While in a staff meeting on Monday morning August 1, news broke that Deshaun Watson was found to have violated National Football League policies for sexual misconduct yet was only sentenced to a six-game suspension.
I still think that was ridiculously light, and within a few hours of the announcement I penned last week’s SportsEye imploring the NFL to appeal Judge Sue L. Robinson’s wayward decision.
The NFL did just that, and I applaud the action. I wish the league had waited until our newspaper was published Thursday morning to release its statement instead of Wednesday night for purely selfish reasons.
On Friday, I received a well-written correspondence taking me and some other media members to task for calling for a lengthier suspension.
I replied to the writer that I wanted to run his thoughts as a letter in this week’s newspaper. They declined.
I emailed back that the writer had a lot to say, and that I appreciated the sharing of thought. Still, a no.
That does not mean I can’t share some content with readers. This is not malice or shaming of anyone. There is another side of thinking to the Watson suspension. People should hear it.
“What do you guys want? Watson didn’t play a single game last year. Do you want him to be penalized for two complete seasons? And never be charged or found “guilty?” It was a lady judge who made the decision—is her decision not good enough? That’s disrespectful for women.”
Yep, Watson was never charged in criminal court, but he faced about 30 civil lawsuits for his alleged action. He also settled all but one, which does not make him guilty. It makes him worthy of another year away from the field. If not a year, at last 12 games.
The writer makes an excellent point about the judge being a woman. Some seized on her gender as why she was so lenient. I’ve read online that, as a woman, she wasn’t convinced that all the plaintiffs were telling the truth. My guess is that she could care less about that.
She said the ruling was based on precedent and the fact that no violence toward the accusers was involved. She should have sat Watson down for more games, if not the entire season, regardless of what transpired with past NFL player penalties.
How about you and the other moral writers help us get rid of pseudo massage parlors, or for that matter pornography, that’s all over the place– that might help women.
Most people involved with the media do not consider themselves The World Police. Place me in that category. We have opinions. People agree, disagree, or could care less. Our faces and our names run with our respective commentaries.
Robert Kraft, New England Patriots owner, got busted in a pseudo massage parlor after being videotaped. He beat the charge, and was not suspended.. In a bizarre kind of way, he was in the same boat as Watson, but he made it to shore when it sank.
“Is there jealousy involved here? A man making millions of dollars—I wonder if you would bash a garbage worker for the same accusations. You join the morally and politically correct writer-ethicists who embellish their sports reporting with their worldviews. Why be so punitive?
A garbage person would have been fired or suspended indefinitely the minute the allegations were reported.
As for jealousy, I have the opposite reaction. I could care less about someone’s wealth. I wanted Kraft to be convicted, or at least plead his alleged crime down. I knew it would not happen. He’s way richer than Watson.
Part of being an NFL star is how you carry yourself. Watson’s conduct is reprehensible. That’s why he should be suspended for most, if not all, of the 2022 season.
To the writer, I say “thank you.” Please stay in touch. Like America, I’ll bet we agree on more than we disagree.
The Reid Roundup
Serena Williams announced Tuesday her tennis career will be coming to an end soon. She told Vogue she plans to focus on her Serena Ventures investment firm and plans to have a second child, which she does not want to do while an active athlete. Williams won a record 23 Grand Slam singles titles, and 73 tournaments overall. She finished as the No. 1 ranked player in the world five times and won five Olympic gold medals. Three of those were doubles championships playing with her sister Venus Williams…Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott have had their respective intelligence and ability challenged by unnamed NFL defensive coaches in recent articles Of course, race has nothing to do with it…A lot of folks on the conservative political side clamoring for Brittney Griner’s release via negotiation will be irate with President Biden when the trade involves a convicted arms dealer/terrorist.