the possibility of a suspension continues to hover over DeShaun
Watson under the precedent that was set by Ben Roethlisberger's
case, in 2010 to the extent, the NFL gives a crap about
precedent. That's the other side of this because we know
from experience, the NFL does
what it wants when it wants, how it wants where it wants.
And it doesn't want to be bound by pressing. It doesn't want to
be bound by
a concept of fairness. It wants to be bound by its
assessment of what
is expedient. And appropriate for that given situation,
and it's all PR.
How much of a PR hit? Do we take
if we spend and how much of a PR hit, do we take,
if we don't suspend it, how much of a PR hit? Do we take if
we suspend him half a season whole season? Yeah,
that that's the, that's the dilemma here. And if he doesn't
get suspended at all,
you're going to have people. Rightfully say, wait a minute.
Wait a minute. Calvin Ridley. Gets booted for a whole year
for
making a few bets when he Isn't even with the Falcons when he's
in no position to affect the outcome of the game. When he's
in no position. He gets a whole year and DeShaun Watson gets
nothing. That's the kind of stuff. They're going to have to
balance miles
and the other side of it too. And what they possibly will do,
what they possibly will do, they didn't do this with
Roethlisberger because there was still a pending civil
action filed in
Reno, I think in somewhere in Nevada against Ben
Roethlisberger, when he got in trouble in Georgia,
he got suspended after the situation in, Georgia.
It was resolved with no criminal charges. I still believe he
he settled the potential legal claims privately and that set
the stage for the prosecutor. Not charge him,
but there was still pending litigation in, Nevada.
The NFL could have waited for that to resolve
before issuing punishment, but it didn't,
and I say that now because
with Antonio Brown,
he got suspended in 2028
games, for other things that he had done.
He wasn't suspended in connection with
the pending civil action against him
for sexual assault. And the NFL took a wait-and-see approach.
The case was settled and he was never scrutinized for that,
never punished for that. So what the NFL could do with
DeShaun Watson is say we're not doing anything until these.
Is a resolved and that puts extra pressure on Watson to
settle them.
But if he goes to trial and loses, then he could be facing
a suspension from the league based upon what those verdicts
say.
Don't you feel like that would be the
most pertinent thing for the NFL to do, though
is to wait until the cases are resolved in some way and then
decide exactly how they're going to suspend him. At least
to me, that feels like the right thing to do. And I don't
know what exactly the right thing to do is in any
situation, especially one like this,
but if you're going to let the legal,
if you're going to let the criminal indictment, you know,
we're not indictment, you know, play out then, shouldn't you
also Let the civil cases also play out before you make any
kind of decision as to what punishment should come from
that.
That makes sense. And
I think that you could make the argument for that and that may
be what the NFL does, you know, one thing the NFL has learned
and this may be why the NFL does this?
The NFL.
Wants to wait to make a decision.
Until
it has no choice but to make a decision. So if there's a way
to Kick the Can, if there's a way to put a pin in this, if
there is a way to wait,
that's what the NFL does. Remember the whole question of
paid leave.
Is he going to be put on paid leave? Well, if he's not
playing, we don't face that issue. So if the Texans are
paying him to not play,
you never face that issue.
If he's not traded to a team that's going to put him on
the field. You don't face that issue. So the NFL never had to
cross that bridge. There was a Hope
by the part of the Dolphins and the Panthers who were willing
to trade for him last year. The Dolphins wanted all 22 cases to
be resolved.
There was a hope that he would be allowed to play but the NFL
never tipped his hand because it doesn't act until it has to.
That's the other fact we have to consider here. The NFL has
learned and is adopted strategically an approach that
it won't
do anything until it has to the Antonio Brown president, Maybe.
The thing that tells us
what they're going to do, is wait to see what happens with
civil cases. I think we figured this out or at least, I think
we've predicted how the NFL is likely to handle it because
I think that's the clue
Antonio Brown. And the fact that they didn't make any
decision about paid leave for
Deshaun Watson.
At a time, when they didn't have to, they won't do anything
until I have to. So maybe that's it. And and look, if
he's automatically exonerated.
If he goes to trial and the finding is, there's no
liability. There was no violation.
What's what's what's there to punish him for?
Right? He's emerged. He's emerged from both halves of
the criminal justice are the criminal and Civil Justice
System with no finding of responsibility. What do you,
what do you punishing him for at that point? So that's
another thing to keep in mind,
if he would, if he'd settle, that's when it becomes
problematic. If he settles, that's an implicit
acknowledgment that he did something he shouldn't have
And that's when it maybe gets a little delicate for the NFL.
But
I think that that may be the way
that it goes. Here's the Sean Watson breaking his silence
today after the announcement of no, criminal charges.
Definitely a
very emotional
moment for me.
I know we're far from being done
handling, what we need to handle on the legal side. But
today is definitely been day and I think
my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for
you know,
letting the truth be heard.
I think
everyone that was a part of this of seeing and hearing both
sides.
That's what my point. My team wanted to do is
have a fair slave of
us telling our side
of the story.
In a conclusion, come down to what happened today. And that's
what the grand jury decided on. So,
yeah, thank you. And I stay my Lord, occasion
going to keep fighting to
rebuild my name, and rebuild my parents in the community.
We're going to continue to on the legal side. I'll fill
handle, what we need to handle, but also ready to get back on
the field. Been prepping for that and ready to go for that.
So
thank my family. All my clothes supporters. That's been behind
me this past year. Think my team that's been behind me and
supporting me and keeping me up this past year. And
yeah, I'm going to continue to just keep pushing forward and
build my name back to where it was, if not better.
That's the most we've heard from Deshaun Watson. Since all, this
first came up and and look.
We
we understand why the fifth amendment was invoked today and
there was an effort to push the depositions from Friday to
Monday. And Tony Busby is stubborn. He's trying to
represent his clients. He's trying to leverage DeShaun
Watson or he's just trying to be a jerk. Plenty
of lawyers are jerks gratuitously.
They hide behind the idea
that you're supposed to be aggressive and zealous
to be aggressive in zealous when they don't have to be.
I live that life for a long time and it wasn't fun because
sometimes you're just always fighting and you're fighting.
Fighting in your fighting.
But the bottom line is it was in Deshawn Watson's best
interest to not speak until after this is resolved. And
I don't know how
invoking the Fifth Amendment over and over again, is going
to potentially affect him in these civil cases because
he said what he said. He invoked the Fifth Amendment
now, he can, I guess he can waive it now that it's over,
but
it could get complicated and there may be a strategy that
Tony Busby was actually trying to employ here, but it was
smart to not say anything until the civil cases.
Our criminal cases were over, but the civil cases
miles are not going
anywhere and he will have to testify now,
in those. He will have to answer questions under oath. He
will be faced with aggressive interrogation about what he
did. Why he did it.
It will be unpleasant. It will be hostile.
And his alternative is to
settle the case and that's what I said. Last March
he needs to just get these cases resolved in a way that is
satisfactory to all parties involved. Yeah. I mean, you
really have been saying that as we During this show now for,
you know, over a year and we've known these things for just
about a year that that decides into Sean Watson's, best
interests, who get the cases resolved in a way that works
for all parties, but I mean listening to him and say him,
say like, oh,
the truth came out, and we wanted to
make sure the truth was exposed from both sides. And this mat.
I don't really think that that's an accurate, portrayal
of what happened. Especially if we're going to say,
if we know I should
Say that he was invoking, his Fifth Amendment rights, that's
not necessarily hearing from both sides, and making sure
that the truth comes out from that and you're talking about
a grand jury.
You're only hearing from the prosecutor. So
that's that's one thing in. I don't know
about again, the accuracy of what he was saying there.
I understand though why he's saying what he's saying
especially is now he is in a position to move on with his
life professionally
in such a way that he can approve a trade to wherever
It is that he decides he wants to go, you know, in
the provided their old, that team is also providing back
the Houston Texans, what they want in trade compensation. So I,
you know, I you saying when you say it, but there's a listening
to it. I'm like, that's not
exactly what happened here.