j/c

It occurred to me this morning reading thru posts - there is A LOT going on here. Hell, you probably knew that and it's me that's a bit slow? But there's almost 4 distinct sub topics regarding Watson and this issue we are discussing ... and it seems that sometimes we have people discussing or arguing over different aspects as if they were the same issue. They aren't.

1. You have the issue of Watson and the allegations levied against him - is he guilty of sexual misconduct / sexual abuse / sexual assault. As the face of the Browns and the owner of the largest guaranteed contract in the history of the NFL, that matters a lot to me. The only person to have been privy to most of / all of the evidence and to have questioned the parties involved is Sue Robinson and she unequivocally came to the conclusion Watson was guilty. Some fans flat don't care - which is fine. Some fans act like they care but then deflect and don't want to accept Sue Robinson's ruling. Some like myself accept the ruling and believe it when Sue Robinson talks about how egregiously Watson behaved and that he acted in a a predatory manner.

2. You have the 6 game suspension Robinson handed down. Is it sufficient, should it be longer? Robinson spelled out that it was the maximum sentence the NFL framework allows for. Personally I can live with the fact and accept that the 6 games doesn't reflect the severity of what Robinson found him guilty of - but that the NFL made their bed with their legal agreement and framework. Some want DW to serve a suspension befitting the predatory behavior and numbers involved. Some think the NFL needs to simply accept the ruling.

3. You have the NFL being legally permitted to appeal the suspension now that DW has been found guilty by the independent arbitrator. Is that fair and balanced? Does that undermine the independent investigator? Clearly they can legally do this - once DW was found guilty, this avenue was always open. Robinson knew it, the NFLPA and Watson knew it and Goodell and the NFL knew it ... Personally I think point 4 below might have made Watson and the NFLPA believe that this option was unlikely to be used ... but when Robinson condemned Watson in so many ways, so succinctly and unequivocally while sighting/implying that her ruling might have been inadequate ... that really opened the door for the NFL to use this process. And so there is a lot of posts/debate directly regards whether the NFL should or should not appeal.

4. Finally you have the NFL and their long history of dealing with owner's issues and transgression in a wholly hypocritical fashion when compared to the players. Very recent and public issues with Kraft, Snyder and now Miami. None of the owners has ever been held to the same standard as any of the players. It's impossible to draw a comparison to Watson per-se as no owner (or player) has been accused by 26 women of sexual misconduct/abuse/assault, but the disconnect and hypocrisy is blatant. Some posters are fixating on this - others acknowledge the issue without thinking it should deflect from Watson and his actions. Personally it feels like focusing on this must mean posters somehow believe that Watson does not need to be held accountable because owners have by and large not been held accountable either. In a case like Snyder - the allegations are every bit as numerous and serious as the accusations against Watson.

Mixed in with this you have numerous other subtleties - the term 'non violent sex assault', whether coercion and manipulation are considered "force", despite Sue Robinson definitively finding Watson guilty we have posters still trying to float the idea that Watson is guilty of transgressions only defined by a poorly written NFL agreement, you have accusations that Sue Robinson is both a stooge that was used/ignored or that she is in cahoots with the NFL and then finally the fact that we probably all recognize the NFL and Goodell themselves have no morals and are really only interested in optics and their decisions have little to do with Watson and his guilt or accountability. (oh and I nearly forgot the claims that posters morality on Watson is allegedly influenced by their support for our former QB).

All of which makes this one giant poop sandwich for all of us no matter which side of the issues we come down on. Even to those that wrote in anger and frustration that they aren't Browns fans anymore. Ey Ey Ey. Personally at this point I doubt the trade will ever be worth it (on multiple levels) and I blame Haslam 100%.