Amid the fallout of Thursday night's on-field incident between Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh's Mason Rudolph, the league has begun suspending players including Myles Garrett. For those unaware of the incident, Myles Garrett ripped the helmet off of Mason Rudolph and then hit him in the head with it. Other players responded and defended Rudolph, and will also receive punishment.
NFL slaps several players with fines and suspensions
The NFL suspended both teams $250,000 for their involvement in the incident that occurred during Thursday Night Football.
Along with fines, both Browns players Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi were suspended with no play. The league also suspended Steelers', Maurkice Pouncey.
The league announced that Myles Garrett will be suspended indefinitely for the remainder of the season and postseason. Garrett will have to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's office in order to be reinstated. Garrett was also slapped with a fine for an undisclosed amount. The NFL eventually suspended Pouncey for three games, but Steeler fans believe that was unwarranted.
Suspensions could impact teams chances of making the playoffs
Both the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers have the opportunity to appeal to the lengthy suspensions.
The teams are in a fight for an AFC playoff spot, and now the suspensions could end up hurting the team. Cleveland ended up winning the game, to move up to a 4-6 record, while the Steelers fell to a 5-5 record.
Myles Garrett eventually released a statement apologizing for the incident, saying he made a "terrible mistake." According to Garrett, he lost his cool and what he did was unacceptable.
He then apologized to Mason Rudolph, the Cleveland Browns and the National Football League.
Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said they were extremely disappointed in what happened during the last eight seconds of the game. The Haslam's said there's no place for what happened and does not represent the values that the team stands for.
CBS 19 has said that Rudolph has not filed a police report, and no criminal charges were filed against Garrett. Rudolph said that the incident is a league issue and not a police matter.
This is not the only serious on-field incident to happen in the league. In 2006, the league suspended defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth for five games, after stomping on the head of Dallas Cowboys' Andre Gurode. It was the longest punishment for on-field behavior in the league. Time will tell what becomes of Myles Garrett and whether the Cleveland Browns will keep him on the team, or whether they will cut him because of his on-field actions.