On the Myles Garrett front, beyond “He shouldn’t have done it…” I really had no larger take to add to the take deluge competing to have the takiest take of the day.
Clubbing an onrushing opponent with his own helmet is, in a culture constantly obsessing over the quality of a “look,” about as bad as a look can get.
But it doesn’t represent toxic masculinity, the withering of societal values, where we are in Trump’s America, a total disregard for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or warrant a move toward helmetless football. It does confirm Freddie Kitchens shouldn’t be in charge of a fifth-grade field trip, but we knew that.
Garrett lost his shit as 20-something professional athletes (and 20-somethings in general) sometimes do. Rudolph was also in the process of losing his shit and Maurkice Pouncey’s shit was also a casualty of the moment. This happens, especially when the job involves smashing into people for 50 plays and executing maneuvers during those 50 plays that would – if executed on the street – be assault.
Todd Bertuzzi, Marty McSorley, Albert Haynesworth, Juan Marichal if you really want to go back are just a few of the guys whose shit was irretrievably lost in a moment of rage. Most of Friday’s media reaction was be performative.
My reaction was more of a shrug. What are you gonna do? I’m glad for both parties there was no cranial damage, and it will be a long time before we see anything like that again. But you know what? We will probably see something like that again.