Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is a diehard Browns fan who was once rumored to be an off-the-beaten path coaching candidate for the team.
Naturally, you’d expect her to have a strong opinion on the ongoing Deshaun Watson situation. But whatever it is, she’s not willing to share it–yet.
Rice spoke today via online chat at a press conference at Firestone Country Club in Akron. She was asked for her thoughts on Watson, who is currently facing two dozen civil lawsuits from women alleging sexual misconduct, with more possibly coming.
“I’m someone who believes you keep an open mind until all of the facts are evident,” Rice said, via Cleveland.com. “I know the league is doing an investigation, the Browns have done an investigation. I will just wait to see what the outcome is. These are serious matters. I think every woman feels that these are serious matters, but hopefully people will get to the bottom of it and we’ll see where we are in a couple of months.”
The NFL is expected to rule on Watson at some point this summer. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said today that a timeline for a decision might have been pushed back by reports of more forthcoming lawsuits.
“I thought before the new cases were filed and the Times report ran that the league would probably wait until July 4 weekend (which is after the discovery deadline) to drop the news,” Breer said. “The latest developments, and this is just me talking, make me wonder whether they might just decide to give it until the start of training camp to play it safe. There are, of course, three pieces to the process (the arbitrator’s decision, Roger Goodell’s ruling and then the chance for an appeal), so all of this won’t happen overnight. But there’s still time.”
Watson, meanwhile, continues to maintain his innocence on all counts.
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