NFL Expands Penalties For Sexual Assault — One Year After Deshaun Watson Received 11-Game Suspension

The NFL has revised its personal conduct policy to expand the definition of sexual assault offenses that can lead to more severe punishment.

A first offense of sexual assault “involving physical violence or committed against someone incapable of consent or involving threats or coercion” will result in a six-game suspension without pay “with possible upward or downward adjustments based on any aggravating or mitigating factors’. according to the policy obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Nothing in this provision shall prevent the disciplinary officer or commissioner from imposing an unpaid suspension of six games or more, including an indefinite suspension, for other forms of prohibited conduct.

A second offense will result in expulsion from the NFL,” the policy reads.

Adding the terminology “with threat or coercion” and expanding possible aggravating factors to now include “pattern of conduct” and “planning-involving infractions” comes a year after Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was suspended for 11 games and a was fined $5 million for violating the Personal Conduct Policy after being accused of assault and sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions by more than two dozen women.

Watson, 27, was suspended for 11 games after a dozen women made allegations

Watson was initially suspended for six games by a disciplinary officer who pointed to restrictions in the league’s policies. The NFL required a minimum one-year suspension.

A settlement was reached after the league appealed the initial ruling.

And now, much of the Browns’ success this year will depend on whether Watson, who struggled at times in his six games last season, can rediscover his Pro Bowl form.

Last month, the 27-year-old said his time away from football has changed him for the better as a player and a person.

“The whole situation has changed me,” Watson said at the Browns’ training camp in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia. “In a situation where I just had to shut myself off, channel and really know who I surround myself with and just really who will be there and support me even when I’m at my lowest point and the past few years have definitely been my lowest point of my life .

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam claims Watson’s time away from football has changed the player

Jimmy Haslam and his wife, Dee, were proud of Watson, saying the quarterback has matured during his time in Cleveland.

“I think he’s learned a lot about himself and what he can and can’t do,” said Jimmy Haslam. “He’s learned who you can trust and who you can’t. Deshaun has always, always been humble. He is even more humble. I’ll be honest, I think the time away from football, the time away from teammates and so on, he appreciates that more now than ever before.

Not that he didn’t before. And you can see Deshaun, who has always been a leader and was in a tough scenario last year.”

Watson underwent mandatory therapy as one of the conditions of his ban, and Dee Haslam is encouraged that he will continue to receive counselling.

“He’s said over and over, ‘I’ve learned so much,'” and hopefully he will continue to grow through that process,” Dee Haslam said.