Myles Garrett hits Mason Rudolph with his own helmet

[Umpire in Chief]

 

Just a day after I posted the late hit in a college game comes this...

OMG. I believe Myles Garrett should face permanent suspension AND face criminal charges. 

On a sports talk show I listen to in the mornings they were talking criminal charges will be very tough to have pressed in a football game because participants are voluntary participating in a violent game. I think that's BS ripping someone's helmet off and hitting them with it is not what is considered normal violence within the scope of the game. 

This article mentions criminal charges against professional athletes and that Garrett has a recent history of going beyond.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2019/11/15/myles-garrett-could-receive-record-nfl-suspension-after-brawl/4200309002/

And another article showing there were some other poor sportsmanship issues.

https://apnews.com/9ba79fa26c6c4c55b10a9405d374e4b8?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP_Sports&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP_Sports

[stkjock]

indefinite suspension for Garrett

 

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28087446/browns-myles-garrett-suspended-indefinitely-steelers-maurkice-pouncey-gets-3-game-ban

 

[Biscuit]

I'm going to preface the main point of this post with the following:  \I think these penalties are completely appropriate. Myles Garrett should never play another NFL game, or at the very least, certainly not this year. 

In my opinion, in the NFL (and arguably high level NCAA), it is no longer an educational experience, and it is no longer just a game. It is a show that thousands of people's lively hoods depend on. For that reason, I don't think fighting is as bad, and only egregious acts that can or do cause actual long term harm (such as hitting someone with a helmet) should be considered bad acts. A fight can be good for the product of the NFL. For the same reason, I'm not opposed to bean ball wars in the MLB (provided the head is not targeted).

Pouncey deserves the 3 games, only because of the kicking to the helmet. The punches warrant ejection and maybe a fine, but, in light of what had just happened to one of his teammates, I don't think the punches are that big a deal.

In addition, I think Rudolph should receive some penalty for his role in starting the conflict, and more importantly trying to remove Garrett's helmet. Certainly it should not be as stiff as the penalty for Garrett, but his actions in part lead to the whole issue.

[Umpire in Chief]

Apparently this was a dirty game all the way around

 

[Aging_Arbiter]

............Aren't the Stillers just about out of quarterbacks?   ...I hear Kapernick may be available soon............

[scrounge]

Ok, I think the talk of a permanent ban is just a wee bit of hyperbole here. Garrett flipped out and crossed WAY over the line, but 6 to 8 games seems sufficient. It's an extraordinary violent game...and we expect these people to just shut it off at the blink of an eye? That's not an excuse or an explanation or even a minimization, but it's not like he just walked up to Rudolph and committed an unprovoked assault. Rudolph was immensely frustrated at basically throwing away the game and playing like ass, Garrett was amped up and overly aggressive in bringing him down on that meaningless play sack, Rudolph got all upset about it and yanked helmet's first, Garrett escalates it further by pushing him down, Rudolph takes it further by pushing him away with his foot in Garrett's groin, Garrett yanks the helmet off, two Steelers linemen start pushing him away just have Rudolph charge back in like a maniac, and then Garrett goes full psycho with the helmet hit and all hell breaks out. If he would have just dropped the helmet and punched Rudolph, it's a couple games max - and it was 3 Steelers on 1 at that point. 

Some of the pearl clutching going on by ex players is laughable - notably, Jonathon Vilma - the central figure in Bountygate, deliberately trying to concuss opposing QB's - acting like he's never heard of such a thing. Heck, it's not even the only helmet swing I've heard of this year - just that this one got on a national game on Fox. 

Again, it's not an excuse or a minimization - it's just that this isn't some beyond the pale, unimaginable thing. It was a sports fight that someone flipped out and went way too far. I think the other punishments are just about right. Totally understand Pouncey doing what he did, but it's a bad look. Thought he'd get 2 games, but 3 is fine. Ogunjobi got off a little easy for his weenie cheap shot. Wouldn't have minded 1 game for Rudolph, but the greater punishment for the Steelers may be having him play anyway.

[kylehutson]

35 minutes ago, scrounge said:

Wouldn't have minded 1 game for Rudolph, but the greater punishment for the Steelers may be having him play anyway.

I hadn't thought about it that way, but you might be right.

[Mister B]

While not impressed with his decision making during the game, pissing off a huge defensive player, and then chasing him after he rips your helmet off, just made Rudolph worthless. 

[flyingron]

Perhaps the Browns should pick up Kaepernick now that the NFL seems to be backtracking on his blacklisting.

 

[Aging_Arbiter]

As much as I dislike OJ Simpson (not based on guilt or innocence, my reasons are different) I think what he said in his interview about Garret had some merit. Now while I won't be able to quote word for word, it was along the lines of how commentators became prosecutors.  Talking about criminal charges and all.  In baseball, the pitcher can throw a 90mph fastball at the batters head, and it gets reported on almost comically.  In Hockey, they fight. (I think we've all heard the one about going to a fight and a hockey game broke out), but in basketball and football, it's criminal.

Do I agree with what happened, absolutely not.  Was Garret the only one in the wrong, absolutely not.  Did he over react? Absolutely.  Let the punishment fit the crime....... for ALL parties involved.

[kylehutson]

2 hours ago, Aging_Arbiter said:

Talking about criminal charges and all.  In baseball, the pitcher can throw a 90mph fastball at the batters head, and it gets reported on almost comically.  In Hockey, they fight. (I think we've all heard the one about going to a fight and a hockey game broke out), but in basketball and football, it's criminal.

It's a matter of expectation and possible consequences.

The question is "is this a reasonable consequence of playing the sport?" Getting concussed because of a hard hit, yes. Because you got hit on your bare head by a helmet? no.

I really think part of this is "do we want football to become like hockey where fights are just a common occurrence?" And even when fights do occur, is it at least a fair fight? If Garret had hit a helmet against a helmet or a fist against a head, it wouldn't be nearly as severe as a penalty.