Appeals hearing allegation (Garrett alleges slur)

The week after the Nov. 14, 2019 helmet swing, Myles Garrett appealed his indefinite suspension to appeals officer James Thrash. According to ESPN's reporting, Garrett alleged during that Nov. 2019 appeal hearing that Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph used a racial slur directed at him immediately before Garrett removed Rudolph's helmet; ESPN reported the detail as part of its coverage of the appeals process [2][5]. The appeal hearing was part of the formal disciplinary review, and the allegation—initially reported in appeals coverage—introduced a serious accusation of race-related conduct into the league's handling of the on-field melee [2]. The NFL conducted an investigation into the allegation as part of the disciplinary review; the league later issued a public statement about the outcome of that probe on Nov. 21, 2019 [1]. Because the alleged verbal exchange would directly bear on motive and context for Garrett's actions, the claim made during the appeal shifted the public framing of the original helmet swing beyond a simple act of on-field violence to a contested allegation about language used during the play [2][5].

The appeal allegation matters because it moved the dispute from an isolated physical act into the realm of a serious race-related accusation with implications for individual reputations and league investigative responsibility. Garrett's claim tied motive to a specific alleged provocation; if true, it reframed Garrett's conduct in the context of a racially charged exchange, while if uncorroborated it raised questions about factual accuracy and public accusation procedures in league discipline [2][1]. The allegation therefore became a central unresolved factual point in the Garrett–Rudolph narrative.

The NFL investigated the allegation raised during the appeal and on Nov. 21, 2019 the league publicly stated it 'found no evidence' to support that Mason Rudolph used a racial slur during the Nov. 14 incident; the appeals officer also upheld Garrett's suspension [1][5]. The public report of the allegation and the league's finding set the stage for later public reiteration: Garrett repeated the specific slur wording in a Feb. 14, 2020 ESPN interview, prompting public denials from Mason Rudolph and legal warnings from Rudolph's representatives [3][6][7]. No public civil lawsuit was filed by Rudolph related to the allegation through reporting updated into 2025 [7][10].