Predators should – probably won't – move on from Austin Watson

Joe Rexrode | The Tennessean

UPDATE: Austin Watson has been suspended 27 games.

If the Predators organization is going to continue its admirable quest against domestic violence with equal or increased force, Austin Watson will not play again for the team.

This is an opportunity to put declarative action behind all the time and money devoted to AMEND Together (formerly MEND), a program started by the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. AMEND Together seeks to end domestic violence by focusing on men and boys, targeting negative stereotypes of women and girls that start early, often in sports. It has been the centerpiece of the Predators’ ample community service efforts for years, an emotional project for Predators CEO and President Sean Henry.

And there is no greater reinforcement for this effort – no stronger message to those men and boys – than parting ways with a player guilty of domestic assault. That became part of Watson’s identity Tuesday. He pleaded no contest to a criminal misdemeanor domestic assault charge in Williamson County General Sessions Court, stemming from an incident at a Franklin gas station last month with his girlfriend, who is the mother of his infant daughter.

Austin Watson's attorney discusses him pleading no contest Austin Watson's attorney discusses Watson pleading no contest to domestic assault.

The no-contest plea means there will be no trial, and Watson can have his record expunged if he completes the terms of his probation, which includes in-patient substance abuse rehab. It is not an admission of guilt but does carry the weight of a conviction. That’s why, despite all the haze about the specifics of this situation and apparent lack of severity compared with others, I think the right move for the Predators is to release Watson.

I also don’t believe they will end up doing that, based on conversations with several sources close to this situation. I’ve heard compelling arguments, including belief that this was a verbal altercation that involved minimal physical contact from Watson, and belief that he’s one of the best people on this roster. Watson was the first Predators player to sign up to be involved in the AMEND Together efforts, coincidentally enough.

More: What can NHL do to punish Predators' Austin Watson after no-contest plea?

These cases aren’t all the same. While the NHL starts an investigation into the Watson incident, it continues to face pressure to keep Russian defenseman Slava Voynov out of the league. The details of Voynov’s alleged 2014 abuse of his wife are horrifying, and doctors confirmed in a Los Angeles Times report that she needed eight stitches to close a wound on her forehead. Voynov should never sniff this league again.

I expect the NHL to suspend Watson for several games, and the Predators have said in a statement they won’t comment publicly until that outcome is reached. I don’t think Watson should be out of the league. I do think the Predators should move on from him, despite how people in the building feel about him, despite his growing importance on this team – he was its best player in the first-round over the Colorado Avalanche – and exactly because of what this organization has done in this area.

None of it can be undone. The Predators made a $500,000 commitment to AMEND Together (then called MEND) in 2016 and have contributed more money, put on several events and produced several public service announcements since then. These efforts were the basis for Henry being named the Tennessean’s 2016 Sports Person of the Year.

“I like bold goals, and the goal of MEND is very simple – to end violence on women, period,” Henry said at the time. “And when we say that, people laugh. This has been a problem for however long we’ve been walking on the Earth. The difference is, it’s always been a female problem we thought. The only way we’re going to end it is, men need to end it.”

The Predators should not be punished for taking this quest so seriously. But words like that moving forward will carry less weight – and flat-out ring hollow to some – if Watson remains on the team. That’s the reality of raising the stakes.

More: What does the NHL do when players like Austin Watson face domestic abuse claims? The league has no policy.

Shan Foster, former Vanderbilt hoops star and senior director of external affairs for AMEND Together, said the organization has not yet formulated a statement on Watson. There will be no ultimatums or condemnations. But I’d be willing to bet a lot of people in that organization have been quietly hoping the Predators would send a message by cutting Watson.

That’s how you attack domestic violence, by doing things outside the norm of the big business of pro sports, things that can hurt you competitively, to put severe consequence on anything in the realm of domestic violence. This is an opportunity. I don’t expect the Predators to take it.

If not, the opportunity is Watson’s. To explain everything, for starters, and then to become the most active and vocal crusader against domestic violence in Nashville.

Reach Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.