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Myles Garrett will be like most of us this upcoming Sunday while watching the Cleveland Browns take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC North contest with potential playoff implications on the line. That’s because the Pro Bowl defensive end will be watching from his couch, as he’ll be serving his second game of an indefinite suspension for the nasty incident that occurred the last time these two teams met — which ended with Garrett clubbing Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph over the head with his own helmet.
Since the melee that ended a Week 11 contest on Thursday Night Football, Myles Garrett has pleaded his case with the league, alleging that Rudolph uttered a racial slur his way during the fight, which is what, seemingly, set the defender off. That was denied by the Pittsburgh signal-caller, and the war of words between the two teams have been tight ever since.
Given the tension between both the Steelers and Browns — which extends to their fan bases, who have a long history of hate towards one another — there was a rumor floating around that Heinz Field security wouldn’t allow fans wearing Myles Garrett jersey inside the game, fearing that it would only cause verbal and, potentially, physical abuse. Here’s the initial report, per Radio.com.
Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh joined Ross Tucker and Carrington Harrison on Home & Home to discuss the upcoming Steelers and Browns matchup and the lingering effect of Garrett’s violent outburst.
“It’s going to be like the Roman Colosseum,” Fillipponi said, responding to Ross’s question about the likely environment of Pittsburgh’s home stadium. “I had a Heinz Field employee tell me… that he doesn’t think he’s going to let Myles Garrett jerseys into the stadium, [and] that there’s already been a conversation among some of the security staff and people at the gates at the stadium who are on watch for anything that they think is going to create a disturbance inside the stadium.
“… Believe it or not, I guess a jersey with a guy’s last name on it is enough to get you either booted or prohibited from the stadium.”
And here’s a fan reaction about the news that something like that could potentially happen, throwing back the idea of security in Cleveland denying fans from wearing a Ben Roethlisberger jersey.
This is a very stupid slippery slope… Can you imagine if the Browns banned anyone wearing a Roethlisberger jersey from entering First Energy Stadium on game day? https://t.co/mIINflTllf
— Roberto Shenanigans (@Rob_Shenanigans) November 26, 2019
So, is the rumor true? According to Cleveland.com, a Steelers source says it’s totally false, per Burt Lauten’s Twitter, and that any fans wearing Myles Garrett jerseys will be OK to enter the stadium.
A source close to the situation (me) confirmed these reports are absolutely false. https://t.co/dSaRGzwMgN
— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) November 26, 2019
We’ll have to wait and see if any fans film anything on their phones entering the game on Sunday, which could catch Pittsburgh security turning fans away wearing a Garrett jersey. Hopefully it doesn’t actually happen, though.
Funny thing is, neither Myles Garrett nor Mason Rudolph could play in the game, with the Browns player suspended and Rudolph being benched in favor of Duck Hodges — with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin really throwing Rudolph under the bus when announcing the decision.
The rematch between the Browns and Steelers will still be heated, but with the two instigators to the wild brawl not playing in the game, hopefully it’ll be a clean contest and no extracurricular activity will happen. Then again, it’s a huge rivalry, so who knows what might happen?