Week Eleven Suspension Blotter Part Two: Glad they at least aren't wasting time on it...

• Pittsburgh Steelers:  Maurkice Pouncey:  In a move which will not make many people happy, three games for punches and kicks to Garrett.
• Cleveland Browns:  Larry Ogunjobi:  One game for his involvement in shoving down Mason Rudolph.

Since that's suspension #4, you can add another $300,000 to the check the Haslams have to cut -- that's now over $498,000 just from last night, and I still think you have four other incidents AT MINIMUM last night.

NFL Week _Eleven_ Suspension Blotter Part One: The easy part first...

• Cleveland Browns:  Myles Garrett has been thrown out of the National Football League for his felonious attack last night.  The situation with Garrett will be re-evaluated after Super Bowl LIV.

As a result, the Browns are also fined another $198,004 -- $50,000 for the maximum number which can be applied against the Club Remittance fine number for an on-field act, and the rest for the augmentation to a third suspension against the Browns this league year.

That's one.  Let's see how many more...

Tonight is a night why I will never be Commissioner of the NFL...

Because here are the beginnings of my penalties for this:

• Cleveland Head Coach Freddie Kitchens is banned from the NFL for the rest of the season for the creation of a culture of anti-player-safety actions in the Browns.
• The Browns forfeit this game and the next two.
• Any further incidents of this level will end their season.
• Myles Garrett is thrown out of the NFL completely.  He can apply for reinstatement March 1, 2021.
• Larry Ogunjobi is suspended two additional games for his involvement.
• Damarious Randall is suspended one game for his helmet hit that got him tossed.
• Maurkice Pouncey is suspended two games for his involvement, including kicking Garrett in the head.
• Mason Rudolph is suspended two games for his actions in aiding in instigating the fight.
• In addition to all other fines and penalties under the Club Remittance Policy, the Browns are fined one million dollars and lose a high-level 2020 draft pick, to be later determined.
• (Edit to add later:  No, that'd have to be at least a first-rounder.)

Week ELEVEN Fine/Suspension Blotter, Part Well Negative: The Browns might break all records for fines and the like...

The shit has just hit the fan in Cleveland.

I can almost bet this is going to be a 9 AM Eastern Friday job (it would be 9 AM Eastern Monday, but they might get this out of the way now before the other Week 11 games are played).

Don't know how long this is going to stay up, but:


Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph tried to rip the helmet off of Cleveland's Myles Garrett on the ground.

Garrett responded by ripping Rudolph's helmet off and swinging at it his head and HITTING HIM IN THE HEAD WITH IT.

Pittsburgh's Maurkice Pouncey was also ejected for throwing several punches and a kick at Garrett.

Also, according to CBS NFL columnist Pete Prisco:

Ogunjobi threw down Rudolph after the helmet strike

— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) November 15, 2019

That's Larry Ogunjobi, and he's already one fine in arrears this year.  Garrett would be his third league action of the year.

But here's the big stuff:  If Garrett is suspended, each game would cost him at least $520,000.  Since it would be the third suspension for the Browns this season, the increment bumps to 25%.  And if Ogunjobi goes with him, that's 33%.

Basically, the Browns face the following:

• $150,000 for any suspension from this incident.
• A $50,000 matched fine since it was also on the field.
• Any other fines accumulated by any other parties in the incident must also be matched.
• And if another player is suspended as well as Garrett, the fine alone for the suspensions will probably be almost $400,000.

The Browns are already $285,722 in on-field fines.  That surpasses all thresholds, so that's $75,000 more for the team, plus another $74,505 they've ALREADY matched, PLUS another $101,996. 

They're already paying the league over half a million dollars.  They've only had one game this regular season in which they were not fined.

Stay tuned.  This is probably one of the worst incidents on the field in a very long time.  There WILL be repercussions.

And, as Mr. Adams says, THAT'S NOT ALL!!!  Early in the second quarter, this...


The NFL must not only void this win, but consider forfeiture of either next week's Browns game, or the rematch in two weeks in Pittsburgh.

Suspension/Firing Blotter: Is being appealed, but the Browns are taking no chances...

• Free agent, fired by the Cleveland Browns today:  Antonio Callaway is appealing a 10-game suspension for taking CBD through a tainted supplement.

Since the Browns cut him, he no longer counts against any potential multiple-suspension fine.  (Since the suspension has not been announced, the Club Remittance Policy on such matters has not triggered.  This is EXACTLY what the Club Remittance Policy is designed to do.)

Because of the amount of lost salary, the Browns would've been fined up to the maximum $250,000 for three suspensions on their record.  (That would be about $150,000 for the third one.)

--

Couple of Week 9 Fine Blotter updates:

• Philadelphia Eagles:  Andrew Sendejo:  $10,527 for unsportsmanlike conduct.
• Baltimore Ravens:  Marion Humphrey:  $28,075 for a helmet to helmet hit.  TWO-TIME LOSER

I've always believed Commissioner Fuck The Dodgers Fixed the 2017 World Series for HoustonStrong...

Now, an article today which has prompted an MLB investigation may just provide more proof to that effect...

The Athletic, a fully subscription-based sports-journalism site, has a bombshell investigation into the Houston Astros which indicates that the Astros were stealing signs in the 2017 World Championship season, using a camera in center field, focused on the catcher, to steal signs so that the Astros hitters knew what pitches were coming.

Especially given the nature of several of the World Series games at Minute Maid Park that year, it would appear this to be very important regarding their #HoustonStrong World Championship.

At least four sources within the team, according to the Washington Post (because The Athletic is completely paywalled), including one of the pitchers on the team, Mike Fiers, have reported the use of advanced technology outside the rules of Major League Baseball to steal signs.

At least one pitcher during that season picked up on some of the signals, when dugout staff would bang on a trash can to indicate breaking pitches or curve balls.

The Astros have also been accused of stealing signs in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons, including their ALCS win over the Yankees.

And you know what's going to get done about it?  No and thing.

2019 NFL Storyline Political Rankings, Week Ten

Now that we are ten weeks through the year, things have, by no means, clearly coalesced.

But I do think there are at least SOME things we can try to discern.  Here's my view, right now, on the NFL and where it might be going:

AFC:

1)  New England
1A) Baltimore

I'm not quite prepared to write off Brady and the Pats yet, though the loss to Baltimore takes away one of the biggest storylines the NFL could have throughout all this season, not just the AFC.  There has also been a significant amount of talk that, at minimum, this is Brady's last NE year, which might force the issue if that becomes public before the Super Bowl in Miami.

That said, the NFL is now clearly saying the best team in the AFC is the Baltimore Ravens.  They would make a far more interesting choice regarding the Super Bowl than New England, at least in my opinion, but booger if I could find a reason why.  (A common thread.)

Of course, all bets are off if we do find out (without a catastrophic injury to Brady) that Brady will retire in February.  It just won't be as obvious as some of us thought for the first half of the season.

3)  Las Vegas (Raiders)

Don't look now, but they're 5-4 and KC is 6-4, and it appears as if the sophomore slump has taken the bloom off of the Patrick Mahomes rose which appeared to be in absolute full effect with a lot of NFL advertising at the start of this season.

4)  Pittsburgh

Don't tell Urinating Tree, but that Yinzer may have at least some false hope here.  After a bad start, it's four in a row for Pittsburgh, and the next three look promising too.

5)  Houston
6)  Indianapolis
7)  Buffalo

Basically three peas in a pod here.  All basically placeholders with no real shot (nor do the Raiders, nor probably Pittsburgh -- it really is shaping a two-horse race in the AFC at this point!)...

NFC:

1) Seattle

Tonight's win pulls them to the top spot.

And for the same reason I always talk about with the 12th Man Cult:  This is a fanbase the Goodell "Give EVERYTHING To Football!" mentality wants.  And people have been talking about Russell Wilson for the MVP most of the season -- and who makes the key running play as everybody vacates the middle late in the OT?

2) Green Bay

I'm reluctant to put them here, but I do for their opponent in a hypothetical NFC title game, rather than that I think they're choice #2 in the NFC, basically because of a lot of what else happened this weekend.  (Really, New Orleans?  Doubly so, Dallas???  What the fuck, San Francisco????)

3) San Francisco

Could well be a nice legacy game for somebody in the NFL's 100th season in the playoffs, but things took a big hit tonight.  Might well again in 2 weeks when they face Green Bay.

4) Minnesota

Did you know they were 7-3?  I didn't til I looked.  A nice dark-horse candidate, not that anyone is really noticing!

5) New Orleans

And I thought last week's Green Bay loss to the Chargers was a question mark!  Atlanta and Miami became only the third pair of teams Pro Football Reference can find who won games in the same week in which both were at least 11-point underdogs.  I'm not sold at all, unlike Brian on the Super Bowl XXXVII apology angle, that New Orleans is the choice.

6) Dallas

Still pulls in the ratings, still in the league doghouse.

Yes, oscillations can be wild, and overreactions are to be expected.