Mason Rudolph To Sue Myles Garrett For Racism Claims?
Will Mason Rudolph sue Myles Garrett for his racism claims against him?
Rudolph’s agent recently indicated it was a very real possibility.
Garrett continues to insist that Rudolph used a racial slur against him during a showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns last year.
Garrett insists that the slur is what prompted him to hit Rudolph with his helmet last November.
In what was essentially Garrett’s first real public interview since being reinstated, he claimed that Rudolph called him the “n-word.”
Rudolph responded by calling Garrett’s accusation “a disgusting and reckless attempt to assistant my character.”
“I did not, have not, and would not utter a racial-slur,” he promised.
Meanwhile, his agent Tim Younger insisted that Garrett’s statement was “defamatory” and exposed the defensive end to “legal liability.”
For what it is worth, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is siding with his player.
“I support Mason Rudolph not only because I know him, but also because I was on that field immediately following the altercation with Myles Garrett and subsequently after the game,” he said.
“I interacted with a lot of people in the Cleveland Browns organization — players and coaches.
“If Mason said what Myles claimed, it would have come out during the many interactions I had with those in the Browns organization. In my conversations, I had a lot of expressions of sorrow for what transpired.
“I received no indication of anything racial or anything of that nature in those interactions.”
Tomlin is not alone in that assessment.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy also suggested that a league investigation into Garrett’s claims found zero in the way of corroborating evidence.
“We checked with the officiating crew, including the ref who was on top of the play and the ensuing aftermath,” he said.
“No player on either team came forward to say they heard him say it on the field. There was also no indication of any players saying they heard him say it in their postgame comments.”
All that being said, Garrett is sticking by his story.
“Most quarterbacks wear mics in their helmets. He somehow lost his helmet and had to get another one without a mic,” Garrett insisted.
“There were guys who were mic’d up near me — near us — during that time who didn’t hear anything.
“And from what I’ve heard, there have been audio during that game that could have heard something or could not have heard something, but they don’t want to say.
“So, something was said. I know something was said and whether the NFL wants to acknowledge it, that’s up to them.”
It will be interesting to see where this matter goes from here.
When last year’s brawl between Pittsburgh and Cleveland initially occurred, even with all the violence and shenanigans that ensued, most figured it would be over and forgotten within a few weeks.
Garrett’s subsequent indefinite suspension and eventual racism accusation against Rudolph changed all that.
What would have been a situation that should have been resolved quickly suddenly turned into a lingering, problematic storyline for all involved.
Even now, with Garrett set to return to football, the matter is not going away in the manner that a lot of people expected it to.
While it is unlikely that there will be any lingering ramifications for any of the people involved in this story past what has already transpired, it is still fascinating that neither side is willing to let it go.
Will Rudolph really sue Garrett? At the moment, it does not look like it. But if Garrett keeps going the way he has been, it certainly would not be all that shocking to see Rudolph fight back.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
