How Many Games Should Myles Garrett Have Been Suspended?

How many games will Myles Garrett be suspended?

  • 1 - 2

    Votes: 2 1.1%
  • 3 - 4

    Votes: 17 9.6%
  • 5 - 6

    Votes: 40 22.6%
  • 7+

    Votes: 118 66.7%

  • Total voters
    177

Greekca

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I am shocked the suspensions came out that quickly. I guess they were trying to get ahead of the pre-game and post-game shows on Sunday.
 

NomarsFool

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From the one video I saw, didn't look like Rudolph was a saint at the end of the game either. It looked like as they were on the ground he was trying to pull Garrett's helmet off before Garrett pulled his helmet off. Not excusing Garrett in any way - just seemed like a lot of bad behavior going around. I didn't watch the game, was it a very rough game for some reason? Why so much bad blood at the end?
 

nothumb

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From the one video I saw, didn't look like Rudolph was a saint at the end of the game either. It looked like as they were on the ground he was trying to pull Garrett's helmet off before Garrett pulled his helmet off. Not excusing Garrett in any way - just seemed like a lot of bad behavior going around. I didn't watch the game, was it a very rough game for some reason? Why so much bad blood at the end?
AFC NORTH FOOTBAW.

to add to that, it looked like garrett was actually just backing away with the helmet until rudolph came after him, and then he swung it at him. i think he's still going to get the book thrown at him. objectively, what he did wasn't worse than haynesworth stomping on gurode, which only got him 5 games, but rudolph is a white QB and the outrage cycle is more pronounced at this point. my guess is he's out rest of season and everybody says the right things for him to be quietly reinstated before 2020.

(i also think pouncey deserves at least 3 games for kicking garrett in the head while he was being held down by decastro, but he'll probably get less).
 

Jimbodandy

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It is worse than Haynesworth. You could easily kill a man with a helmet. Rest of the year is a no brainer. Talk reinstatement in the offseason.
 

azsoxpatsfan

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Kellerman was vehemently defending Garrett this morning. Shocking coming from a guy whose opinions are usually so rational and well thought out
 

Couperin47

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I don't quite understand what all the fuss is about. All season long, especially in regard to our erstwhile wide receiver Antonio, the NFL has been trying to emphasize just how much safer the new helmets are...then when Myles provides a real world demonstration... (Rudolf barely notices the blow) everyone gets so bent out of shape. :rolleyes:
 

reggiecleveland

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I see the rest of the year, but I fall short of the idea Garrett is the worst ever, etc. It was perfect storm of idiocy. He was mixed up after the ball was gone, his fault, but Rudolph tried to get Garrett's helmet off. That is where it went off the rails. He responded in kind, but got his opponent's helmet off. Hitting with the helmet is a clear no no, but how often do you have a helmet in your hand when a guy comes at you.

To me if the video can clearly show Rudolph was trying to get off Garrett's helmet that is a fine or maybe a suspension.

I am not with those that say kicking Garrett was understandable.
 

E5 Yaz

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I see the rest of the year, but I fall short of the idea Garrett is the worst ever, etc. It was perfect storm of idiocy. He was mixed up after the ball was gone, his fault, but Rudolph tried to get Garrett's helmet off. That is where it went off the rails. He responded in kind, but got his opponent's helmet off. Hitting with the helmet is a clear no no, but how often do you have a helmet in your hand when a guy comes at you.

To me if the video can clearly show Rudolph was trying to get off Garrett's helmet that is a fine or maybe a suspension.

I am not with those that say kicking Garrett was understandable.
Vehement Instant Reaction Syndrome ... there was even a post in here somewhere that he should be suspended for life and denied his pension
 

mr_smith02

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From the one video I saw, didn't look like Rudolph was a saint at the end of the game either. It looked like as they were on the ground he was trying to pull Garrett's helmet off before Garrett pulled his helmet off. Not excusing Garrett in any way - just seemed like a lot of bad behavior going around. I didn't watch the game, was it a very rough game for some reason? Why so much bad blood at the end?
I think when one watches the entire play, keeping in mind it was a two-touchdown lead with under ten seconds left in the game, it is easier to see that Garrett went overboard from the moment he began his tackle of Rudolph. This game was 100% over and Garrett yanks Rudolph to the ground and doesn't let him go to the point the Rudolph does get pissed and starts pushing back and pulling on his helmet. Fair enough, I suppose, for Garrett to pull back on Rudolph's helmet, but not to the extent with which he did. Garrett pulled Rudolph a few feet by his face mask before even being able to remove the helmet. Rudolph, of course, took exception and kept going after him and the rest is history. Garrett had a number of steps with DeCastro between him to drop the helmet and make a sane choice. He did not.
 

DamageTrain

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I didn't watch the game, was it a very rough game for some reason? Why so much bad blood at the end?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O_aTOSoiTs

(you have to click through to YouTube)

Check 2:23 of the video. Announcer: "there were really helmet to helmet hits on both ends of that play."
Then check 5:20 of this video. Randall ejected for vicious helmet to helmet hit on defenseless receiver.

Browns played a very dirty game.
 

E5 Yaz

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I think when one watches the entire play, keeping in mind it was a two-touchdown lead with under ten seconds left in the game, it is easier to see that Garrett went overboard from the moment he began his tackle of Rudolph. This game was 100% over ...
I still don't get why the Steelers are calling a pass play in that situation. It was an amped-up, aggressive game. The Browns were clearly trying to show that they weren't going to be pushed around, trying to make a statement. Given the field/clock situation, hand the ball off, run out the final seconds and everyone goes home.

I know it doesn't matter now and the subject is different. But Garrett doesn't even send Rudolph to the ground initially if the Steelers just let the clock go
 

tims4wins

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I still don't get why the Steelers are calling a pass play in that situation. It was an amped-up, aggressive game. The Browns were clearly trying to show that they weren't going to be pushed around, trying to make a statement. Given the field/clock situation, hand the ball off, run out the final seconds and everyone goes home.

I know it doesn't matter now and the subject is different. But Garrett doesn't even send Rudolph to the ground initially if the Steelers just let the clock go
This sounds an awful lot like blaming the victim. It's borderline saying "she asked for it".

Edit: I'd be more inclined to agree if the teams were reversed - if the Browns were throwing the ball up multiple scores with 10 seconds left, I could at least understand why the Steelers would be pissed off and throw a cheap shot, even if it was wrong.
 

E5 Yaz

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This sounds an awful lot like blaming the victim. It's borderline saying "she asked for it".

Edit: I'd be more inclined to agree if the teams were reversed - if the Browns were throwing the ball up multiple scores with 10 seconds left, I could at least understand why the Steelers would be pissed off and throw a cheap shot, even if it was wrong.
If you'd read all the posts i've made since it happened, you'd know it's not ... but instant reactions are all the rage, so whatever

I'm just asking from a football standpoint. Why the pass? It made no sense and, in an alternate reality, would have avoided this mess

edit: better as a pm
 

Jimbodandy

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Rudolph, Pouncey, and Ogunjobi acted poorly. None were within a few degrees from killing anyone.

Pouncey maybe owes a debt of gratitude to DeCastro for preventing him from doing real damage, but his punches and soccer kicks at a helmeted head weren't life threatening.

Rudolph removing a helmet and ball-kicking sucks, but isn't life threatening.

Ogunjobi bumping the QB from behind was cheap, especially after the guy took a helmet off his skull, but wasn't life threatening.

Degrees matter.
 

tims4wins

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If you'd read all the posts i've made since it happened, you'd know it's not ... but instant reactions are all the rage, so whatever

I'm just asking from a football standpoint. Why the pass? It made no sense and, in an alternate reality, would have avoided this mess

edit: better as a pm
Yeah, teams do stupid / weird things all the time. Like run draw plays from their own 20 right before the half. Maybe just trying to get a rep for a young QB.
 

reggiecleveland

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If you'd read all the posts i've made since it happened, you'd know it's not ... but instant reactions are all the rage, so whatever

I'm just asking from a football standpoint. Why the pass? It made no sense and, in an alternate reality, would have avoided this mess

edit: better as a pm
I get your point, why let them run your QB? Even kneel down.

One of the better developments in hoops is the new unwritten rule about dribbling the clock out. So many dustups started with guys drilling people at the end of the game, or trash talking some garbage time hoop.
 

E5 Yaz

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I get your point, why let them run your QB? Even kneel down.

One of the better developments in hoops is the new unwritten rule about dribbling the clock out. So many dustups started with guys drilling people at the end of the game, or trash talking some garbage time hoop.
I can see why you don't kneel, though; that's capitulation, and in the football mentality, that's not going to fly. But a simple off-tackle run by a backup running back accomplishes the same thing without any sense of metaphor
 

InstaFace

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I found DotB's phrasing to be the closest to how I feel:
That doesn't excuse Rudolph's action initially when he appeared to be pulling at Myles' helmet while on the ground nor going after him again once his helmet was off (although I'm not really sure how much of a threat he posed with no helmet, he was outsized by an exponential amount and his giant offensive lineman was between the two of them), but that shit happens like all the time. Garrett's reaction to lift him off the ground, violently rip his helmet off, and then swing it like a sledge hammer are way, way off the spectrum of what happens in these situations. Almost every former player I've seen has basically said the same thing "once the helmet comes off, folks generally calm down because everyone realizes careers are on the line...."
The players sign up for a rough sport that could paralyze them like Ryan Shazier. As part of that, even after the whistle, there's a lot of pushing and shoving. Sometimes there are cheap shots, sometimes someone tries to rough up a QB and the linemen protect him. All of that can be rough, without it involving non-game action that's truly risky to life and limb.

Myles Garrett is one of the 0.0001% strongest people on the planet, and swung a hard metal object at Rudolph's head. He easily could have killed Rudolph. Hell, a single punch from someone like that, with good technique and landing in just the right place, can kill and has killed very many people. Rudolph is literally lucky to have escaped with his life. People by and large don't realize how fragile sacks of meat we all are. Garrett may have been "reacting", there may have been multiple escalations, but the place he took the altercation to could have resulted in him taking from Rudolph all he has, all he's ever gonna have. We would have watched someone receive enough intracranial bleeding that he would have gone down immediately, and by the time the ambulance even got out there, he would be a vegetable, and by the time they got him to a facility he'd likely be pronounced DOA. That's what we came unbelievably close to witnessing on live national TV last night - a snuff film. Are we not entertained?

Arguing that Rudolph deserves some punishment too is fine. But pretty much any word of defense for Garrett is, frankly, disgusting to me. Arguing for a lifetime ban is not out of place. Suh is a cowardly cheapshot artist who goes out of his way to injure people. Vontaze Burfict has no regard for anyone's safety and plays in an out-of-control manner that often results in injury. Neither of them have ever come close to ending someone's life, not even laying out Antonio Brown. This shit is existential, not just for Mason Rudolph but for the continuing viability of the NFL.

see 0:52
View: https://youtu.be/AtpNCdn6zfo?t=52


For once, Joe Buck's histrionics are not a gross and sanctimonious exaggeration.
 
Last edited:

NickEsasky

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What about the guy kicking Garrett at the end? That seemed even worse to me than Garrett's helmet swing.
Wait, what? Kicking a guy wearing a helmet in the head (after said guy hit your QB in the head with a helmet) is worse than hitting a guy in his uncovered head with his own helmet? Pouncey deserves a suspension, but saying that is worse might be the dumbest take I have read about this whole situation.

Now I will go bathe in bleach for having to even slightly defend a Pouncey.
 

TheDivision

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Pouncey is kind of lucky that his forfeited salary for 3 games will total only $176, 471 (sportrac) because his base salary for this season was under a million. Any other year and the forfeited amount could’ve easily been over a million. Also, Pittsburgh fans have apparently started a GoFundMe to reimburse him money lost.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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One thing that's pissing me off is that the Garrett brouhaha has taken all the attention off Damarious Randall's totally vicious and sadistic hit on Diontae Johnson. Randall clearly teed up and took off helmet first launching himself into Johnson's head. Frankly seemed like an even more dangerous maneuver than Garrett's helmet swing -- it almost certainly caused more damage.

Fuck the Browns. Kitchens should get suspended too, because it's clear he's encouraging that style of play given the Brown's penalty count.
 

Awesome Fossum

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The Pouncey name carries a certain reputation, but I honestly can't say I blame him for losing his mind.

I think I'd go 16 games total for Garrett. I would have been fine with throwing a game at Rudolph too, but that is insane.
 

BigSoxFan

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The Pouncey name carries a certain reputation, but I honestly can't say I blame him for losing his mind.

I think I'd go 16 games total for Garrett. I would have been fine with throwing a game at Rudolph too, but that is insane.
Brady would never get into something like this but I feel like Mankins would have gone nuts on someone had they did what Garrett did to TB12.
 

Marciano490

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Brady would never get into something like this but I feel like Mankins would have gone nuts on someone had they did what Garrett did to TB12.
Technically, Rudolph “went nuts” first.

I don’t think what Pouncey did was that terrible. They were arm punches and a little push kick. When I first read about it I thought he stomped him on the head.
 

cornwalls@6

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Though I feel like showering anytime I give them credit for anything, I think the league got this right. There is simply no justification for what Garrett did, and he deserved a long suspension, but I don' think the punishment needed to be the end of his career. And really don't think criminal charges are warranted either. Ideally, intentions would be all that matter. But in reality, outcomes probably matter more. The fact that Rudolph came away basically unscathed is a significant mitigating factor. I also think the other suspensions are fair and reasonable, and a fine for Rudolph's role in this seems about right. So, blind squirrel, broken clock twice a day, etc.
 

Marciano490

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If intentions were all that mattered, attempted murder would be punished the same as murder murder.
 

Marciano490

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Yes. I was really limiting that to sports infractions, but your larger point stands.
I never understood why a player injuring another flagrantly isn’t forced to sit out as much time as the guy he hurt. Obviously wouldn’t apply here, but seems an easy and fair way to tether punishment to crime.
 

axx

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Though I feel like showering anytime I give them credit for anything, I think the league got this right. There is simply no justification for what Garrett did, and he deserved a long suspension, but I don' think the punishment needed to be the end of his career. And really don't think criminal charges are warranted either. Ideally, intentions would be all that matter. But in reality, outcomes probably matter more. The fact that Rudolph came away basically unscathed is a significant mitigating factor. I also think the other suspensions are fair and reasonable, and a fine for Rudolph's role in this seems about right. So, blind squirrel, broken clock twice a day, etc.
Garrett didn't get anything worse (for now) because Rudolph didn't get that seriously hurt. But it could have been a lot worse. If Garrett does get charged and pleas out he's getting more, I think that's why they opted to suspend him indefinitely rather than just to the end of the season.
 

cornwalls@6

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I never understood why a player injuring another flagrantly isn’t forced to sit out as much time as the guy he hurt. Obviously wouldn’t apply here, but seems an easy and fair way to tether punishment to crime.
I agree. I wonder if that's not possible due to CBA provisions on player discipline, and if so, seems like something that could/should be negotiated.
 

cornwalls@6

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Garrett didn't get anything worse (for now) because Rudolph didn't get that seriously hurt. But it could have been a lot worse. If Garrett does get charged and pleas out he's getting more, I think that's why they opted to suspend him indefinitely rather than just to the end of the season.
Could very well be. Though I suspect ultimately Rudolph opts not to file a criminal complaint (though obviously charges could be filed absent that).
 

The Big Red Kahuna

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I agree. I wonder if that's not possible due to CBA provisions on player discipline, and if so, seems like something that could/should be negotiated.
Because think how easily it could (and would) be gamed... no way you could let that angle come into play.
 

McBride11

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Without the MG helmet swing - what would have Randolph gotten suspension wise for the initial helmet rip and kick to the junk followed by the pursuit once the lineman warded MG off.

MG was inexcusable and deserves being out the rest of the year.

Randolph is not innocent and if not for the really horrible retaliation from MG, had at 3 least infractions. Feels like he should get 1-2 games.
 

Marciano490

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Couldn't some sort of provision requiring credible, independent medical verification of the injury in question be a possibility?
Yeah I’m not seeing the issue. If a star play concusses a crappy player on a rival team, the injured player is going to be okay faking hurt longer just to shelf the all star?
 

snowmanny

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Yeah I’m not seeing the issue. If a star play concusses a crappy player on a rival team, the injured player is going to be okay faking hurt longer just to shelf the all star?
Well think of the Gronk hit on the Bills player where they played again three weeks later
 

Marciano490

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Well think of the Gronk hit on the Bills player where they played again three weeks later
I don’t think a dude grows up to be a pro athlete then sits quietly when a coach or GM tells him to sit out a game with a faked injury because the player who hurt him is better. They have a union and press contacts.
 

snowmanny

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It’s not a faked injury though. It’s just a careful recovery. But sure, no coach would pull that to improve their chances of winning a game and keeping their job because they are warrior men.