Steelers' Mason Rudolph Won't Pursue Legal Action Against Browns' Myles Garrett

I was hoping to write the opposite headline. If you’re not up to speed, last night the Steelers played the Browns, and with less than ten seconds remaining in the game (which wasn’t close enough to matter, with the Browns have 21 points and the Steelers 7), Myles Garrett delivered a late hit to Steelers QB Mason Rudolph. After exchanging words on the ground, Garrett ripped off Rudolph’s helmet and attempted to bash him in the head with it, making some degree of contact which, fortunately, didn’t result in a life-threatening injury for Rudolph. Watching it was enough to make my blood boil.

I don’t care what names Rudolph may have called him or what he could’ve said about his mother while they were on the ground, what Garrett did was disgusting. Sure, tempers can run high in any competition, but there’s absolutely no excuse for behavior like that which so callously endangers another player’s life. In my opinion, Garrett shouldn't have been suspended, he should’ve had his contract terminated and been banned from the NFL. If you wanna play bush league football, you don’t deserve to be in the big leagues. The act of removing someone’s helmet is indecent because the only reason to do so would be to cause them significant physical harm, and that move alone should be enough for a multiple game suspension, much less using it as a weapon to bludgeon the player’s then-unprotected head. This wasn’t just a case of poor judgement on Garrett’s part, it was criminal, and Mason Rudolph would’ve been well within his rights to pursue legal action for an unwarranted attack that amounts to assault with a deadly weapon. If not legal action or expulsion from the league, Garrett absolutely deserves to have his public perception indelibly tarnished.

Honestly, based on the several late hits and multiple instances of obvious charging on the Browns’ part in this game, I think the whole team should be suspended for the rest of the season. There is no excuse for any team to have such an irreverence for the safety of their opponents.