Deshaun Watson To Washington a terrible and tone deaf decision

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January 19, 2022

by David Earl

Talent-wise, Watson is a stud

The 3x pro bowler Deshaun Watson‘s career was off to a meteoric rise and regarded as one of the bright young quarterbacks in the NFL. As a top prospect in the draft, his numbers did not disappoint, compiling a career 68% completion percentage, two 4,000+ passing seasons, over 100 passer rating, and those numbers go on. Watson was also the first player in NFL history to pass for 400+ yards, throw 4+ TD passes, and rush for 50+ yards in a single game.  His streak of four games with 3 or more passing touchdowns was the longest in NFL history for a rookie.  His football acumen was unquestionable and the on-field accolades are absolutely undeniable true but, when considering Washington as a possible destination, the conversation cannot stop there.

Remember Who Owns Washington: Dan Snyder

This thread above and my column Dan Snyder’s Disfavor with Fans do a great job of reminding us all what still looms over this organization. I share the sentiment with fans and some media personalities that this current regime should not be judged for Dan’s past transgressions and allowed leniency to move forward. It’s akin to not judging a child for the sins of his father, but their actions going forward should also be mindful and learn from those sins too. Trading for Watson, after his allegations (I will discuss later), would not only a slap in the face by Dan to these women, but such a tone-deal move would cause Ron Rivera and his whole culture shift to be perceived as spitting in the face of these women. Watson’s talent is undeniable, but is his talent worth Ron risking his stance and respect for women in the sport that has had a history of denigrating them for their gender in a male-dominated sport?

Fans should not allow their emotions for this team to cloud their judgment and simply hope that the constant reminders of Dan’s scandals to just go away. Trust me, I am with you in wanting the constant reminders to just stop while allowing Ron Rivera, Julie Donaldson, and Jason Wright the opportunity to repair the decades of reprehensible damage, but how fair is that to these women? Any person committing these kind of egregious acts should be afforded the chance to rectify his mistakes, but let’s be honest with ourselves here too: Dan’s self-imposed suspension behind the support of Rodger Goodall is just laughable. There has been a lack of accountability, and the apology from Dan Snyder seemed more of a PR statement than an apology. He took no responsibility for the organization’s egregious actions towards these women and offered a weak (at best) acknowledgment to the employees in the building.  Probably the most tone-deaf action in this apology was the fact that zero remorse was shown to the victims. Regardless of any later message of accountability, which was clearly perceived as a response to the backlash of the team’s first apology, Dan and this organization’s initial response was cold, calculated, and unsympathetic.

You Seriously Want This Attention?

I have always been in support of holding judgment until all the facts are laid out and the accused had has his or her say in court, but this isn’t about the facts, but rather the perception that would come with adding Watson to this team. For all we know, these women could be aligning themselves in one large money grab plan; or, perhaps there was simply a misunderstanding by both parties. In time maybe Watson may even be found to be not liable for any accusations.  Is this a chance Ron and this organization can afford to take? A charge like this against him will not be resolved before the 2022 regular season week 1 starts and any settlement offer, while not proof of liability, will surely carry a perceived level of liability. Any move this offseason will surely be received poorly and Ron’s message of culture tainted, with yet another black cloud created over this organization as it compounds the recent scandals that much more. As we all just want this team to win again, this is just not the path we should be hoping for as fans, nor is it a plan of action Ron should not even consider. Using the example of Ben Roethlisberger and how that turned out for the Steelers is not an argument to be entertained.  In Watson’s case, 22 women filed these accusations and none of them have withdrawn their claims.  Roethlisberger didn’t have anywhere that number of accusers.

The Culture of Ron Rivera

In Ron’s short time here, we’ve seen his actions to increase the inclusion of of women in the sport, such as being a part of the annual Women’s Careers in Football Forum which brought in intern, now full-time coach, Jennifer King.  These actions have demonstrated his own personal commitment to the cause. The respect he’s had for women in the workplace and the actions taken to this point already suggest that Ron probably will not even consider infusing Watson’s recent issues into this locker room or organization. Rivera immediately released Derrius Guice after the accusations of 1 woman against him without even allowing his case time to truly unfold. Ron’s intolerance for egregious actions against women has been one of his moral staples. Any consideration for bringing in Watson would not only oppose his position today, but his reputation on this matter would suffer irreparable backlash, particularly in today’s culture. Even with this team in dire need of a franchise quarterback, I have serious doubt he’d risk the reputation he’s proudly built just to win a football game. Rivera’s statement, “This organization will be able to do what it needs to do, OK? And that’s all I’m going to say on that,” may be perceived as him being open-minded, but let’s be honest – a Watson trade would just go against everything he has stood for today especially Rivera has stood for in rebuilding this organization’s culture. With Dan Snyder’s scandal hanging high still today, a move to acquire Deshaun Watson with the accusations remaining unresolved accusations would not only be perceived as highly negative against the team but will certainly tarnish a legacy Ron has built just because he wants to win. Ron will have to ask himself what’s more important: winning or his moral constitution?

 

[NOTE FROM STEVE THOMAS: 23 separate civil lawsuits were originally filed against Watson in district court in Harris County, Texas.  The lawsuits were sent to multiple different courts by the district clerk.  One of these lawsuits was dropped by the plaintiff, so 22 remain.  All of the remaining lawsuits are still in the very early stages, with the parties having filing various motions with the court regarding the petitions and discovery requests.  These lawsuits have been consolidated into one court for purposes of pretrial actions, but not for trial.  Various media reports (click here for the Houston Chronicle’s column from January 14) indicated that Watson made a $100K settlement offer to at least one of his accusers.  $100K is most likely a lowball offer designed to get discussions going and is not necessarily an indication of the size of Watson’s hypothetical final offer.  Any settlement terms will be confidential.  Because these cases have not been consolidated for trial, this means that if the cases are not settled, dismissed, or dropped, each one would have to go to trial separately unless they are consolidated in the future.  Pretrial actions for each could conceivably take two years or more, with the scheduling for all 22 lawsuits taking significantly longer.  Summary judgment in Watson’s favor seems unlikely for any of these cases, as summary judgment is based on a lack of disputed facts for a jury to decide, which is not the situation for any of these cases.  Even one consolidated trial for all remaining accusers would come with significant logistical and public image-related difficulties for Watson.  For this reason, it seems likely that settlements are the most likely resolution.

Separately, the Houston Police Department has 10 separate ongoing criminal investigations against Watson regarding these accusations.  There’s no way to predict how long resolution of those could take even in the best case scenario for Watson.

Civil cases are about establishing civil liability, usually in the form of monetary damages, whereas criminal cases determine whether the accused is guilty or not guilty of a criminal charge.  The standard of proof for criminal trials is significantly higher than for civil trials, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a defendant found not guilty in criminal court but liable in civil court (for example, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murder but then found liable for wrongful death in civil court). The NFL’s standard of proof necessary for discipline under the CBA is even lower than that of a civil trial.]