I realize this story is a bit old by now, but I think we all understand that it’s not one that’s just going to go away. I happened to be going through some bookmarks and came across a Rich Eisen Show YouTube video, which brought me to a Dan Patrick Show YouTube video, discussing the Myles Garrett racial slur accusation toward Mason Rudolph.
Patrick said on multiple occasions during the segment that he was told by a source within the league that it was their hope that they could get the two players together behind closed doors and try to settle the matter. I wouldn’t bank on that happening.
“Their goal is to get both of these guys to sit down with the commissioner”, Patrick said. “Myles Garrett and Mason Rudolph. If I’m Mason Rudolph, I’m livid. I’m not threatening a lawsuit; I’m suing you. Just say ‘hook us up to a lie detector. Whatever it is, I want my name cleared’. Because when you go into that locker room, you want to make sure that those players believe you”.
It shouldn’t be surprising, but both Patrick and Eisen ended up saying the same thing: if I’m Mason Rudolph, I’m suing. Here was Eisen on that subject:
For Myles Garrett to say this now, again, with the NFL saying that it didn’t happen, is really putting it out there in a big way. To bring it all up again—and again, you can sit here and say that the NFL doesn’t know all of it, although they interviewed the ref and everybody else who was around there and nobody corroborated it—if I am Mason Rudolph, I’d sue him on the spot. If he didn’t do it, I’d sue him on the spot, right now.
…
Even if you take the point of view that Myles Garrett is trying to protect Mason Rudolph—let’s just say he’s trying to avoid making a terrible situation even worse—wouldn’t you think someone who’s been called that, on the field, around his teammates, don’t you think, even if you’re trying to not make the situation even worse, you’d say, go ask him why I did what I did? And throw it on his lap right off the bat.
…
I would use that video as Exhibit A in suing the hell out of Myles Garrett on the spot.
It’s been a slight while since Garrett first resurfaced with the allegation shortly after he was reinstated from his indefinite suspension, but here’s the thing: we’re going to be right back in it. You think Kevin Colbert is not going to be asked about it tomorrow?
Every time either Colbert, Mike Tomlin, or Art Rooney II speak from now until the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Cleveland Browns, probably not once but twice, this topic is going to come up. The players are going to be asked about it as well.
I don’t at all anticipate that the league will get its pow-wow. The only way this gets resolved is either through the courts or through one of them admitting they were wrong. There is a plausible scenario in which neither of them are wrong about what they believe.
