🏈 The Shocking Browns-Steelers Melee

Thursday Night Football ended in the type of football altercation we’ve never witnessed before. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider: The brawl to end all brawls marred the end of TNF ... LeBron James remains focused on the same priorities he always has ... and the USMNT in action is just the tip of the iceberg for the upcoming sports weekend. There is nothing in the world of sports — absolutely nothing — that gets us talking, debating, prognosticating and searching for 10-second video clips on social media quite like a fight. Nothing. Not insane plays or outlandish controversies, wild comebacks or sideline bust-ups between teammates. Odell Beckham could have turned back the clock and taken four freakish one-handed catches on Thursday and still it would have been sent to the shadows. It didn’t matter that it involved the 4-6 Cleveland Browns and the 5-5 Pittsburgh Steelers, two teams likely going nowhere this season. It didn’t matter that it was the final moments of garbage time. Or that the scrap was between a backup quarterback coming off a miserable game and a sometimes-naughty but hardly famous defensive end. It was a fight on an NFL field, and thus it automatically had our attention. Not just that: it featured one guy trying to whack another in the head with a helmet as the coup de grace. Why is it that in a sport that has brutal physicality at its very core, a fight should be so noteworthy? Probably because of the uncontrolled and unexpected nature of it. UFC president Dana White believes much of his company’s success is because humans are naturally drawn to watch a fight due to reasons of nature and evolution. Who knows? But an epic defensive hit makes us go “ooh.” A fight with fists, feet and helmets flying? It makes us go “wow.” It shouldn’t happen, it is unprofessional, it sets a bad example and all the other negatives that are attached to something so undeniably ugly. Yet still: “wow.” [STORY IMAGE 1] As time wound down, Rudolph flung what would turn into a meaningless 11-yard catch-and-run to running back Trey Edmunds before being taken to the ground hard by Garrett. A scuffle immediately broke out, with Garrett seeming to lay on Rudolph post-tackle for a needlessly long period of time, while the QB tugged at his rival’s helmet. As the pair got to their feet, Garrett ripped off Rudolph’s helmet by the facemask and brought it down on the top of his head, as other players including Pittsburgh’s Maurkice Pouncey and Cleveland’s Larry Ogunjobi — both of whom were ejected along with Garrett — entered the fray. And cue the chatter. Much of the initial discussion was all about what kind of punishment should be meted out to the combatants ... especially Garrett, who has already been fined twice for rough play this season — including for a hit that broke the leg of New York Jets QB Trevor Siemian. “He will be suspended the rest of the year. I would be shocked if it’s shorter,” [FS1’s Nick Wright said on]( [First Things First]( . “This is the ugliest example of on-field violence since Albert Haynesworth stomped on Andre Gurode’s face [in 2006]. The reason I think it’s going to be [a six-game suspension] and no worse is because Mason Rudolph is okay. That [helmet attack] could have just as easily sliced his face [open]. If that had knocked him out, the penalty would have been much more severe.” The NFL Twitterverse was ablaze from the instant it happened. Dez Bryant and San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk were among those who insisted Garrett should be done for the year. Deion Sanders said Rudolph should not completely escape sanction for his role in the fracas. Patrick Mahomes pretty much summed up what everyone else was feeling: “Bro, I can’t even believe that just happen[ed].” Rudolph was uninjured and later described Garrett’s actions as “cowardly” and “bush league.” Garrett himself knows trouble is coming. “I made a mistake and I lost my cool and I regret it,” he told reporters. “It’s going to come back to hurt our team.” There is history in this rivalry. The Steelers and Browns have little patience for each other and have been divisional foes for long enough for decades of beef to build up. Earlier on Thursday, Damarious Randall of the Browns was ejected for a hit that left Diontae Johnson bleeding from the ear. [STORY IMAGE 2] This is the time of the year when frustration sometimes sets in — when teams and players realize that their season is probably not going to end up close to how they had dreamed back in the heady and optimistic days of summer; when players wake up with everything hurting, every day. That’s not an excuse to use a helmet as a weapon, nor even for an illegal hit, nor for a professional athlete to lose his composure. But it possibly played into the events of Thursday ... for whatever that’s worth. The next step was for the NFL to act, which it did on Friday, handing down suspensions to Garrett, Pouncey, and Larry Ogunjobi. Pouncey, who is expected to appeal, was suspended for three games and Ogunjobi for one, in addition to fines all around. Garrett is suspended indefinitely, and we don’t know how many games he will eventually miss. Past precedent isn’t much of a help here, mostly because there are few direct comparisons. The closest came in 1954, when Don Joyce of the Baltimore Colts pulled off the helmet of Los Angeles Rams player Les Richter and hit him in the face with it. Joyce was ejected, but there was no suspension. Needless to say, these are different times. Haynesworth got five games for stomping on Gurode and leaving him needing 30 stitches 13 years ago. Again, such behavior is regarded far more seriously these days. When the NFL levies its recriminations, the talk will start up again, analyzing whether the penalty was too harsh or too lenient, and what kind of marker it sets down. Although public opinion is set pretty squarely against Garrett, there will be plenty of differing opinions on how much sanction is appropriate for such an indiscretion, and whether any part of it was provoked by Rudolph. Even after watching the replay from a dozen different angles, it’s hard to know for sure. Coming out of all this, there is probably only one thing we can agree on for certain. It’s not something we should be proud of, but it’s a fact: if there’s a fight happening in pro sports, we’re going to be watching it, talking about it and possibly — whisper it now — secretly enjoying it? [STORY IMAGE 3] Here’s what others have said ... Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports: “Garrett, Rudolph and everyone else are lucky that the only thing that got hurt is Cleveland’s playoff chances. This was barbaric. The result could have been so much worse. This was no sports fight, no push and shove ‘brawl.’ To say there is no place for it in the game doesn’t even do it justice. There’s no place for Myles Garrett in the game, at least for this season.” Deion Sanders, via Twitter: “Just so y’all know that inside a NFL locker room Maurkice Pouncey is a hero. He protected his QB and he was willing to risk it all for his teammate. Ain’t many dogs like that left in the game. He should be fined, but no suspension for Pouncey. That’s a REAL TEAMMATE!” Michael McCann, Sports Illustrated: “Players consent to physical injuries related to the goals of football. No player, however, consents to being attacked with a helmet while his skull is exposed. That kind of attack has absolutely nothing to do with the sport of football or its goals. So, will Garrett face criminal charges? Or how about Pouncey? The answer is almost certainly no.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - Getting to know Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins through the eyes of someone who used to guard him in practice in high school: [Jonathan Tjarks at]( [The Ringer](. - [Jerry Brewer at]( [The Washington Post]( on a white football coach, a historically black college, and lessons that endure. - Three years before the first match, organizers of the Qatar World Cup have concerns about where fans will sit and where they will sleep, reports [Tariq Panja at]( [The New York Times](. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( Here’s some great Friday inspiration and motivation, courtesy of LeBron James. The King’s nonprofit group put together this amazing side-by-side (or top-by-bottom, more literally) comparison of the four-time MVP’s comments about wanting to leave a legacy and an impact outside of basketball in 2004 and in 2018. Despite being 14 years apart, it’s clear to see that what has driven LeBron has been the bigger picture; things that make a difference off the court rather than on it. The true meaning of “legacy.” [VIEWER'S GUIDE] Friday Night SmackDown (FOX, 8 p.m. ET) Daniel Bryan will be a guest on Miz TV this week to talk about Sami Zayn’s offer to join him and the Fiend’s attack last week. Plus, the New Day will grant a SmackDown Tag Team Championship rematch to former champions the Revival. Michigan State at Michigan (FOX, Saturday, 12 p.m. ET) One of the biggest and most storied in-state rivalries in college sports goes down as a marquee matchup in CFB Week 12. The Spartans would love to make Michigan’s bowl and playoff hopes just a little bit tougher. Dallas Cowboys at Detroit Lions (FOX, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET) Both teams are experiencing uneven seasons, but the 5-4 Cowboys could really use this road win. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( USA to win 1-0, 2-0, or 2-1 vs. Canada: +140 One month after Canada’s 2-0 defeat of the United States Men’s National Team in Toronto, the USMNT has a chance to get one back in Orlando on Friday night. There’s much on the line — bragging rights, FIFA rankings points, Nations League standing — in what Alexi Lalas says is [the most important game of coach Gregg Berhalter’s career](. In fact, Lalas could see [Berhalter stepping down if the USMNT loses again](. But if they instead win by a score of 1-0, 2-0, or 2-1, you could be headed to the pay window. [WHAT THEY SAID] “There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” — Derek Jeter [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download the FOX Sports app for live scores and streaming [App Store]( [Google Play]( Available on: [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] Forwarded this message? [Sign up](. Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2019 FOX Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. FOX.com Business & Legal Affairs - Manager Digital Media P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900