Football is one of the few sports that promotes contact as a part of its rules. There are
limits as to what is viewed as a clean hit, and situations where a player is significantly more violent than the established limits tend to be very rare. However, on November 14th, during the Thursday Night Football game between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Steelers and Browns found themselves in such a situation. The Browns were seconds away from a win—a season- changing win—when defensive star Myles Garrett lost his composure in a moment of rage rarely seen on an NFL field. With only eight seconds left in the game and Cleveland holding a 21-7 lead, Garrett tore off Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet, swung it wildly and hit him in the head. The play immediately became the defining moment of a game that will certainly not be remembered for anything that happened in the 59 minutes prior. Garrett has been suspended indefinitely and will not play again this year, while Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey has been suspended for three games for kicking Garrett in the head in response to the helmet hit. “I lost my cool and I regret it,” Garrett said in a postgame interview. “It’s going to come back to hurt our team. The guys who jumped into the scrum, I appreciate my team having my back, but it never should have gotten to that point.” Players from both teams’ sidelines spilled on the field during the altercation, which began after Garrett wrestled Rudolph to the ground after an essentially meaningless play. Garrett, Pouncey, and Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi were ejected during the fight. The most recent controversy surrounding this fight is the role played by Rudolph. According to ESPN, in Garrett’s appeal of his suspension in the week following the game he alleged that Rudolph directed a slur at him prior to the brawl. The NFL, however, said it found “no such evidence” of this ever occurring and upheld Garrett’s indefinite suspension. It is worth noting that while Rudolph was not suspended, he was taken out of the Steelers’ next matchup, against the winless Cincinnati Bengals. Since the NFL has dealt with plenty of controversy surrounding its handling of suspensions, it will certainly be worth monitoring how this issue plays out as the NFL season as it enters its final regular season weeks. |