A former player for the Kansas City Chiefs claims that the Browns-Steelers fracas on Thursday night wasn’t the first time he saw a helmet used as a weapon.
Kicker Lawrence Tynes recalled a fight in practice between defensive tackle Junior Siavii and offensive tackle John Tait, and well, he got the story half-right. There was a fight, and it did involve John Tait and a helmet used as a weapon, but it happened in 2002, not 2004. Tynes was just in his second season with the Chiefs in 2002. He spent those first two seasons as a member of Kansas City’s practice squad before playing in NFL Europe and the CFL.
Have seen a player swing the helmet to the head once before in practice 2004 #Chiefs . Rookie DT Junior Siavii ripped off T John Taits helmet and struck him in the face. Broke his nose I believe.
— ๐๐๐ฌ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐๐จ (@lt4kicks) November 15, 2019
The folks at the Kansas City Star looked into their archives and found the story of a fight at Chiefs training camp back when they went to River Falls, Wisconsin.
Instead of Siavii, as Tynes recalled, the fight occurred between defensive lineman Eddie Freeman and Tait. The results were actually quite a bit scarier than what occurred on the field between Myles Garrett and Mason Rudolph. Tait required 17 stitches in his forehead and had a broken nose. He wasn’t allowed to play or practice because of swelling and the fear of infection, according to the Star.
โFights happen, and things happen in fights,” Tait said via the Kansas City Star. “But I donโt know about hitting people with a helmet. I definitely think disciplinary action should be taken. Itโs not my place to say what or how much. Iโd be disappointed if nothing is done.โ
The team fined Freeman $2,500 for the incident, and everybody moved on.
The difference between this incident and the Garrett-Rudolph fight is glaring. One occurred during the course of a heated moment at training camp practice, the other in the final seconds of a nationally televised game. You can expect the NFL to get involved with fines and suspensions to be handed out swiftly in the case of the Browns-Steelers game.
The one common denominator is that an NFL helmet, weighing roughly six pounds, should never be used a weapon against another football player. Rudolph is lucky to not have suffered any significant injuries, as Tait did back in 2002.