Comparing Deshaun Watson's six-game ban to other major suspensions this year in sports ft. Trevor Bauer, Calvin Ridley, and more

By Adam Hulse

Modified Nov 08, 2022 11:48 GMT

#3 - Calvin Ridley, entire 2022 season

Calvin Ridley temporarily stepped away from the Atlanta Falcons during the 2021 season to take some time off for personal reasons. During his absence, he was found guilty of placing two separate wagers on NFL games totaling $1,500. NFL players are prohibited from wagering any amount in any NFL game while they are still currently employed by the league.

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Calvin Ridley received major punishment for violating the league's gambling rules and is officially suspended for the entire 2022 season. While it's important for the NFL to protect the integrity of the game, it seems a bit off that Ridley's suspension is nearly triple the length of Deshaun Watson's.

#4 - Trevor Bauer, 2 years

Trevor Bauer came under investigation for serious domestic violence accusations during the 2021 MLB season. While he was never charged criminally, the case was presented to the MLB for a major violation of their personal conduct policy.

Bauer was hit with a massive two-year suspension from the MLB, the longest ever suspension for domestic violence in MLB history. He also missed more than half of the 2021 MLB season while on administrative leave during the investigation. This will not be credited as time served. Bauer's total time away will be more than seven times as long as Deshaun Watson.

#5 - Ksenia Palkina, 16 years

Ksenia Palkina was accused of fixing tennis matches that she played in during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. After a lengthy multi-year investigation, Palkina eventually admitted to intentionally sabotaging matches. She deliberately affected the outcome and determined the winner from a sports betting angle.

Palkina received a massive 16 year suspension for participating in the scandal. Ten years of the suspension must be served immediately, essentially making this a career-ending ban, as she will be nearly 40 years old at the conclusion of it. This is obviously much longer than what Deshaun Watson received.

About the author

Adam Hulse is an NFL journalist at Sportskeeda with 4 years of experience. He is also the host of the podcast "Sports Talk with Adam Hulse."

Adam studied Communications at Villanova University and played American football at Pop Warner and as a high school Freshman. His favorite team are the Dallas Cowboys, and if Adam could lay his hands on a time machine, he would love to witness their glory years from the 1990s. The Cowboys' 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX is his favorite Super Bowl of all time.

Given his affinity for 'America's Team,' Adam's favorite players of all time include Emmitt Smith. Michael Irvin, Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.

Adam takes a lot of pride in his work, which naturally culminates into insightful content for his readers, performance analysis being his forte. When not writing about football, Adam spends a time on his podcast.

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Edited by John Maxwell