Opinion: Of course Myles Garrett deserved his suspension. But NFL should also discipline Mason Rudolph for his role in fight

Jarrett Bell | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Browns' Myles Garrett, Steelers' Mason Rudolph brawl: NFL reactions NFL players weigh in on the explosive brawl between Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh Steelers' Mason Rudolph.

What about Mason Rudolph?

The NFL swiftly brought the hammer down on Myles Garrett and other key participants from the Brawl by the Lake on Thursday night in Cleveland, and there’s no argument with the severity of the punishments.

Garrett, Cleveland’s star defensive end, is banned for at least the rest of the season for wielding Rudolph’s helmet as a weapon. He didn’t just cross the line. He obliterated it. Thankfully, it didn’t result in a cracked skull or even worse for the Steelers quarterback.

Maurkice Pouncey deserved the three-game suspension, too, for kicking Garrett. His assertion that he “blacked out” after seeing his quarterback attacked doesn’t cut it. He lost his cool and piled on. I mean, Rudolph was under siege all night by the Browns' pass rush (four sacks, 11 QB hits) and nobody blacked out.

And Browns D-tackle Larry Ogunjobi’s one-game suspension seems fair enough for shoving Rudolph to the turf as an additional indignation.

But let’s not pretend that Rudolph didn’t have a role in this that needs to be called out.

No, Rudolph didn’t deserve to be smacked in the head with his own helmet – even after his boneheaded decision to charge Garrett while not wearing a helmet as his teammate, guard David DeCastro, was defusing the situation by restraining Garrett.

The Steelers quarterback, though, should be disciplined for inflaming the matter. Replays showed rather clearly that after Garrett took him to the turf, Rudolph briefly tried to grasp the defensive end in the head and neck area and even attempted to remove Garrett’s helmet. It was after that when Garrett retaliated by yanking Rudolph’s helmet off, leading to the ugliest part of the incident.

The NFL, which has traditionally taken a hard-line stance against fighting – players who left the bench areas to join the fracas are subject to discipline, probably fines -- can see the video, too. It shows Rudolph seemingly kicking Garrett in the groin area.

So often the party that retaliates gets the worst end of the discipline. In this case, that’s fair, since Garrett basically assaulted Rudolph with a weapon. But Garrett’s punishment doesn’t totally absolve Rudolph, who helped ignite an on-field riot in a league that is violent enough.

Asked after the game what sparked the incident, Rudolph said, “I got sacked, we exchanged some words, he kept keeping on and one thing led to another. You can go back and watch the tape if you want and make your own assumptions.”

Frown on fighting, NFL? Well, show just how much by sending a message that makes Rudolph accountable, too. He had a role in the shocking incident that stains the Shield. If not a minimal, Ogunjobi-like suspension, then he should be penalized with a fine.

Maybe that’s yet to happen as the league contemplates some of the remaining discipline that it has pledged. But he shouldn’t get off scot-free just because getting hit with his own helmet provided the shock-value image no one wants to see.

Why in the world would Rudolph charge after Garrett without his helmet?

“I felt like I had a bone to pick with him after what he did,” Rudolph said. “I wasn’t going to back down. I appreciate the offensive line always having my back and putting it to bed, but I was angry. I’m human.”

I’m wondering what he might have done if he had managed to rip Garrett's helmet off, rather than vice-versa. In any event, he readily admitted that even as stupid as it was to go after Garrett while not wearing a helmet, he charged on with his own ill-advised intentions in mind.

Rudolph came across as rather smug during his postgame news conference, when he blasted Garrett as a “coward” and deemed the actions as “bush league.” But he was honest enough to admit that he had “a bone to pick” with Garrett, which in layman’s terms means “fight.”

The NFL shouldn't turn a blind eye to that. Another shoe needs to drop.

DeCastro – who kept a cool head and tried to defuse the situation until Garrett swung the helmet – maintained that he wasn’t sure what started the incident.

It’s unclear whether Garrett knew Rudolph had already released a pass as he took him to the turf.

“Things got chippy at the end,” DeCastro told reporters. “He laid on him too long and Mason approached him. Who knows? You know what I mean? It was back and forth and all of a sudden, Mason’s helmet is off and getting swung at his head. I mean, that’s just reckless.”

Reckless sums it up, but in more ways than one.