Despite being involved in one of the ugliest melees in sports history, the Cleveland Browns fans are staying loyal to disgraced defensive end Myles Garrett.
Before their Week 12 blowout win over the bottom-feeding Miami Dolphins, a mob of Browns fans were seen standing around in a large circle and taking turns putting on a blindfold and trying to whack a pinata of Mason Rudolph’s cartooned body and face with a Steelers helmet.
In the now-viral video a woman in a Browns jersey is seen smacking the piñata with a Steelers helmet, while a man also wearing a Browns jersey holds the piñata up while tied by a rope to a wooden stick.
Garrett is suspended for the rest of the regular season and playoffs if the Browns should make it, and could potentially miss a portion of the 2020 season as well for his role in an unprecedented chain of events that saw Garrett rip off the helmet of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and then proceed to smash Rudolph’s uncovered skull with it.
Much controversy has arisen with the motive behind Garrett’s action, ranging from simply one of the game’s most penalized players blowing up from Rudolph trying to rip his helmet off in the preceding play, to Garrett reacting to a groin shot Rudolph delivered while getting up, or even Rudolph using a racial slur against Garrett, although the NFL says there is no evidence to back up the latter.
But motive aside, the NFL took the violent outburst very seriously and made an example of an individual who could have potentially killed Rudolph during a nationally televised game.
To the chagrin of Browns fans and players alike, the Steelers announced this week that Rudolph has been benched for their highly anticipated rematch this Sunday, as the slumping Steelers will look to rookie Devlin Hodges for relief from worst of the NFL's worst passing attacks.