Myles Garrett gave a new rationale for why he went after Mason Rudolph the way he did last Thursday night. During his suspension appeal, the Cleveland Browns defensive star claimed the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback referred to him using a racial slur.

Despite this claim, the NFL denied his suspension, meaning Garrett will miss at least the rest of the 2019 season and could miss more time during the 2020 season. While some analysts have come over to Garrett's side after the claim, at least one prominent voice among NFL players still believes Garrett lost the high ground in this issue.

According to Pro Football Talk, Tony Dungy has said it doesn't matter what Garrett was called. He lost the argument when he ripped Rudolph's helmet off and hit him over the head with it.

No Sympathy for Cleveland Browns player

Dungy said he believes that if a player is physically hurting you, such as kneeing you in the groin, a player has more room to retaliate. He added he doesn't believe Rudolph saying something offensive to Garrett is a reason for the defensive start to lose his cool.

The former NFL head coach turned analyst added that people say all kinds of things to each other on the field. He believes Garrett was wrong to go and jeopardize the Cleveland Browns' season because of what Rudolph might have said.

Dungy went on to say it doesn't have any bearing on what happened. He doesn't believe there is anything Rudolph could have said that would not be an excuse for the way Garrett snapped.

Dungy also said that if Rudolph really did utter a racial slur to Myles Garrett, he would have gone and talked to him after the game, but wouldn't have gone after him on the field.

Rudolph denies allegations

For his part, the Pittsburgh Steelers player has denied completely that he said what Garrett claims. The issue was serious enough the NFL did attempt to look into it. Penn Live reports the NFL has talked to members of the media and told them they looked for recorded audio of what Rudolph said.

The league has not been able to find that audio, one of the reasons they weren't open to reducing or rescinding Garrett's suspension.

That doesn't mean Rudolph didn't say anything. As Dungy points out, players say all kinds of things to one another in the heat of the moment.

Some fo the talk is specifically geared towards getting an opponent to lose their cool. Generally, players have said racial slurs are out of bounds but have also said they've heard that kind of talk on the field before.

While the Cleveland Browns are preparing to spend the rest of the season without Myles Garrett, Mason Rudolph has still not been handed down any suspension at all. That alone has some Browns' fans wondering if the league is taking an even-handed approach to the brawl last Thursday night.
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