That...was...surreal.
When Garrett late-tackled Mason Rudolph, I was like, "OK, that's really stupid. That's a flag, probably a fine, maybe even an ejection."
Then came the scuffle on the ground, and I remember thinking, "Really? The game's out of reach, there's seconds left...and you're doing
this?"
And then came the helmet swing: "Oh my god, are you
kidding?"
Garrett's lucky he didn't try to hit Rudolph with the crown of the helmet instead of the open part. We could have all been witnesses to a live homicide last night.
But...now that the punishments have come down, I have to ask:
What about Rudolph?
I mean, you're a QB. You're going to get the occasional brutal late hit, and the thing to do is stay down and let the tackler get a flag and possibly thrown out of the game.
What you
don't do is escalate it by trying to tear off Garrett's helmet.
And after Garrett tore off Rudolph's, the thing to do would have been to back off. What you
also don't do is charge the guy you've angered and who is now carrying a large, hard object like your helmet.
Not making any excuses for Myles Garrett. That was disgraceful. He got what he deserved, and so did Pouncey and Ogunjobi. But Mason Rudolph had two chances to not escalate the situation, and instead he kept it going.
I was surprised last night when he wasn't one of the ejected players as well, and I'm surprised today that there's no fine for him, no one-game suspension...nothing.
I suppose you have to actually kick, punch or otherwise hit another player to earn that kind of league punishment. It just doesn't seem right, though, that Rudolph gets to walk away as if he didn't willingly play a part in keeping that brawl going.
Edit: Guess I’m not the only one who felt that way.
Mason Rudolph avoids suspension in Myles Garrett incident, leaving some NFL fans upset
To be clear, I think everyone else got the punishment they deserved.
I will say one thing in Ridolph’s defense: he was understandably frustrated. I went back and watched the end of the game, and he got taken to the ground on three successive plays, by Larry Ogunjobi, Joe Schobert, and then Myles Garrett. I can understand why his adrenaline was pumping.