The Browns‘ Myles Garrett is still suspended for the rest of the season after his appeal hearing on Wednesday. Garrett has has accused Mason Rudolph of using a racial slur leading up to the fight.
Garrett’s comments in the closed session were made public after he stated that Rudolph used a racial slur during the game on Sunday. Garret stated he did not want that information to become public.
“I WAS ASSURED THAT THE HEARING WAS SPACE THAT AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK OPENLY AND HONESTLY ABOUT THE INCIDENT THAT LED TO MY SUSPENSION,” w rote Garrett. “THIS WAS NOT MEANT FOR PUBLIC DISSEMINATION, NOR WAS IT A CONVENIENT ATTEMPT TO JUSTIFY MY ACTIONS OR RESTORE MY IMAGE IN THE EYES OF THOSE I DISAPPOINTED.” Garrett posted on Twitter.
Although he has been criticized for his comments and the fact that the NFL stated they found no evidence, Garrett stands by his comments and took responsibility for the helmet incident as well.
“I KNOW WHAT I HEARD. WHETHER MY OPPONENT’S COMMENT WAS BORN OUT OF FRUSTRATION OR IGNORANCE, I CANNOT SAY,” said Garrett. “BUT HIS ACTIONS DO NOT EXCUSE MY LACK OF RESTRAINT IN THE MOMENT, AND I TRULY REGRET THE IMPACT THIS HAS HAD ON THE LEAGUE, THE BROWNS AND OUR DEVOTED FANS.”
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The league announced shortly after that they would penalize Rudolph $50,000 for his part in the altercation. They saw the evidence that Rudolph tried taking the helmet off of Garrett as well, after the hit.
Rudolph has not taken lightly to the allegations of a racial slur. He spoke with team captain Cam Heyward who backed him up. “He was pretty distraught and said, ‘I did not say that,'” the defensive lineman said. “I think we knew that using that as an excuse is not right.”
In practice, coach Mike Tomlin addressed the accusation with the team. “That’s the first thing he said after he told us. He said, ‘We know Mason didn’t say that,'” backup quarterback Devlin Hodges said. “And from there, he said, ‘Let’s get back to practice and focus on the game.'”
