Following the brawl that ended the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns game on Thursday, the NFL has suspended three players and handed out multiple fines. However, there is one player that hasn’t been punished just yet in quarterback Mason Rudolph. Although ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported that the Steelers’ second-year signal-caller could be receiving his punishment very soon.
According to a Sunday morning tweet, Rudolph will not be suspended for his role in Thursday’s incident, but he will be fined for his actions. The expected amount is $35,096. According to the 2019 fine schedule, this is the penalty for a player’s first-time fighting offense.
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For fans of the Cleveland Browns, this is not enough of a punishment for Rudolph given his involvement in the incident. He was shown trying to twist of Myles Garrett‘s helmet while also striking at his midsection. Rudolph also kicked at the Browns’ defender after tugging his facemask.
According to Troy Vincent, the NFL’s head of football operations, Rudolph’s actions do constitute a fine, but they didn’t believe that they were worthy of a suspension. Although there could be additional fines handed down based upon further examination of footage from the incident.
“The grabbing of the facemask, that is a fine,” Vincent said, per CBS Sports. “We’ll continue to sort through that next week, but yes, there could be multiple fines coming to him if we find another action that constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct.”
According to Vincent, the league has been examining all angles of the incident, including those higher in the air. The purpose is to figure out exactly which players should be fined and how much. They had some initial focus on those that left the bench area to join the skirmish, but Friday was spent examining the 22 players that were on the field during the incident.
It’s entirely possible that Rudolph could be handed even more fines for his involvement in this incident, but for now, he will likely receive the $35,000 punishment. The suspension that Browns fans want, however, will likely not happen.
As Vincent explained following the incident, the league needed to hand down the suspensions as the first priority. There was a possibility that each team would need to conduct a transaction to replace the absent player, and the NFL wanted to provide enough time to make this happen.
“Our first objective is to determine if there are players who will be missing games,” Vincent said. “Because that has implications on the roster and may require a transaction for the team. But we will have plenty to sort through next week as well, and I can assure you, there is another wave of fines coming.”
(Photo Credit: Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire/Getty)
