Stephen A. Smith Blasts NFL Following Deshaun Watson Decision

Some massive news came out of the NFL yesterday as it was revealed that Deshaun Watson would be suspended for six games following an investigation into his sexual assault allegations. For many, this punishment is simply not enough when you consider how upwards of 30 women have accused him of some form of sexual assault.

Following the news, there were plenty of reactions in regards to whether or not this was a stiff enough punishment for the Browns superstar. In fact, Stephen A. Smith made a brief return to “First Take” on Monday as he weighed in on the situation, over the phone. As you will hear, Smith believes Watson is in for a rough remainder of his career, and that overall, the NFL is going to lose out in this matter as they are trying too hard to be like law enforcement.

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Per Smith:

“The simple fact that Deshaun Watson found himself in this situation,” Smith began. “If you’re the National Football League, ‘OK, you’ve impugned the shield because you brought this unwanted attention to our brand and as a result, that is the reason we want to hand down whatever suspension it is that we want to hand down.’ Because the NFL has been trying to make amends for their dereliction of duty as it pertained to Ray Rice, they’ve gone the route of, as far as I’m concerned, trying to resemble law enforcement. The NFL has gone through extraordinary lengths to try to do what law enforcement is supposed to do. That’s my problem with all of this. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. There is no way in hell that Deshaun Watson can claim complete innocence. But to be fair to him, he has ADAMANTLY expressed the fact that he has been innocent of this.”

Watson could end up with a lengthier suspension, although the NFL has yet to make such a decision. At the end of the day, the six-game ruling is simply a recommendation. If the NFL were to lengthen the suspension, however, then an appeal would certainly be in the cards.