Deshaun Watson, the quarterback for the Browns, will ultimately be punished based on Judge Sue L. Robinson’s ruling first, and then the commissioner or his designee if the league files an appeal after she imposes any disciplinary penalty. Lastly, the legal system might become involved.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson, if the outcome of the trial is a season-long punishment, the NFL Players Association and Watson’s team have already resolved to sue the league in federal court.
Watson and the union are free to attempt, but it won’t be simple to succeed. First of all, courts adore it when parties to a case agree on their own independent dispute resolution processes. The method for applying sanctions under the Personal Conduct Policy has been discussed by the NFL and NFLPA.The approach will be revised in 2020, and the disciplinary officer’s evaluation will be factored in. The Federal Arbitration Act allows courts protection to avoid getting involved in such disputes since, in general, they won’t want to implicate themselves by speculating on the progression of the actions done by management and employees.
The narrative developed by the cases related to Tom Brady’s and Ezekiel Elliott’s bans further complicates matters. Brady was unsuccessful in overturning his #Deflategate ban in federal court in Manhattan, and he also lost in front of a Second Circuit US Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel. Elliott, who successfully sidestepped the Brady case’s precedent and the New York federal court system, originally received relief from his stay of the Personal.
This is where the NFL has a built-in advantage. It can have the paperwork ready to file in the Southern District of New York and it can hit the button literally seconds after the internal decision has taken effect. Basically, the league can win easily, which is ultimately a rigged race to the courthouse.
The fact that the league and union have negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement since the Elliot case will make it even harder to challenge current procedures. If there had been serious concerns about the rules and regulations for imposing disciplinary sanctions under the Personal Conduct Policy, the union could have addressed these when drafting the new terms. To prevail, the NFLPA must show that the league has violated its own rules and regulations in some way.
It will not be enough to say, “We do not like the final decision.” Both sides agreed that the Disciplinary Officer makes the first decision, the Commissioner or his designee handles the appeal, and the decision on the appeal is final. The federal courts should not be the next avenue of appeal. The case should be closed. Therefore, because of the Brady and Elliott cases, it will not be easy for Watson to get a federal court to lift a year-long suspension if that is the final outcome of the agreed internal process.
