Former NFL receiver Steve Smith never met an opinion he didn't like. He spoke out about Myles Garrett after the Cleveland Browns' pass rusher hit Mason Rudolph of the Pittsburgh Steelers with a swinging helmet at the end of Thursday night's game in Cleveland.
Steve Smith bringing 🔥🔥🔥🔥on that bull 💩we just saw. Of Garrett: “He lost the privilege to play the rest of the season.”
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) November 15, 2019
The foremost detail worth noting in Steve Smith's comment — which is being amplified by other similar remarks from television analysts and former players — is that a suspension for the rest of the season would mean a six-game penalty for Myles Garrett.
NFL historians will recall that in 2006, Albert Haynesworth of the Tennessee Titans stomped on Andre Gurode of the Dallas Cowboys. The move drew a five-game suspension. Was this act by Myles Garrett one game worse?
Plenty of people will say that suspending Garrett for the rest of the season is the proper penalty. Others might be more precise and say that such a punishment is the minimum penalty the NFL should hand out.
Will this be a six-game penalty? Will this be a 10-game penalty, which would mean that Garrett will sit out the first four games of the 2020 season? Whether a 10-game penalty (should it be handed out by the NFL) is fair or not is one debate, but regardless of the fairness of such a punishment, it is worth considering how devastating a blow it would be for the Browns to have a top defensive player out for all of September in 2020.
This season has been bad enough for the Browns; getting punished for a chunk of the 2020 season would set back their improvement project even more.
These are nervous times for Cleveland fans. Steve Smith would say, however, that Myles Garrett has brought this situation upon the Browns… and himself.
Follow Us
Subscribe