Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph will not pursue legal action against Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett for clubbing him with his helmet, leading to a indefinite suspension by the NFL, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
"Rudolph will not seek any legal action, considering it a NFL only matter," Rapoport said on NFL Total Access. Adding to why Rudolph was fined and not suspended for his role in the Garrett incident, Rapoport said "his actions did not rise to the level of being suspended because if you look at just what he did trying to get Garrett's helmet off kind of escalated the incident, but didn't cause any damage like some of the other acts did."
Rudolph was previously considering legal action against Garrett earlier Friday prior to Garrett's suspension. Younger & Associates, a law firm that also serves as Rudolph's agent, said via Twitter that Garrett's actions against his client will be "reviewed thoroughly." Below are two tweets that were posted by the company's Twitter handle shortly after Thursday's game ended.
"The chain reaction began here with a very late take down following a pass. Very late. That happens every Sunday. It is typically followed by pushing and shoving, even by the QB, and that usually ends it. However, what followed tonight cannot be defended by reasonable minds.
"There are many risks an NFL QB assumes with every snap taken on the field. Being hit on your uncovered head by a helmet being swung by a 275 lb DE is not one of them. Tonight could have had a catastrophic ending. The matter will be reviewed thoroughly."
What kind of legal action could Rudolph's representatives have taken against Garrett? On Friday, of CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones reached out to a criminal defense attorney to figure out the likelihood of anything happening to Garrett from a legal standpoint.
"Anytime a crime is committed and police think they have probable cause to charge someone, they can do so without the agreement of the 'victim,'" the attorney told Jones via text messages. "But as a practical matter if a victim is saying they don't want charges to happen it heavily factors into a charging situation where someone is not seriously injured. Pressing charges just means you start the investigation. Many times by filing a report. Most crimes police don't witness so that's how many cases get started. And if no one reports it then many cases never start But if proof is there from other sources, it's irrelevant whether someone 'presses charges.'"
The Pick Six Podcast fired up an emergency episode after news of the suspensions resulting from the Steelers-Browns fight came down. Check it out below and be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform:
In the end, it appears no legal action will be pursued against Garrett by Rudolph.
