Math is an important part of all sports.
The calculations for batting average in baseball, field goal percentage in basketball and completion rate in football are all embedded into the sports fan’s brain.
But when it comes to the NFL’s punishment policies — with Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension as the latest example — the math just doesn’t seem to add up.
Shortly after Sue L. Robinson ruled Monday morning that the embattled Browns quarterback will serve a six-game suspension, social media erupted with takes about the punishment. The most common one — even more than the outrage that Watson would miss only six games and lose barely any money after being accused by two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment — was befuddlement about the NFL’s inconsistency with suspensions.