments, however, were for misconduct directly or indirectly related to athletic performance. That’s where the NFL knows no taboo and cracks down. Watson’s punishment is detached from his activity as an NFL player.

In Watson’s case, the NFL still reserves the right to appeal the brevity of the suspension.