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Now that the NFL is appealing Deshaun Watson’s decision to the NFL, what happens next?
The personal conduct policy and the relevant provision of the collective agreement determine the next steps.
Here is the relevant language of the Personal Conduct Policy: “Such appeals will be: (i) processed in an expedited manner; (ii) limited to consideration of disciplinary measures imposed; and (iii) based on a review of the existing record without reference to evidence or testimony not previously considered. No further evidence or testimony may be presented or received by the Commissioner or his designee. All findings of fact and evidentiary rulings of the Disciplinary Officer shall be binding upon the parties on appeal, and the decision of the Commissioner or his designee, who may vacate, reduce, modify or increase any disciplinary penalty previously issued, shall be final and binding upon all parties.”
Since there is no new evidence, there is no reason for a new hearing. Neither the Personal Conduct Policy nor the CBA requires an appeal hearing. Instead, it’s simply a matter of both sides submitting their papers to Commissioner Roger Goodell or whoever he appoints to reach the same resolution he would have reached.
In this particular case, the factual findings and evidentiary rulings made by Judge Sue L. Robinson give the commissioner or his designee all the ammunition they need to replace her six-game suspension with something more. She found that Watson violated three different provisions of the policy with respect to four different people. Nothing in her decision to suspend Watson for six games limits Goodell’s or his designee’s ability to impose a much longer suspension.
This is the most important thing to remember. Judge Robinson determined the facts. And the facts she laid out are exactly what the NFL wanted them to be. Although the NFL did not like her decision regarding the length of the suspension, the NFL has the option under policy to appeal the decision to the NFL and replace her six-game suspension with whatever the NFL would have otherwise preferred.
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