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The NFL spent little time concocting its punishments in the fallout of Thursday night’s game between the Browns and Steelers that ended with defensive end Myles Garrett hitting quarterback Mason Rudolph in the head with a helmet.
In fact, when it came to the punishment for Garrett, Troy Vincent — the NFL’s head of football operations — said it was an easy decision.
“That’s not us,” Vincent told Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. “That’s not who we are. There is no place for that in our game. We all know that. That, frankly, is an easy decision to suspend the player for the duration of the season … Imagine if he hit him with the crown of the helmet? We cannot have that on a football field.”
Garrett was handed an “indefinite” suspension by the NFL, which was reported to included at least the rest of the season and playoffs. That would make it the second-longest suspension for an on-field incident, behind the 12-game ban delivered to Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict earlier this season.
Vincent later detailed the process and made sure to point out that this is far from over, with many players to be given fines in the coming week.
“Our first objective is to determine if there are players who will be missing games,” Vincent said. “Because that has implications on the roster and may require a transaction for the team. But we will have plenty to sort through next week as well, and I can assure you, there is another wave of fines coming.”
Fine Coming for Mason Rudolph but No Suspension
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Getty ImagesDefensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns
Both organizations were fined $250,000 for the incident while Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and Steelers offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey were suspended.
Pouncey got a three-game ban and Ogunjobi will miss one.
“It’s about the choice the player made,” Vincent said of Pouncey. “It’s about the action itself. What did he do and what could he have done? It’s not the result, or intent, it’s what did he do. Look at what 66 (DeCastro) and 71 (Feiler) did, and then compare that to 53 (Pouncey). He made multiple attempts to strike at and potentially injure another player.”
On Ogunjobi: “This is an individual who, in our view, was going out of his way to escalate this situation. This is an action that could start another melee. It is a potential re-escalation.”
What drew the ire of Browns fans was that Rudolph did not get anything when the punishments were announced.
“The grabbing of the facemask, that is a fine,” Vincent said. “We’ll continue to sort through that next week, but yes, there could be multiple fines coming to him if we find another action that constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Myles Garrett Planning Appeal of Suspension
Garrett is planning to appeal the indefinite suspension and the heart of his argument will be the the current labor deal does not permit indefinite suspensions for on-field misconduct, as Pro Football Talk pointed out.
Garrett was contrite in his statement following the initial, quick announcement that he would be suspended indefinitely.
“Last night, I made a terrible mistake. I lost my cool and what I did was selfish and unacceptable. I know that we are all responsible for our actions and I can only prove my true character through my actions moving forward. I want to apologize to Mason Rudolph, my teammates, our entire organization, our fans and to the NFL. I know I have to be accountable for what happened, learn from my mistake and I fully intend to do so.”
The Browns (4-6) and Steelers (5-5) face off again on Dec. 1 in Pittsburgh.
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