After Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was reinstated by the NFL this week, he reiterated his claim that Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph called him a racial slur.

And, Garrett said, that’s what touched off the helmet-swinging brawl which occurred between the teams last season.

I am just as convinced now — as I was back in November — that Garrett is lying to cover for his actions.

There is zero proof to suggest he is telling the truth. And worse for Rudolph, he can’t prove a negative.

A man can’t prove he didn’t say something.

But here is ESPN’s Mina Kimes giving Garrett a platform to advance his story.

“He called me the N-word. He called me a ‘stupid N-word,’ ” Garrett says in the interview.

Oh. Now it’s not just the “N-word.” It’s “a stupid N-Word.”

Got it.

Rudolph was not interviewed in the piece. Buried at the end of a corresponding ESPN.com post is a short statement stating that the Steelers organization referred back to Rudolph’s original response three months ago that he “vehemently denies the report of being accused of using a racial slur during the incident.”

ESPN claims the third-year quarterback and his lawyer were unavailable for comment.

Well, they should comment. In court. Rudolph should sue Garrett for defamation.

Not a single player or on-field official has corroborated his allegations. Not a single microphone has been revealed to have picked up audio of Rudolph saying that. At no point in the immediate aftermath of the event was there a hint of Garrett’s claim.

It wasn’t until a few days went by and Garrett appealed his suspension that he made the allegation as a Hail Mary to get his punishment reduced.

If there was such proof, don’t you think the NFL would’ve made that known? Don’t you think the league would prefer to lend some sort of explanation as to why Garrett did what he did?

He’s one of the best players in the league. Rudolph is a nobody. Why would the league work so hard to protect a disposable, below-average backup quarterback?

Garrett’s assessment that he didn’t want the allegation to be public is asinine. Because even though he hurled that statement at Rudolph in the privacy of his hearing, was he really expecting that to stay off the record?

After all, what if the league believed Garrett and reduced his suspension as a result? Wouldn’t it have had to explain why? Then the accusation would’ve become public, anyway. And Rudolph would’ve then been suspended, too.

As a condition of his reinstatement, the league should’ve told Garrett not to comment on the racial slur anymore. He can’t prove it. He is using it as a cover. He knows it. The NFL knows it.

And everyone knows Rudolph is unable to prove he didn’t say something.

All Garrett is doing is rehabbing his own image while defaming someone else in the league. Furthermore, he is making the league look bad by suggesting it is harboring racism.

This is why I previously wrote that Garrett should’ve been suspended for both the helmet-swinging act and the accusation.

How is this going to go over when the Browns play the Steelers this year?

Twice.

Are both teams just going to pretend the race element of this issue doesn’t exist? They probably should, actually.

Since Garrett is pretending it happened in the first place.

But that’s unlikely.

Also, ESPN should provide a similar interview setting for Rudolph to clear his name in the same way it provided for Garrett.

I’ll bet against that, too, though.

Garrett’s suspension is over. The stain of being called a racist will follow Rudolph forever.

That’s imbalanced. And Garrett is going to get away with it.