Browns coach Freddie Kitchens seen in ‘Pittsburgh started it’ T-shirt
Joking or not, Freddie Kitchens made a statement on what he thinks about the scuffle between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns two weeks ago.
Two days before the rematch between the Steelers and Browns at Heinz Field, Kitchens was photographed Friday evening wearing a “Pittsburgh started it” T-shirt. The shirts were sold in the Cleveland area in response to the Myles Garrett/Mason Rudolph incident during the final seconds of the Nov. 14 game in Ohio.
Garrett was suspended indefinitely for forcibly taking Rudolph’s helmet off and hitting him on the bare head with it; Rudolph was fined $50,000 for his role in apparently inciting Garrett, a defensive end. The sequence began when Garrett roughly wrestled Rudolph to the ground after Rudolph released a screen pass as the third-to-last play of the Browns’ 21-7 victory.
Some Browns fans have insisted that Rudolph should have faced more discipline.
A Browns spokesman told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Kitchens’ daughters gave him the shirt “as a joke” and that he wore it to see the film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” with his family. The Browns said Kitchens did not intend for anyone to see it and “understands it’s not a good look.”
Cleveland-based GV Art + Design began selling the “Pittsburgh started it” shirts – in Browns colors (orange and brown) on its website a week after the melee at FirstEnergy Stadium.
For the most part, both teams are publicly vowing to avoid letting tensions boil over in the Sunday meeting.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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