Steelers Cry Conspiracy Over Flagrant Hits
Added on Dec 02, 2010 by Scott in
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The latest fine handed down by the NFL against James Harrison for illegal hits has the Steelers linebacker crying foul. Harrison has been reprimanded four times in the last two months for a grand total of $125,000. Despite these repeated dips into his bank account, he says he has no intention of altering his physical style. In fact, he’s of the belief that the league is targeting him due to his reputation as a dirty player.
In Harrison’s mind, he’s done nothing wrong to warrant the attention:
“It angers me, of course, that they’re taking absurd amounts of money from me for plays that I consider to be clean and legal hits,” Harrison said. “I’m sure if you asked 10 guys in the league, nine of them would say he’s not a dirty player. He’s a hard player. He’s just getting a bad (reputation) right now.”
Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs seems to agree:
“The referees are kind of looking for him. Even if he breathes on a quarterback wrong, he might get a flag. … I think they are looking at him more closely than they are everybody else in the league.”
Teammates Ryan Clark, James Farrior and Hines Ward have all spoken out against what they feel is unfair treatment by the league toward Harrison. Ward, who is no stranger to delivering hard hits when blocking, even took time to criticize the push for an 18-game schedule:
“The league doesn’t care about us anyway,” Ward said. “They don’t care about the safety of the game. If the league was so concerned about safety, why are you adding two more games on?”
Valid point. The league cares about player safety when it’s in their best interest. Skill players such as quarterbacks and wide receivers sell tickets, so the need to protect them is a priority. However, adding two more regular season games will only put them, and every other player, at increased risk of serious injury. In this case, the opportunity to earn more revenue outweighs the desire to shelter players from harm.
As for Harrison, he’s becoming his own worst enemy. Publicly stating he enjoys hurting guys and blatantly thumbing his nose at the stricter rules aimed to curtail flagrant hits is making him an easy mark. He’s drawing a line in the sand, but it’s a battle he isn’t going to win.
It would be one thing if the fines levied were bogus, but they aren’t. Harrison has been told not to lead with his helmet and yet he continues to do so. The next step will be a suspension, which might be the best course of action anyway. Players don’t care about fines because they are millionaires. They do care about not being allowed to participate on Sundays.
If the league is committed to putting an end to vicious hits then they need to take away what matters most. Stop removing cash from wallets and start removing players from the field.
Source: NFL.com
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December 6, 12:07 am
“f the league is committed to putting an end to vicious hits…” Vicious hits my ass. James barely taps the QB and gets thrown a fine. But watch as Macclain and Ngata won’t get one for this weeks game.