Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 11-22-19

Sports
Some Believe Mason Rudolph, Hit In head With His Own Helmet,
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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Myles Garrett's Appeal
“Then at the end, the line- men are holding Myles Gar- rett back, and you see Rudolph rush him and that's how he reacted. No room for the way he reacted hitting an- other guy without a helmet, but I really wish a reporter would have said, 'What hap- pened, why did you react that way? Because obviously something triggered you to make you react that way?'"
Once Rudolph’s helmet came off, he went after Gar- rett, with some of his team- mates in between them. That’s when Garrett swung the helmet. After the game, Rudolph called Garrett “cowardly” and “bush league.”
"Don't make it seem like another guy was a coward and it was bush league, you were in the fight. Whether it was wrong or right, you were in the fight,” McGinest, the former Patriots outside line- backer, said. “You started the fight by trying to pull off this man's helmet. Now, he fin- ished it, and it wasn't the right way, but you still charged into the pile. When [Steelers
guard David] DeCastro got in between you and Myles Garrett, you could have walked away and threw your hands up, not after you got hit with the helmet.
“So don't make it seem like it was all Myles Garrett, he did everything, he incited this whole situation. It was guilty parties on both teams. It's all inexcusable, but I don't like the way the picture is being painted like this is all created by one particular per- son. I'm not making excuses, but we do have to be honest about what we saw."
Carr, who played quar- terback for a few teams and most notably the Houston Texans, backed McGinest.
"I completely agree,” Carr said on NFLN. “Obviously it escalated when Mason charged back into a situation where, there were two offen- sive linemen there holding Myles Garrett back. When Mason came in, that just es- calated it and you got the hel- met swing, which obviously no one is condoning, but that's kind of what hap- pened.”
Isn't Getting Enough Blame
An interesting counter- narrative surfaced on Thurs- day night in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleve- land Browns brawl, and it was especially popular on NFL Network.
For anyone who turned off the game after Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s fourth intercep- tion and went to bed, a melee we’ll remember for a long time broke out. Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and Rudolph got into it at the end of a play, Garrett tore Rudolph’s helmet off and hit him in the head with it. Everyone agreed it was terrible.
And while Garrett was criticized for one of the ugliest on-field acts we’ve seen in the NFL, others felt that Rudolph — who was rocked in the head with his own hel- met after it got pulled off — wasn’t getting enough blame for his involvement.
On Friday, Garrett was suspended indefinitely and at least for the rest of the season. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey was suspended three games and Browns de- fensive tackle Larry Ogun- jobi got one game.
Rudolph wasn’t pun- ished at all.
NFL Network Analysts Critical Of Mason Rudolph
NFL Network had former players David Carr, James Jones and Willie McGinest on after the Thursday night game to dis- cuss the fight. And all three agreed that Rudolph was getting off too lightly.
On the play, Garrett took Rudolph down after Rudolph threw a pass. Gar- rett did not seem to know Rudolph got rid of the ball. Rudolph took exception, at one point grabbing and pulling at the back of Gar- rett’s helmet. That’s when the fight started.
"I really wanted to know what Myles Garrett was thinking, because we all can see Rudolph gets tackled and starts pulling off Gar- rett's helmet, and that's when Garrett lost it,” Jones, the former Packers receiver, said on NFLN.
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) swings at Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph (2) with Rudolph's own helmet.
Strategy Will Be Challenging
Indefinite Length Of Suspension
Cleveland Browns defen- sive end Myles Garrett has apologized for his actions, calling his helmet-swinging behavior “selfish” in a state- ment posted shortly after his punishment was announced.
But while Garrett took re- sponsibility for his actions, he’s not taking his suspension quietly.
Appeal to focus on CBA Via NFL Network, Gar- rett plans to appeal his sus- pension, which is at minimum six games, or the remainder of
the regular season.
His argument will be to
focus on the “indefinite” lan- guage used. The collective bargaining agreement does not allow for indefinite sus- pensions for on-field conduct.
Now, Garrett could make this case in front of Derrick Brooks or James Thrash,
MYLES GARRETT
who hear these appeals, and they could call his bluff. Re- sponding with, “Here’s a de- fined term: 10 games,” or something along those lines, would be concrete.
That obviously is not what Garrett is hoping for. He re- portedly wants the six-game minimum for this season (which could be longer if Cleveland makes the playoffs) reduced as well.
But the CBA says what it says, and he wants to make the league at least stick to it.
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