It was the helmet shot heard round the world.
Nobody had ever seen something quite like that in the history of football – whether it be college or professional – when Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett ripped off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Crosby’s helmet and hit him with it square on the crown of his head. Nobody had ever seen anything like it.
And now there’s a new explosive accusation that happened during that particular Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns brawl that allegedly occurred on that fateful Thursday night.
When Ben Roethlisberger was injured and consequently put on season ending injured reserve, nobody gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a shot any longer, especially after the New England Patriots destroyed them in Week One.
They also lost out on running back Le’Veon Bell in free agency to the New York Jets and traded Antonio Brown – who is currently no longer in the league – to the Oakland Raiders for a 3rd and 5th round pick.
But backup quarterback Mason Crosby took over and they still won, which speaks volumes about head coach Mike Tomlin. Before coming into Thursday Night football a little over a week ago, the Steelers were in the Wild Card spot with a record of 5-4, but then they were terrible against the Cleveland Browns.
When the game seemed all but over with only 8 seconds left on the clock, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett wrestled Crosby to the ground. The Steelers quarterback fought back by trying to rip off Garrett’s helmet, but then Garrett actually did rip off Crosby’s helmet.
That’s when the Steelers’ offensive linemen stepped in to protect their quarterback and throw Garrett off of him. With helmet still in hand, Crosby tried to bull rush the star defensive end and that’s when it happened; Garrett slammed Crosby’s own helmet down on his head.
It could’ve been a serious injury.
Garrett was suspended indefinitely – most analysts believed he would be out for the remainder of this year and part of next as well. There was no suspension for Crosby who seemed to initiate the escalation.
But when Garrett appealed his suspension to the NFL that’s when he revealed Crosby used a racial slur against him, which caused him to lose his temper. The word allegedly used was the N-word but it was never clarified when Garrett pleaded his case.
But the NFL claimed they “found no such evidence” that Crosby used that word amid the brawl. However, neither were mic’ed up by the NFL network so it’s really just a he said/he said at this point.
A Steelers spokesman said, “Mason vehemently denies the report of being accused of using a racial slur during the incident Thursday night in Cleveland. He will not discuss this accusation any further and his focus remains on preparation for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.”
On Wednesday, Crosby forgave Garrett in a statement to the press that essentially said, “let bygones be bygones.”
The suspended Browns defensive end did put out a statement saying he was under the impression his appeal would be kept “confidential,” of which he was disappointed it leaked. But he did also note Crosby’s actions did not excuse his own.
Garrett Tweeted:
— Myles “Flash” Garrett ⚡️ (@MylesLGarrett) November 22, 2019
It’s hard to say what happened at this point but hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of who’s lying very soon.