Photo: Special To The NY Beacon
By Andrew Rosario
By now, we have all seen the fight between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns. It was just as bad as the fight that broke out in Detroit when Indiana players climbed into the stands and attacked fans who threw beer and cups at players.
Late in the game with the Steelers looking to make a comeback, Browns quarterback Mason Rudolph dumps a pass off and is quickly taken to the ground by Browns Miles Garrett. Both players wrestle while on the ground with Rudolph attempting to dislodge Garrett’s helmet. Garrett responds by ripping off Rudolph’s helmet and when Rudolph goes after him, Garrett swings the helmet making contact with Rudolph’s head. As other players attack Garrett on the ground, Rudolph is shoved to the ground by Steelers Larry Ogunjobi. When the scrum was finally settled, Garrett, Pouncy (who kicked Garrett while he was down) and Ogunjobi were ejected.
In the days to come, commissioner Roger Goodell acted swiftly suspending Garrett indefinitely. Pouncy suspended 3 games and Ogunjobi one game. Both teams fined $250,000 while Rudolph fined $35,000. Because many thought he instigated the fight, there were calls for Rudolph to be suspended as well.
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All the fines and suspensions were being appealed and was heard by the commissioner’s office yesterday. With Garrett’s past indiscretions, it is highly unlikely Garrett will play another down this year. A big blow to the team. “There no place for that in the game,” said Goodell.
Not only had the league dealt with that fiasco, the NFL and the Colin Kaepernick story turned more bizarre. The league announced that Kaepernick would work out for the 32 teams at the Atlanta Falcons facility last Saturday.
The league wanted Kaepernick to have the workout filmed and then distribute the results to all 32 teams. Kaepernick wanted Nike to turn it into a commercial. When neither side could come to an agreement, Kaepernick and his camp packed their bags and moved the workout 60 miles to Charles R. Drew High School in south Atlanta. Kaepernick went through throwing drills.
Afterwards, Kaepernick did not take questions but made the following statement. I’ve been prepared for three years,” he started. I’ve been denied for three years and you all know why. I’ve been ready. I’m staying ready.” Both sides have blamed each other which is not helping Kaepernick’s goal to get back on a NFL roster anytime soon. The fact that this took place before the start of week 11 is puzzling.
Three top quality quarterbacks were injured in the first 2 weeks of the season. Eagles Nick Foles, Saints Drew Brees and Steelers Ben Roethlisberger. Neither of those teams extended an invitation to Kaepernick. Where this goes from here is anyone’s guess. Kaepernick wore a “Kunta Kinte” shirt during the workout that did not endear him to the league owners introducing the slave mentality. This is for sure: Colin Kaepernick is no closer to getting on a NFL roster after the circus that took place last Saturday.
If there is on athlete that can relate to Kaepernick it is Carmelo Anthony. After being released last year 10 days after signing with the Houston Rockets, Melo was then traded to Chicago but was quickly released. Anthony sat out for close to a year as teams passed on signing him for a variety a reasons. The 10 time All Star who has averaged 24.0 ppg in his 16 year career signed with the Portland Trailblazers last week joining perhaps the best backcourt in the NBA in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Said Anthony, “I always kept my eye on Portland. It just didn’t work out at thew other times, but now it seems like it’s a perfect opportunity.” Anthony was expected to suit up this past Tuesday when they faced the Pelicans after losing Monday night to Houston. The Trailblazers fell to 5-9 getting off to a slow start. The team hopes that Anthony can give them a boost off the bench.
