Browns' Myles Garrett suspended indefinitely; Steelers' Maurkice Pouncey gets 3-game ban
BEREA, Ohio -- Myles Garrett will not play again this season, and maybe longer.
The NFL announced Friday that the Cleveland Browns defensive end has been
suspended for the rest of this season, including the playoffs should the Browns make it, and will have to meet with the commissioner's office before being reinstated in 2020.
Garrett ripped the helmet off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and clubbed him in the head with it in the final seconds of Thursday night's game.
"Last night, I made a terrible mistake," Garrett said in a statement issued Friday. "I lost my cool and what I did was selfish and unacceptable. I know that we are all responsible for our actions and I can only prove my true character through my actions moving forward.
"I want to apologize to Mason Rudolph, my teammates, our entire organization, our fans and to the NFL. I know I have to be accountable for what happened, learn from my mistake and I fully intend to do so."
Garrett's suspension, which is at least six games, is the longest in NFL history for a single on-field incident.
In a statement, the NFL said, "Garrett violated unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct rules, as well as fighting, removing the helmet of an opponent and using the helmet as a weapon."
The NFL
also suspended Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi one game for shoving Rudolph in the back, to the ground, shortly after Garrett had slugged the Steelers quarterback in the head with the helmet. Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey, who jumped into Garrett, kicking and punching him after Rudolph had been struck, was suspended three games.
All three players -- who were ejected from Thursday's game, a 21-7 victory for Cleveland -- are suspended without pay and will be fined. In addition, the NFL has fined the Browns and Steelers organizations $250,000 each for the incident.
Garrett will appeal the suspension, a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Pouncey and Ogunjobi also have three business days to file an appeal.
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