Editors’ note: This story contains accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or at https://www.rainn.org.
Deshaun Watson is returning from his 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy where his NFL career started—in Houston. However, this time he’ll don a Browns jersey in his first regular-season game in 700 days as his off-field legal issues persist.
The quarterback has been accused of sexual assault and harassment in more than two dozen lawsuits dating back to March 2021, and although the majority of them have been settled, two cases remain active. In a letter obtained by Sports Illustrated sent on behalf of the NFLPA to the NFL’s appeals officer, Peter Harvey, days after independent arbitrator Sue L. Robinson reached an initial disciplinary decision, the players association pitted Watson’s case side-by-side with Ben Roethlisberger’s. If Watson’s case was drawn out, the union was prepared to put the league’s treatment of “a white star quarterback and a Black star quarterback” side by side.
