MYLES GARRETT REINSTATED – WHAT THE BROWNS SAID, AND WHAT THEY WANTED TO SAY

By STEVE KING

This website, is predicated to a great degree on reading between the lines to let you know what members of the Browns wanted to say but couldn’t, or didn’t, or a little of both.

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And with that, then, here’s a look at the club’s official statement on Wednesday regarding the NFL’s reinstatement of defensive end Myles Garrett after he was suspended indefinitely for an altercation at the end of the 21-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 14 at FirstEnergy Stadium. It is from Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager (whew, that’s one heckuva long title) Andrew Berry.

It reads:

“We welcome Myles back to our organization with open arms. We know he is grateful to be reinstated, eager to put the past behind him and continue to evolve and grow as a leader. We look forward to having his strong positive presence back as a teammate, player and person in our community.”

That’s what the Browns, and Berry, had to say, lest they rile up the NFL and cause the suspension to remain in effect. And, just to make sure it was OK, you know they ran it past league officials before putting it out there.

This kind of stuff happens all the time in not just the NFL, but in all of pro sports. It’s just the way it is. It’s the way things work.

Here, though, is what the Browns, and Berry, wanted to say but couldn’t, and didn’t:

“We’re glad Myles is back with us. He knows what he did was wrong – so very, very wrong – and remains extremely sorry for it. He and our team will learn from this and move on.

“But we didn’t like his getting suspended while at the same time the Steelers pretty much escaped unscathed in comparison. It was ridiculous, especially since the Steelers started the whole mess. That they refused to really, truly own up to their role in the ugly incident is egregious.

“Their holier-than-thou head coach, Mike Tomlin, is known for this type of thing. Remember when he cursed about the New England Patriots and their head coach, Bill Belichick, in the locker room, not knowing that his tirade of a post-game speech was being recorded? How sorry was he for that? Or for when he “accidentally” (yeah, right) stepped onto the field to collide with a ball-carrier on the Baltimore Ravens? The answer in both cases is a firm “not at all.”

“We’ll remember all this when we play Pittsburgh twice next season. You can count on that.

“But enough of this stuff. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for free agency and the NFL Draft. We don’t have time to talk any more about something that happened three months ago.”