Myles Garrett will appeal his indefinite suspension for clubbing Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph on the head with his helmet on Thursday night. The league suspended him indefinitely, and at least for the remainder of the season including playoffs, by Friday morning and also stated that Garrett would have to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell before he could be reinstated in 2020.
As #Browns DE Myles Garrett gets set to appeal his lengthy suspension, one source said an argument will be that the CBA does not allow for indefinite suspensions for on-field acts. Garrett will hope for a finite number, as well as a reduction.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 17, 2019
Garrett’s appeal will argue that players cannot be suspended indefinitely for on-the-field actions, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. He is looking to not only get a definite number of games, but also a reduction in his suspension.
Adam Schefter reported that the league has appointed Derrick Brooks and James Thrash to hear and rule on Garrett’s appeal as well as appeals from Maurkice Pouncey and Larry Ogunjobi, who were also suspended for their roles in Thursday night’s melee.
Pouncey received a three game suspension for punching and kicking Garrett after Rudolph had been hit. Ogunjobi was suspended one game for shoving Rudolph to the ground after Garrett hit him with the helmet.
According to Schefter, Brooks and Thrash have a track record of “being open and fair-minded” and reducing past suspensions “if warranted.” He pointed out such as when Thrash reduced then-Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s suspension in 2017 for a hit on Kansas City Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman from five games to three, and when both Brooks and Thrash reduced Michael Crabtree’s and Aqib Talib’s suspensions from two games to one for their 2017 fight.
Schefter reported that he had been told that it would be unsurprising if at least one of the three suspensions is reduced or overturned, “but a lot will depend on their arguments issued early this week.”
