Thom Allison’s Weekly Round-Up: NFL need to act on Deshaun Watson

The NFL offseason has been like no other.

Blockbuster trades, record breaking deals and heavy doses of sleaze and scandal. All the usual things that you automatically associate with the wacky world of the National Football League.

However, this week has been almost serene. Everyone has kicked off their cleats, put up their feet and made arrangements for a visit to Commissioner Goodell’s house, to shot some pool in his man cave and reminisce about the good old days.

Days when everyone wasn’t suing the league. Congress wasn’t asking questions. And one of NFL’s most recognizable players was about to face the court of public opinion on national TV, for some incredibly serious allegations.

Oh, did I forget to mention?

Armchair Quarterbacks

It has been nearly 15 months since allegations of sexual misconduct against Deshaun Watson started to surface, sending shockwaves across the league.

As the lawsuits rolled in it was difficult to keep count, but when it was all said and done the final total stood at a mind boggling 22 cases. All these lawsuits involved female masseuses alleging similar acts of misconduct on the part of the then Texans QB.

The league acted immediately and did absolutely nothing as they sat back and watched things initially play out. They benefited from the fact that Watson had declared he had no intention of taking the field for Houston in 2021.

Despite the allegations, the Texans acted like incredibly supportive employers of the accused. Houston paid their franchise QB nearly $40 million to show his face at work occasionally but do absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, the NFL launched their belated investigation.

As the saga rolled into this off season with the civil cases unresolved, and no updates from the NFL, Watson was still pushing for a trade.

However, with so much uncertainty and teams surely worried about negative publicity, both the Texans and Watson struggled to get a deal that they felt rewarded his talents.

In the end, Watson settled for a fully guaranteed $230 million deal, structured in such a manner that The Browns would face no real cap penalty in the event of a Watson suspension. The NFL ladies and gentlemen!

Rumours suggested that the new Browns signal caller could ultimately face a 6-8 game suspension and with that the whole escapade could be forgotten. That was until fate intervened.

Firstly, the MLB suspended pitcher Trevor Bauer for 2 years following their own investigation into claims of sexual misconduct, despite him not facing criminal charges.

And now this week, Watson’s accusers will be speaking out on national TV in the US.

The former Clemson QB will effectively be on trial in the court of public opinion. Verdicts will be made on pure emotion, and the right of reply is neither guaranteed or considered.

If Watson’s accusers are viewed as honest and empathetic figures, then this could escalate in a hurry. It won’t just be DW4 on the stand, the NFL and Browns could quickly find themselves with some uncomfortable questions to answer.

Brees back in

There has been an interesting new trend started this off season. It involves future HOF QB and their struggles to stay retired.

Like Randy the Ram in The Wrestler, these ageing warriors struggle to let go of past glories, believing that they still have one last run in them.

The GOAT Tom Brady got things off and running with an abysmal attempt at retirement, though some sceptical NFL analysts believe that this was more a failed defection to Miami.

Philip Rivers was next to suggest a potential return to the field. At the time, the Colts were keeping up the pretence that they where all in on Carson Wentz.

Fearing a potential Rivers reunion, Indy broke cover by trading Wentz to the Redskins Football Team Commanders and quickly acquiring Matt Ryan from the Falcons.

Now this week, Drew Brees floated the idea of dumping the commentary booth for another run in the NFL. Brees experienced a difficult final season in New Orleans in 2020, taking more punishment than any other human being at his or any age should take, whilst also dealing with multiple injuries.

Should the Saints be interested, there is one huge positive to bringing Brees back. He’s not Jameis Winston.

Saban vs The World

Ok, so this is technically not NFL related. But how could we possibly have a weekly update and not mention the biggest football story of the week. 

Over in college football, Nick Saban lashed out at other colleges namely Texas A&M, for effectively buying players.

For those not familiar with the NCAA set up, previously when recruiting players, officially other than the benefits of playing for a specific college, you could not officially offer any other incentive. 

This allowed the supposed bigger  and better programmes to have the cream of crop players coming out of high school, a system that many would argue Saben was one of the biggest beneficiaries of. 

That all changed when the NCAA lost a case in the Supreme Court, meaning players could now agree deals based on their image rights, known as NIL. The recruitment landscape has been turned upside down, with it now become a battle of the chequebook. 

Unfortunately for Saban, Alabama doesn’t have the same financial clout as some. That Texas oil money is no joke, and he’s not happy.

Saban had his say, Jimbo Fisher at Texas A & M shot back, and everyone grabbed their popcorn.