Gio: NFL Should Punish Myles Garrett Further If He Lied About Rudolph Racial Slur

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Myles Garrett has made a bad situation even uglier by accusing Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph of using a racial slur, WFAN's Gregg Giannotti said Friday morning.

Garrett, the Browns' Pro Bowl defensive end, made the allegation to NFL officials while appealing his indefinite suspension for ripping Rudolph's helmet off and hitting the QB in the head with it during a Nov. 14 game. Garrett said the slur triggered his rage. 

But shortly after ESPN reported on Garrett's accusation Thursday, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy released a statement saying the league investigated the claim and "found no such evidence" of the slur.

"Right now, unless I get some audio evidence or video evidence, I'm sticking with the NFL on this one because they said there was no evidence and they said that they investigated it," Giannotti said on the "Boomer and Gio" show. "And Myles Garrett, who could have been able to move on from this as a terrible moment in his career, has now just made it 50 times worse -- you know what, 500 times worse -- by doing this. 

"And think about Mason Rudolph, who has already been clocked in the head by his own helmet, now has to walk back in his locker room and have black players in that locker room say: 'Did he do that? Did he say that?' Well, I really, really hope that they believe him, and I really hope that he is cleared completely because that's one of the worst things that you can do to call somebody a racist, say that they used a racial slur when they did nothing of the sort."

Giannotti added that it's suspicious that neither Garrett nor his teammates accused Rudolph of using the slur in the immediate aftermath of the brawl. Gio also said he thinks if Garrett lied in an effort to have his suspension reduced, he should be punished further.

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett hits Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with his own helmet on Nov. 14, 2019, in Cleveland.Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Images

Boomer Esiason, too, seemed skeptical of Garrett's story. 

"If there were confirmation or if there were something along these lines, I don't think the Steeler players would've reacted the way they did (by defending Rudolph)," he said. "I really don't. I'm sorry. And it just seems like just a really cheap way out of this.

"I'm under the assumption that this never happened. I don't know why any player, let alone Mason Rudolph, would ever say anything like that to another player on the field. You know, the league is 70% black."

To listen to the open from Friday's "Boomer and Gio" show, click on the audio player above.