The NFL world was placed on it’s head in the final moments of what should have been a celebratory situation for the Cleveland Browns in Thursday night’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Only it’s the Cleveland Browns and nice things rarely happen to that organization. A few seconds before defeating their rivals for the first time in the same season they also took out the Baltimore Ravens, all hell broke loose when defensive end Myles Garrett took down QB Mason Rudolph a few ticks after Rudolph had released the ball.
The takedown was late-hit flag worthy, but on it’s own probably wouldn’t be much of a big deal. What happened after, certainly was. On the ground, Rudolph and Garrett tussled, with Rudolph attempting to take off Garrett’s helmet.
This could be Rudolph’s hand getting stuck in Garrett’s facemask and him trying to get it out, as some have speculated, but what is going on with Rudolph’s left hand cannot be seen by the currently available angles.
There is clear animosity here as Rudolph grabs the back of Garrett’s helmet and almost pulls it off. Just as none of us outsiders know the full intent of Rudolph’s hands, none of us outsiders know what was being said during this tussle and it’s irresponsible to speculate on the specific words being used.
It is, of course, doubtful the two were exchanging pound cake recipes.
As they rose from the ground, Rudolph appears to have made contact with Garrett in the groin area not once, but twice. The intent, and the intensity, is unknown.
Garrett went apoplectic and not only retaliated by trying to remove Rudolph’s helmet — it’s a safe bet to assume Garrett didn’t take Rudolph’s action as a mild-mannered attempt to remove a hand from a facemask — but succeeded, and then things turned surreal.
Rudolph, helmet-less, still decides to pursue confrontation. Garrett, backpedaling, winds up and makes a mistake that could have cost Rudolph his season, career or possibly worse, by swinging the QBs helmet and connecting with his head.
Fortunately, the open end of the helmet where there is padding is what connected, and not the crown of the helmet, or things could have ended badly. The incident will now get turned over to the league and suspensions will likely be coming for all involved. Steelers’ OL Maurkice Pouncey will likely be suspended for throwing punches in defense of his quarterback, Rudolph will likely be suspended for trying to rip off Garrett’s helmet and moving the situation from a penalty-worthy play to a fight, and Garrett certainly will be suspended for escalating the fight to a place things should never, ever go.
Except, they sometimes do.
This is hardly the first helmet-swinging incident the league or organized football has seen, despite the over-the-top reactions some in the media are having. They happen from time to time, including earlier this season in practice, they just haven’t been on primetime television in front of a national audience and during the age of social media where one instance spawns 10’s of thousands of responses.
Kyle Long vs Jalen Dalton (August 2019)
This tiff wasn’t caught on publicly available camera, though as teams record their practice sessions, video of it does exist somewhere .
For The Win reported on it at the time:
Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long had himself an interesting day at training camp on Wednesday. And by interesting, I mean that he took off a fellow player’s helmet and tried to beat him with it.
No, really, he did.
The three-time Pro Bowler was ejected from a mock scrimmage session after he got into a fight with rookie defensive lineman Jalen Dalton. Long apparently took exception to an earlier block by Dalton during an interception return. And frustrations boiled over when Long removed Dalton’s helmet and started hitting him with the helmet.
Richie Incognito vs Antoine Smith (August 2013)
Smith, the Houston Texans defensive lineman, scuffled with notorious bad boy and the oft-maligned offensive lineman, then of the Miami Dolphins. Yes, the threaten-everyone-in-a-funeral-home-with-guns-and-is-back-in-the-NFL Richie Incognito.
As all can see, Incognito gets his hands into the face and helmet of Smith first, just like Rudolph and Garrett, and the response is the escalation of violence. Smith is able to successfully remove Incognito’s helmet, and swings it at him in retaliation. He just doesn’t connect.
Flozell Adams vs Marcus Thomas (Summer 2008)
The Cowboys aren’t immune to being in such instances. During a joint practice with the Denver Broncos, things got heated leading the Dallas lineman to swing a helmet in a big scrum.
The reactions at the time come courtesy of the Denver Post, including Broncos HC Mike Shanahan being pleased no one threw a punch.
“That’s all part of football,” Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens said. “When you get all this testosterone going out here, it gets a little out of hand.”
“When you’re going against other guys, guys that you’re not friends with, sometimes tempers flare,” Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams said. “I guess two guys got into it a little extra at the end of the play, and once that happens, your friends come, everybody’s friends come. It’s a big pile-on, just grabbing and pushing.”
Asked about the fracas, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan retorted: “That wasn’t a fight. It wasn’t a fight. You know what a fight is. That was just a little pushing. It happens all the time. But they kept their composure and they didn’t swing. And that’s what you want.”
Don Joyce vs Les Lichtner (1954)
These things are of course nothing new. Here, Twitter user @DanDalyOnSports finds an old-school incident involving a current Hall of Famer.
The league’s response? Very interesting.
Lyle Alzado also got frisky back in the 1980s.
Albert Haynesworth vs Andre Gurode (2006)
Of course the most notable helmet incident prior to this one didn’t involve a helmet swing, but did involve a member of the Dallas Cowboys.
After a Julius Jones touchdown, the then Tennessee Titans defensive lineman stood over the Cowboys center Andre Gurode, ripped off his helmet and unsuccessfully tried to step on his face. Undeterred, he went for a second stomp, causing several lacerations to Gurode’s face that would require multiple stitches.
Haynesworth was suspended five games the very next day. It will be interesting to see how long, and how quickly the parties in Thursday night’s events are punished.
Nothing happens in today’s world without being captured in a contemporary meme, and all should be grateful the scream-at-the-too-cool-cat meme is what’s hot right now. Enjoy.
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