First Call: Myles Garrett's ridiculous quotes about 'clearing the air' with Mason Rudolph

Thursday’s “First Call” features some insane statements from Cleveland Browns defensive star Myles Garrett regarding his 2019 helmet incident with Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph.

Also, a look at some Penguins priorities for the offseason, Steelers Super Bowl odds and a potential Steelers threat in Week 2 might be out of action.

Oh, and guess where Justin Timberlake wants to put a Major League Baseball team?

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Gimme a break, Garrett: Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett wants to “clear the air” with Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph.

How exactly? By swinging a helmet through it toward Rudolph’s head again?

That’s what Garrett said to Cleveland.com, though. Via Mary Kay Cabot, “Garrett hopes to change the narrative of that night by talking man-to-man to Mason Rudolph.”

I’ve got a real easy way to make that happen. Garrett could admit he never heard Rudolph use a racial slur on the field in November before he ripped the quarterback’s helmet off his head and swung it at him, be contrite that he used the alleged slur as an excuse for his behavior and apologize for it. That would “clear the air.” Nothing else short of that will do the job.

“If (a meeting) were to happen, I’d be fine with it,” Garrett told Cabot. “Not just fine, but I wouldn’t mind it, and I’d be happy to make it happen, if there were a way. I’m not sure how I’d go about that, how I’d broach that. I’m not even sure if he’d want to do that, but I wouldn’t have a problem sitting down with him and just not talking about the incident, just talking man-to-man, how we move forward, and just being better men and football players and not letting something like that happen again.”

Aw! So magnanimous. He’d “be fine” with that, huh? How nice.

Puke! What a sanctimonious thing for Garrett to say. Seriously.

He essentially commits assault with a deadly weapon, makes a ghastly racial allegation that no one can corroborate and now acts like he’s the bigger man because he’s willing to hear out Rudolph.

Give…me…a…break!

“I just don’t want any grudges,” Garrett continued. “I don’t have any grudge against him. I don’t have any ill intent against him. It’s not like I’d have anything against him if I saw him in public or if I saw him in a game and we were suited up. I’d just play him like I play anybody else. If I saw him in public, I’d just fist-bump and walk away just like if I saw anybody else on the street that I didn’t know personally. I don’t have a problem with that. Other than that night, before that play and after that play, I don’t think we spoke two words to each other.”

Oh, well, how very big of you, Myles. You wouldn’t hold a grudge against a guy that you tried to bludgeon with his own protective equipment, then slandered with no proof. What a great human you are!

Who is this guy kidding? In the racially charged times in which we live, he’s suggesting Rudolph should just “come clean” and admit he dropped an N-bomb on him? And everything would be fine?

Yeah. OK. Tell you what, Myles. How about you look at it from the other perspective and just say, “I made the whole thing up?” How would that go for you?

Here’s another beauty of a quote from Garrett.

“Now our fates are intertwined forever, and so I don’t think we should leave it off like that, is my opinion,” Garrett said. “I feel like we should clear the air so there’s no problems and there’s no bad blood. Between our teams and our fans, the rivalry I feel like will live off of it, but between the players, I feel like it should always be competitive but never go over the line.”

Sorry, pal. Your “fates” weren’t intertwined. You tied them together on your own with the act of swinging your helmet. And you went over the line yourself by doing that and by throwing gas on the fire by introducing race into the equation when there is zero evidence of your assertion.

Garrett also — I’m not kidding — insisted the blow-back he got for the incident was so gosh-darned hard for him to handle that he almost quit football all together.

Hey, don’t threaten me with a good time.

Elsewhere in First Call….

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Damage to Denver: The Steelers play the Denver Broncos for their home opener in Week 2 of the season.

And Denver will be without star pass rusher Von Miller.

He injured a tendon in his ankle and may be done for the season. Miller is seeking a second opinion before a decision is made about putting him on injured reserve or ruling him out for the year.

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Priorities out of line: The Athletic’s Scott Burnside came up with a list of top offseason priorities for every team in the NHL.

When he gets to the Penguins, the answer doesn’t have to do with Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang or Matt Murray.

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Big difference: ESPN published a list of playoff and Super Bowl prospects for all 32 NFL teams. The Steelers are ranked 11th with a 2.2% chance of winning the Super Bowl.

Yet their playoff chances are a solid 58%.

Get the explanation here.

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Team Timberlake: Music mogul Justin Timberlake wants to bring a Major League Baseball team to Nashville.

Former MLB executive Dave Dombrowski and World Series MVP Dave Stewart are also part of the initiative. Their group is called “Music City Baseball.”

The Triple-A “Nashville Sounds” currently reside at 10,000-seat First Horizon Park. They are a minor league affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They used to be affiliated with the Pirates from 1998 to 2004.