ESPN analyst Ryan Clark has been left fuming at the decision to suspend Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson for six games. 

In what was arguably the biggest story of the NFL offseason, and having gone through multiple different phases before reaching a decision, Judge Sue L. Robinson has decided that Deshaun Watson will be suspended for the first six games of the Cleveland Browns’ season.

Watson had been accused of 24 counts of sexual misconduct with massage therapists during his time with the Houston Texans, and although he was not indicted by a grand jury over the accusations, he did face a number of civil suits but settled with all bar one of them out of court before the suspension was handed out.

Judge Robinson later this afternoon released her report on the matter where she explained why the length of the suspension should be so:

Reasons that former NFL player Ryan Clark didn’t feel were enough.

What’s he said?

Speaking on ESPN’s Get Up in the immediate aftermath of the suspension being announced, Clark was asked by host Mike Greenberg for his thoughts on the suspension, and he was far from happy about the number that was given out, with reference to other suspensions that have been handed out in the past and believes that the NFL might appeal the decision, even though the NFLPA (NFL Player’s Association) stated that they hoped the league wouldn’t do so:

“The other thing we have to remember is in the NFL, it doesn't matter if you're guilty or innocent. It's about the shield, it's about the conduct policy that says something that you did has tarnished, or besmirched the shield. Now people will point to Calvin Ridley who’s out for a certain amount of time because of gambling, right? They'll point to simple things as Deflategate and say, ‘Okay, that was four games’. “And so now you look at Deshaun Watson, and the story that seemingly has been going on for years now, and you think to yourself ‘six games, that does seem low’. It seems low, not based on what I think he deserves, it seems low based on the way the NFL has handled other situations in the past. “It seems that it's something that they [the NFL] will appeal for perception.“It's about getting this right and doing the right thing by all parties involved. I do believe this is low as what I was expecting the NFL to hand down to Deshaun Watson and now I think we are entering into an even touchier situation of perception, perception and money.”

The cases Clark is referring to saw Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley suspended for a year for gambling, even though it was on his own team to win, whilst Deflategate eventually saw Tom Brady suspended for four games.

It isn’t over yet

The NFL had been pushing for an indefinite suspension to be handed down to Watson, and it does seem as if an appeal from them could be on the horizon as they too released a statement after the decision in which they hinted that one could be on the horizon:

So whilst the narrative might be right now that Watson is out for six games, it may well be that the number could increase in the future if the league has their way. And as those who remember Deflategate and how that was a ruling over a year in the making before the final decision and suspension were handed out, so it might well be that we are nowhere near coming to the end of this matter just yet.