The NFL's disciplinary officer finds Deshaun Watson engaged in sexual assault and showed no remorse, but her punishment falls well short of the year-long suspension the league said it hoped for.
"Although this is the most significant punishment ever imposed on an NFL player for allegations of non-violent sexual conduct, Mr Watson's pattern of conduct is more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL," Robinson wrote in the conclusion to her 16-page report.
The NFL presented a 215-page report based on dozens of interviews, including testimony from four of 12 women interviewed by league investigators.Conduct that qualifies as a sexual assaultConduct that undermines, or puts at risk, the integrity of the NFL "Defining prohibited conduct plays a critical role in the rule of law, enabling people to predict the consequences of their behaviour," she wrote.
"As to mitigating factors, he is a first offender and had an excellent reputation in his community prior to these events. He cooperated in the investigation and has paid restitution," she wrote. Watson can play in preseason exhibition games before his suspension begins the first week of the regular season, and he returned to Browns training after the ban was handed down, seen signing autographs for fans, many of whom cheered for the big-name signing.
Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam released a statement saying they "empathise and understand that there have been many individuals triggered throughout this process" but they would "continue to support him".
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