Steelers’ James Harrison Would Rather Retire Than Not Hurt Opponents

Added on Oct 20, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NFL

The NFL’s current poster boy for sadistic and psychotic behavior, Pittsburgh Steelers’ James Harrison, may have set a new high water mark for ‘overreaction’ today. When we last checked in with J-Harr he was making a sad face because the NFL doesn’t like him injuring the opposing team’s players. After leaving a couple of Cleveland Browns with concussions on Sunday, the NFL fined him $75k. You’d think since J-Harr pulls down a whole heap of cheddar–as in $13 million per–that wouldn’t be a big deal. Instead it’s completely caused J-Harr to freak out and question his entire professional reality.

Today, Harrison’s agent indicated that his client is contemplating retirement if he can’t continue to engage in helmet to helmet hits and willfully injuring opponents:

“We wouldn’t joke about this. This is a very serious issue. James is very concerned about how to play football. If James is going to be fined $75,000 for making a legal tackle, then how do you go play football? It’s quite frustrating to James, to Coach Tomlin, to me, to everybody.”

Harrison went on the sports radio airwaves to plead his case:

“I’m going to sit down and have a serious conversation with my coach tomorrow and see if I can actually play by NFL rules and still be effective. If not, I may have to give up playing football.”

“I really truly hope it’s something that can be done. But the way that things were being explained to me today and the reasoning for it, I don’t feel I can continue to play and be effective and, like I say, not have to worry about injuring someone else or risking injury to myself.”

Harrison is an excellent defensive player, but something of a moron. While the NFL has just now become concerned about helmet to helmet hits and have a somewhat hypocritical stance historically, all they want is to make sure that players aren’t taken off the field on a board or in a bag. Don’t lead with your head, don’t target your opponent’s noggin and you’ll be fine.

The agent for Mohammed Massaquoi, Brian Ayrault, didn’t think the league came down on Harrison hard enough. Given his ‘I like to hurt people’ comments and subsequent behavior I would agree:

“Harrison has made $20 million over the past three years, and they only fined him $75,000?. To me, that’s not going to be a deterrent. The Browns are probably going to be without a starter this week. I don’t think that fine is a deterrent or fair to competitive balance.”

“The punishment did not fit the crime.”

Fortunately, Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin presumably drew up the new rules and proper tackling techniques in coloring book form and explained them to Harrison:

“We had a meeting this morning, he and I did. It was a very productive one. I thought part of being productive and moving forward was excusing him for today and coming back starting new tomorrow.”

Tomlin expects Harrison back in practice tomorrow.