Marcus Peters denied that he spit on Jarvis Landry, but the NFL didn’t see it that way.
Landry came out swinging at Peters late this week, perhaps swaying the NFL’s opinion in the matter. To be fair, spitting on an opponent isn’t just bad sportsmanship, it’s disgusting and dangerous to do in a pandemic. The Browns receiver acknowledged as much.
“He’s a coward,” Landry said Thursday. “I think he knew that maybe behind my back he’d do things like that, but to my face, he wouldn’t. … Now I know. Everybody knows the type of player he is, the type of person he is.”
Peters denied the allegation shortly thereafter, claiming he’d never do such a thing and always takes on his problems head-on.
“I didn’t spit at Jarvis. Where I come from, when you have an issue with someone, you deal with it face-to-face, man-to-man,” Peters said. “Anyone who believes that I intentionally spit at him does not know me — plain and simple.”
The footage appears to lean towards Landry’s point of view
The NFL has all the angles, and deemed Peters guilty, fining him $12,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct.
John Harbaugh backed up his cornerback, saying that while the spit did in fact hit Landry, it was not directed at him. Landry was merely collateral.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t comment on the matter, and Landry himself claimed it was time to move on after his initial statement condemning Peters. The NFL would prefer to do the same given we’re in the middle of a playoff chase.
The Browns and Ravens are competing for Wild Card spots in the AFC, with the teams now only one game apart thanks to Justin Tucker’s game-winning field goal last Monday night.