On Sunday, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett will face off against the Steelers for the first time since last year’s infamous contest. During the final moments of Cleveland’s win over Pittsburgh last November, Garrett ripped off the helmet of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and proceeded to hit him over the head with the object. The fracas resulted in a season-ending suspension for Garrett.
The 2017 first-overall pick told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com that he considered walking away from the game during his ban.
“I would’ve been OK,” Garrett said. “I love football. I love competing, I love my teammates, and I definitely want to win, but at the end of the day, I’m still a guy. I’m still a young man who has a lot of life to live and my life is much more than football. I just would’ve moved onto something else I enjoy and found another way to save my competitive nature, whether it would’ve been trying out for a basketball team or going to play baseball like [Michael] Jordan.
“I would’ve found something else I love to do, whether I was a writing coach or whatever. I would’ve left with my head held high and I wouldn’t have looked back.”
Garrett hasn’t missed a step following his return to the field. Through the first five games of the 2020 campaign, the 24-year-old has 15 tackles, six sacks, and a league-leading three forced fumbles.
Some more notes out of Cleveland:
- Garrett also told Cabot that he’d welcome a face-to-face meeting with Randolph. “If it were to happen, I’d be fine with it,” he said. “Not just fine, but I wouldn’t mind it and I’d be happy to make it happen, if there were a way. I’m not sure how I’d go about that, how I’d broach that. I’m not even sure if he’d want to do that but I wouldn’t have a problem sitting down with him and just not talking about the incident, just talking man-to-man, how we move forward, and just being better men and football players and not letting something like that happen again…Whether we can do that, I’m not sure, but I’d be willing to extend the olive branch and make that happen.”
- Cabot tweets that wideout Odell Beckham Jr. had his second COVID-19 test come back negative today. As a result, he’s been cleared to play against the Steelers tomorrow. The receiver was sent home Thursday after coming down with an illness, and he stayed away from the team facility on Friday. ESPN’s Jake Trotter notes that Beckham continued to participate in meetings remotely. Following a three-touchdown performance in Week 4, Beckham had five receptions for 58 yards during last week’s win over the Colts.
- After suffering a rib injury during last weekend’s win, Baker Mayfield was a limited participant at practice on Wednesday and Thursday. Fortunately, he was back to full participation on Friday, and despite his questionable tag for tomorrow’s game, it sounds like the quarterback is on track to play. “Like we’ve been saying all along, he’s improving every day,” said head coach Kevin Stefanski (via the team’s website).
Yeah, I’m sure Rudolph would love to sit and chat with the guy who tried to kill him and then proceeded to lie about being called a racial slur. Want to move past it like an adult and prove that you learned from the situation? Admit you lied and apologize. Otherwise, just keep your mouth shut on the incident and be thankful to still be playing a sport you should have been permanently banned from.
What? To me, it sounded like Garrett wanted to reconcile and own up to his misconduct. By “extending an olive branch,” I think he just wants to move forward. It takes a man to admit his faults to the victim and I appreciate Garrett’s willingness to do so. Steelers fan btw
He said this to the media. Had he truly wanted to “extend the olive branch” he would have already reached out to Rudolph and apologized for trying to brand him a racist. This is nothing but a publicity stunt…and a weak one at that. It’s impossible to move on from an incident that you continue to lie about.
By the way, I’m not a fan of either team or player so I don’t have a dog in the fight.
yup
Ok Trumper
How very 2020 of you.
Ok Obama Bin Biden.
If I’m Randolph, I would tell MG “We can meet the second you admitted you lied about the racist statements that nobody else heard. Trying to destroy my career after trying to kill me before that isn’t something I’m going to just brush under the carpet. Until you own up to your b.s., I want nothing to do with you.”
^^^100x
Exactly. Giants fan with no allegiance to either teams, but Garrett could have given Rudolph a serious concussion (or much worse) when he swung a helmet at Rudolph’s head with his full force. Then, to top it off, he lied about why and tried to brand Rudolph a racist.
If I’m Rudolph, I demand a public apology and for Garrett to publicly admit he lied before I say word one to him.
If I was Randolph I would tell Garrett he had the wrong guy… he’s looking for Rudolph .
Good catch.
The Browns have lost 16 consecutive games in Pittsburgh and this guy seems more interested in repairing his personal image than ending that streak…not good.
When you read articles with that as the headline, then sure, but Garrett and the Browns have said all week they care more about this as a rivalry game than about anything else
Omfg why bring politics into something football related, DAMN! Can we simply make SOMETHING non political? No one will ever truly know if Rudolph made the racial slur or not b/c you got black Steelers players saying he didn’t and white Browns players saying he did. I personally think that Garrett made it up to not look nearly as bad, but that’s simply an opinion. We will never truly know what indeed happened. But regardless these 2 getting together and mending the situation would be great but it most likely isn’t going to happen. Just a very ugly incident that’s probably best left in the past.
“No one will ever truly know if Rudolph made the racial slur”
Yes, we do. Not a single person backed up Garrett’s version of events (there are ZERO Browns players–white or black–‘saying he did’). No microphone picked up Rudolph saying a racial slur. No video shows him mouthing the word. The NFL investigated and found no evidence that he used it.
Not one person on that field heard Rudolph say a racial slur. It was a lie completely invented by Garrett.
If those are the facts then great, I stand corrected. My biggest point was why the political undertones? But like I previously stated, I did believe that Garrett made it up as well. And as for this little interview he did, it sounds alot like someone trying to save face and rebuilding his image. Should take alot more then this type of interview to do so if he lied about such a thing. These days, with the racially charged world we live in, that is unacceptable in a major way. But if this situation was reversed and a white player swung a helmet as a weapon and then came out and said he was called a racial slur, would this have gotten more punishment or coverage? Seems it was relatively forgotten rather quickly. Thoughts?