Roger Goodell Won’t Hear Deshaun Watson Appeal

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell won’t handle Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s appeal, according to published reports. 

The league gave notice Wednesday that it would appeal former federal judge Sue Robinson’s decision to suspend Watson six games. Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, Goodell has the option to hear the appeal himself or designate somebody else to handle the hearing and render a decision. 

The person who will hear the appeal will come from outside the NFL, according to Pro FootballTalk.

The NFL is seeking an indefinite ban of Watson after more than two dozen women alleged sexual misconduct during massage sessions. Robinson wrote in her decision that Watson engaged in “sexual assault” and “conduct that poses a genuine danger to the safety and well-being of another person.”

The decision sparked an immediate outcry.  

It wasn’t immediately known who would hear the appeal. Former NFL executive Harold Henderson was tapped by Goodell in the last major appeal to a punishment under the league’s personal conduct policy involving domestic violation allegations related to Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. 

The appeal of Elliott’s six-game ban was lodged by the NFLPA. Even before Henderson upheld Elliott’s punishment in August 2017, the NFLPA sued the NFL in federal court. A federal judge granted an injunction that allowed Elliott to play through Week 10 of the 2017 season before setbacks in court led Elliott to drop his legal challenge. 

Former U.S. Attorney Generals Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch are among the potential arbiters  that could be tapped by Goodell to hear the appeal. Both have done work in prior NFL arbitration cases.