Tag: Cleveland Browns

Falcons coach Dan Quinn uses Myles Garrett suspension as teaching moment

Thursday night’s controversial finish to the AFC South matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers has possibly overtaken Colin Kaepernick’s workout as the NFL’s biggest story.

The Falcons have been uncharacteristically quiet for a 2-7 team with a coach on the hot seat. Outside of Devonta Freeman’s skirmish with Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, there hasn’t been a lot of drama or division in the locker room.

Thursday night’s controversial finish to the AFC South matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers has possibly overtaken Colin Kaepernick’s workout as the NFL’s biggest story.

Browns DE Myles Garrett was suspended for the remainder of the year for swinging his helmet at Steelers QB Mason Rudolph after the two got tied up on the ground:

As reported by Falcons reporter William McFadden, head coach Dan Quinn said he spoke to the team about the incident at Friday’s practice, emphasizing the need for the players to keep their cool during high-intensity division games:

We talked about division games, and they’re more heated for sure. Both teams know each other so well. The term we use sometimes is you’ve got to stare right into the face of temptation, and have that poise to do that at the end, even when it’s really hard.

Atlanta plays NFC South rival Carolina in Week 11, so this message is coming at a perfect time for the team as it tries to build on last week’s win over the Saints.

The Falcons are currently 5.5-point underdogs for Sunday’s road matchup with the Panthers.

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The NFL actually has a specific rule about using a helmet as a weapon

Something to note in the case of Myles Garrett.

You would think that with all the reaction to Myles Garrett using Mason Rudolph’s own helmet to bash the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback on the head that this was something unprecedented and unaccounted for in the NFL rulebook.

As we pointed out earlier on Friday, this isn’t completely unprecedented … and there’s actually specific language about it in the NFL’s rules.

Rule 12 in the rulebook covers “player conduct” and all the way down to Article 17, there it is: “Use of helmet as a weapon.”

“A player may not use a helmet that is no longer worn by anyone as a weapon to strike, swing at, or throw at an opponent,” it reads. And the penalty?

For illegal use of a helmet as a weapon: Loss of 15 yards and automatic disqualification. If the foul is by the defense, it is also an automatic first down.

That’s basically what happened, save for the first down. Garrett was indeed disqualified.

There’s nothing in there about suspensions, but of course, we know that’s up to the discretion of the league and its commissioner.

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Garrett, two other players suspended after Steelers-Browns brawl; both teams fined $250K (Brownswire

A fight broke out in the final seconds of Browns-Steelers which involved DE Myles Garrett swinging QB Mason Rudolph’s own helmet at his naked head.

A fight broke out in the final seconds of Browns-Steelers which involved DE Myles Garrett swinging QB Mason Rudolph’s own helmet at his naked head.

Garrett, two other players suspended after Steelers-Browns brawl; both teams fined $250K (Steelerswi

A fight broke out in the final seconds of Browns-Steelers which involved DE Myles Garrett swinging QB Mason Rudolph’s own helmet at his naked head.

A fight broke out in the final seconds of Browns-Steelers which involved DE Myles Garrett swinging QB Mason Rudolph’s own helmet at his naked head.

Garrett, two other players suspended after Steelers-Browns brawl; both teams fined $250K

A fight broke out in the final seconds of Browns-Steelers which involved DE Myles Garrett swinging QB Mason Rudolph’s own helmet at his naked head.

A fight broke out in the final seconds of Browns-Steelers which involved DE Myles Garrett swinging QB Mason Rudolph’s own helmet at his naked head.

Lane Johnson offers his thoughts on the Myles Garrett helmet incident

Lane Johnson offers his thoughts on the Myles Garrett helmet incident

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Myles Garrett has been suspended for the rest of this season and maybe longer, after the Cleveland Browns star pass rusher ripped the helmet off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and clubbed him in the head with it in the final seconds of Thursday night’s game.

The NFL also suspended Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi one game for shoving Rudolph in the back. Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey was suspended three games as well after he kicked and punched Garrett while defending Rudolph.

Players and analysts from around the NFL have offered their reaction and the Eagles’ top enforcer and star right tackle, Lane Johnson, weighed in as well.

While addressing the media after the Eagles practice on Friday, Johnson told ESPN’s Tim McManus that he would have reacted the same way Pouncey did, and would have slugged Garrett as well.

Johnson has been a leading supporter and protector of Carson Wentz since the Eagles selected their star quarterback in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Myles Garrett got the punishment he deserved, but what about Mason Rudolph?

Myles Garrett has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL, while Mason Rudolph will continue to play.

The NFL acted swiftly in handing out punishments for the Myles Garrett-Mason Rudolph fight at the end of an otherwise drab Browns-Steelers game Thursday night.

The league handed out its punishments Friday. Unsurprisingly, Garrett will have to sit out for the rest of the season, at the very least, with the NFL suspending him indefinitely. Steelers C Maurkice Pouncey was given a three-game suspension for coming to Rudolph’s defense. Browns DT Larry Ogunjobi got a game for shoving the Steelers quarterback to the ground after the smoke cleared.

As for Rudolph, no punishment has been announced, which probably means he’ll avoid a suspension (but not a fine), which is… strange but not totally surprising.

Garrett got the punishment he deserved. Pouncey and Ogunjobi got suspensions that were a little harsh. The former was simply defending a teammate. The latter pushed a player to the ground and nothing else. That happens all the time and never results in a suspension. Rudolph not only started the fight but then escalated it after David DeCastro did a tremendous job of breaking it up.

If you are going to suspend Ogunjobi for pushing a player to the ground, Rudolph deserves a suspension as well.

(I think a fine would have been sufficient for both players.)

What Rudolph did in NO WAY excuses Garrett’s actions. But that goes both ways: Garrett’s actions do not excuse Rudolph for his role in the altercation, and without Rudolph overreacting to Garrett trying to tackle him because he hadn’t realized that the ball had been thrown yet, the altercation never happens. That’s not to say they share the same level of guilt for how ugly it got, but Rudolph played a role and deserves punishment for it. As much punishment as Ogunjobi does, at least.

It feels like Rudolph is escaping serious punishment simply because he isn’t as strong as Garrett. You have to wonder what would have happened if Rudolph had been able to yank Garrett’s helmet off. He wasn’t just trying to get a better look at his opponent’s face. Intent clearly matters, and Rudolph’s intentions were not good.

The optics were bad for the NFL after Thursday night, so it was best for the league to move quickly in this case, which it did. But these punishments only created more bad optics: The altercation involved four players. The three that have suspended are black. The one who escaped punishment, despite being the main instigator, was white. We’re going to need an explanation for that.

I know this is where I’ll lose the people who typically ignore matters of race, but it’s significant here. It’s hard to watch footage of the fight — which shows Rudolph trying to rip Garrett’s helmet off before kicking at his, um, groin region — and not think Rudolph’s privilege played some role in him avoiding a major punishment.

The NFL should not have had a hard time coming up with logical punishments for the parties involved, but, as we’ve seen numerous times over the last few years, the league has a way of making things harder than they have to be.

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Comedian Tom Segura tweets joke about Ndamukong Suh and Myles Garrett

Myles Garrett doing the unthinkable and unimaginable. pic.twitter.com/Y0UXzrCskn – Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 15, 2019 The NFL world was stunned last night when Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett ripped the helmet off …

The NFL world was stunned last night when Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett ripped the helmet off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and then pummel him with it.

The play came with just seconds remaining in the game. The Browns ended up winning 21-7 to pull themselves to 4-6 and remain alive in the playoff race. But, naturally, the all-out melee was all anybody wanted to talk about after the game.

Today, the NFL wasted no time in handing out discipline to Garrett and a few other players involved in last night’s fight.

Take a look.

The play by Garrett was completely inexcusable and there’s no way to defend it. Football players put themselves at enough risk each game when they are on the field. As a fraternity of players, you understand injuries in the game happen, but you never want to intentionally end a man’s career (or life).

Perhaps not surprisingly, one name that kept popping up on Twitter in the aftermath of the Garrett incident was Ndamukong Suh’s. The Bucs defensive tackle has had his own history of suspensions for dirty plays, the most infamous one coming after he stomped on a player back in 2011.

Say what you want about Suh, but he never used a helmet as a weapon.

Still, comedian Tom Segura — who has several hilarious Netflix specials you should check out — couldn’t help but make a joke about Suh and Garrett.

I have a feeling even Suh wouldn’t condone behavior like that. I’m sure he’ll be asked his opinion sometime this week.

For now, though, the title of league’s dirtiest player belongs to a guy in Cleveland.

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Browns’ Myles Garrett, Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey will miss games vs. Cardinals

Two of the players involved with the skirmish on Thursday night will be suspended when their teams face the Cardinals in December.

The Arizona Cardinals will be affected by the results of the fight that took place on Thursday night at the end of the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey have received suspensions from the league and will not be available for their teams when they play the Cardinals in December.

The league released a statement announcing that Garrett, who ripped off Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet and hit him in the head with it, has been suspended indefinitely and it will be at least through the end of this season, including the postseason should the Browns make it to the playoffs.

Pouncey was suspended three games for his involvement.

The Cardinals play the Steelers in three weeks at State Farm Stadium. It will be the final game of his suspension. The Browns come to town the next week. Garrett will obviously miss that game as well.

Garrett is Cleveland’s best defensive player and leads the team with 10 sacks.

Pouncey is perhaps the Steelers’ best offensive lineman.

So while the Cardinals had nothing to do with what happened Thursday night, their December schedule became at least a little easier because of what happened.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

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Multiple players suspended for Browns-Steelers fight

Three players, including Myles Garrett, were suspended for their roles in the Steelers-Browns fight on Thursday night.

If you missed the Week 11 contest between the AFC North rivals Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, you missed a complete meltdown at the end of the game. Browns defensive lineman Myles Garrett ripped Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet off and swung it at him, connecting with his head and sparking a melee in the end zone at FirstEnergy Stadium.

A day later and the end result is the suspension of three players – two from Cleveland and one from Pittsburgh — as well as some big fines, according to the NFL.

  • Garrett is suspended indefinitely, which will include the rest of the 2019 season at a minimum.
  • Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi is suspended for one game.
  • Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey is suspended for three games.
  • Pittsburgh and Cleveland were fined $250,000 each.

There also appears to be some additional punishments coming down the line for other players as the league dives further into what happened during the scuffle.

These suspensions will deal a big blow to both the Steelers’ and Browns’ chances of making the postseason. All three players are starters and have been important pieces of their respective teams. Furthermore, if Garrett’s suspension holds, he’ll end up missing the Week 16 Ravens-Browns rematch that could very well decide Cleveland’s postseason fate.

With their win, the Browns are now 4-6 while the Steelers sit at 5-5. Even if Baltimore were to lose this week to the Houston Texans, the Ravens would still effectively hold a three-game lead over Pittsburgh given their head-to-head tiebreaker from the Week 5 win.

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