BEREA, Ohio — If you were going to trace the NFL’s Deshaun Watson appeal back to a starting point, to a juncture where it became likely the league was going to overturn a decision from independent arbitrator Sue L. Robinson, it would have been early in the disciplinary hearing attended by Watson and his legal camp, along with representatives from the NFL and NFL Players Association.
That’s when the league’s lawyers were first informed by Robinson that the NFL very likely was not going to land the indefinite one-year suspension it was seeking for the Cleveland Browns quarterback, multiple sources familiar with the proceedings told Yahoo Sports.