Felipe Alanis
w2w4.com staff writer
Oh my gosh! Oh man! Oh my goodness!… Those were the words used by the famous broadcaster Joe Buck when he saw the actions that took place at Cleveland yesterday, eight seconds before the end of the game. Those words do not denote a big play or cat running into the field. That expression belongs to a one of kind fight between several members of the Pittsburg Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.
Before the game was over, Myles Garrett tried to hit Mason Rudolph, and drop him to the ground making the Steelers QB and his frustration, after an awful night, enough for him to start probably the worst fight in NFL history. By now, everyone wants to be judge and executioner of the corresponding sanction of all the players involved. Myles Garrett is out for the season and playoffs (and potentially deep into the 2020 season) by suspension, Maurkice Pouncey has being suspended three games, and Larry Ogunjobi will miss one game. Mason Rudolph is expecting to be fined in the upcoming days. Wait! What? Mason Rudolph is not going to be suspended? Apparently, no. Rudolph was the one that started to try to pull off the helmet of Garrett, he threw a kick in Garrett’s groin area, and after his Steelers peers push Garrett away from the situation, Rudolph came back at him to continue the madness (although, Mason Rudolph said that was a coward move by Garrett). Rest is history.
I´m not trying to defend Myles Garrett, I believe the suspension is well deserved (unless you are Arian Foster, who has a strong argument against the hypocritical football and sports fans who condone aggressive behavior, but cheer for good fights and hits), but the NFL is not being fair in this situation. Rudolph must be suspended at least for the rest of the season too. Not because he is a QB he should be treated differently. Sadly, he is being treated differently, and the QBs have always being. It is a shame on the NFL not to be objective with the situation, but it can become costly and risky for the league if this matter is not well managed.
Because of the actions of these two football players, even the future of the NFL is in jeopardy. Might be a slight possibility, but it is. This is unprecedented, Rudolph agent is even talking about a potential legal action based on criminal assault charges against Garrett. Yes, there will be horrible if Garrett have grabbed the helmet from the other side or hit him harder than it was, causing Rudolph a potential life threatening injury, but that was not the case. The issue must be treated by what in fact happened, not based on what could have happened. And all the events have been addressed, except for the small fact that all this was caused by the only man that is just going to receive a fine.
The NFL must be careful, this is not an easy decision, and people must start to take their own responsibility.