MYLES GARRETT RE-IGNITES RIVALRY – BROWNS-PITTSBURGH IS BACK ON
By STEVE KING
After some years of it being shelved because of their inability to win games in the series, and overall, there is now a real rivalry again between the Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers.
You can thank the Browns’ bludgeoning of the Steelers – in more ways than one – last season for that.
And this new one is nasty and caustic rivalry right off the bat.
It comes after the Browns’ 21-7 beatdown of the Steelers last Nov. 14 at FirstEnergy Stadium, culminated with the incident at the end of the game between Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph.
Garrett, who used Rudolph’s helmet to hit the quarterback in the head after the two tussled briefly on the ground, said the other day in an interview with ESPN that Rudolph used the dreaded N-word in the incident. He had said previously only that it was a racial slur, but was not specific.
Garrett steadfastly insists that Rudolph indeed said it. Rudolph vehemently denies that he said it, and his representation weeks ago also was emphatic in denying that his client used any racial slur, calling it “a desperate attempt” by Garrett “to mitigate his suspension.” Garrett was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after the incident, but was reinstated last week, at which time Garrett went public with the N-word accusation.
And therein lies the rub.
Indeed, this is not just a he-said, he-said back-and-forth, but rather one including an alleged specific, despicable racial slur. That adds spice – and a nasty undertone – to a now re-invigorated rivalry that dates all the way back to 1950.
The Browns’ win was their first over the Steelers since 2014. Neither man played in the Steelers’ 20-13 victory over the Browns in Pittsburgh on Dec. 1, Garrett because of the suspension and Rudolph because of being in concussion protocol.
The 2020 NFL schedule hasn’t been released yet, and won’t be for about two months. But when it is, you can bet that the two Browns-Steelers games, the interest for which had cooled in recent years, will be circled in red ink in both cities.
Myles Garrett re-ignites rivalry to be continued…
