of course, if he was the 50th man on the roster, the owner would put up a huge stink about how their organization can't stand for such things and make a huge deal out of cutting him

J/C

If it were my choice, I would do just what he fears most....take out his knees. This guy is a POS in the true sense. If he played for another team Steeler fans would hate him just as most do. He says his hits are all legal, BS. To him nothing is a cheap shot. His attitude about hurting people is not the same as most players in the league, and I include Ray Lewis in that statement.

Harrison is just another in a long line of Steeler LB's that find success in LaBeau's defense because of a great front three and scheme. If he is traded, he will be just another Kendrell Bell, Joey Porter, and many other LB's that had success due to their scheme.

I wish I had the money, because I would put a huge bounty on this arses knees. Take him out like the trash he is. His disrespect for his own teammates just goes to show that he is just a thug.

its obvious he would be in the landscaping business.. lol.

James Harrison's words dull his point

Steelers LB's language in ripping Goodell overshadows his criticism of commissioner

Ashley Fox
ESPN.com



James Harrison does not look tough. He does not look like the meanest player in the NFL, the hardest hitter or the most feared defender.

He looks like an idiot. And he looks very, very bad.

I'm not sure what is the most offensive part of the spread on Harrison in the August issue of Men's Journal, out on Friday. The picture with the guns? The anti-gay slur? The utter disrespect for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell? Or the calling out of two of his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates?

James Harrison posed with two of his handguns for this photo that appears in Men's Journal.
It is all bad, and it overshadows the fact that Harrison does have a valid criticism, shared by other players in the NFL, of how Goodell went about fining players for illegal hits last season. There are players like Harrison who think Goodell unfairly targeted African-American players and fined certain players more than others. There are players like Harrison who think Goodell issued harsher fines for illegal hits on white players than for hits on black players. And there are players like Harrison who think Goodell had it out for certain players.

Harrison is the perfect person to speak on this subject, because Goodell took $100,000 out of his pocket last season, fining Harrison more than any other player. But because of his inflammatory language, Harrison lost any opportunity to make his point about the fairness of Goodell's system or to try to persuade Goodell to change it. He ripped Goodell, which was not breaking news, but he did so by using an anti-gay slur to describe the commissioner.

Using an anti-gay slur is just as unacceptable as using a racial slur. You don't have to be in support of gay marriage, but you cannot be intolerant. Gay slurs are not slang. They are hurtful, and the use of them has to stop.

Harrison also called Goodell "stupid," a "puppet" and a "dictator," and said that, "If that man was on fire and I had to ... to put him out, I wouldn't do it. I hate him and will never respect him."


Harrison can hate Goodell all he wants. He can think Goodell is out to get him, is unfair and is unjust, but he needs to show Goodell respect, just as he needs to show his head coach, Mike Tomlin, respect and his position coach respect and the person who makes his lunch in the Steelers' cafeteria respect.

Playing football under a six-year, $51.175 million contract does not mean Harrison isn't still an employee. He is. There are rules, and there are consequences for breaking those rules.

Harrison said that if the Steelers had defeated the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl, he was going to whisper in Goodell's ear during the trophy presentation: "Why don't you quit and do something else, like start your own league in flag football?" Now that would have been classy, but Harrison did not get that opportunity. The Steelers did not win. Harrison did not take responsibility for losing the game, even though he had only one tackle the entire game, a sack of Aaron Rodgers where Rodgers essentially ran into him. He did not apologize for getting dominated most of the game by Packers tackle Chad Clifton.

Instead, Harrison ripped his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, who did take responsibility for the loss after throwing two interceptions in the game.

"Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again," Harrison said of Roethlisberger. "Or hand the ball off and stop trying to act like Peyton Manning. You ain't that and you know it, man; you just get paid like he does."

Harrison also called Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall a "fumble machine."

Rule No. 1 of being a good teammate is you do not publicly criticize a teammate -- ever. You keep that in house. Publicly throwing a teammate under the bus, particularly the quarterback, only serves to divide a locker room, and divided locker rooms do not produce championships.

Tomlin is a master at managing star players and their monster egos, and he will have his hands full with this one whenever the lockout ends. Harrison drew a line down the middle of the team, offense on one side, defense on the other. Tomlin will have to fix that.

The photo accompanying the article shows Harrison shirtless with his arms crossed holding two of his guns, reportedly an FN Five-Seven pistol and a Smith & Wesson 460V revolver. It is a ridiculous image for kids to see. Harrison is a professional football player and therefore, unfortunately, a role model for some children. In the picture he is promoting guns, as if he has never been to inner city Chicago or Detroit or Philadelphia and seen the devastation gun use causes.

Harrison is not some character in a video game or a movie. He is a name and a number and a man with influence and sway on young people. We don't need more young people on the streets with guns. We need less.

If he wants to own a gun, fine. That is his right. But don't pretend that a gun makes you tough. It does not. It makes you dangerous. There is a difference.

No one has ever questioned Harrison's toughness. But it is now fair to question whether he has a clue.


Ashley Fox covers the NFL for ESPN.com.

web page

So.. Am I a bad guy for enjoying this tremendously? LOL..

the owners have said that the conduct policy is in place even though the players are locked out. it will be interesting to see if they actually try to follow through on that because the players would have a lawsuit I think they would win (unless they agree to this in the CBA)

I wonder if our opinions would be different if he came to Cleveland when he was a free agent a few years back?

As long as he keeps himself out of legal trouble and wouldn't bad mouth Cleveland I want him.

According to Greg Aiello, the Personal Conduct Policy is not a part of the CBA.

Then probably encountered this link as well, which is where I got my source:

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFL-plans-to-enforce-personal-conduct-policy-after-lockout.html

I didn't find that until after you mentioned Aiello. I find it strange that it is said to not be apart of the CBA yet I found the amendment to the CBA. perhaps it was not officially an amendment then?

i find it most strange that a union would allow a personal conduct policy and the appeal process to be agreed to but not apart of the larger scoping CBA.

I agree, it's odd.

Regardless, I have to imagine Harrison't first offense this year will be a doozy of a fine and a suspension.

He's being targeted because he's a moron. Goodell is prejudiced against stupid people.

Seems pretty clear to me.

Any thoughts pittsburgh would trade him?

Like them or not they don't like distractions ... and if they could/would unload Santonio for a 5th rounder, they could at least get that outta harrison. Send him off to some mediocre team ... maybe one trying to implement a 3-4?

They also DIDN'T get rid of Rothlsidafkjdka;ler after all his issues. My bet is they hang onto him because this will be forgotten quickly with all of the CBA stuff going on.

That's true but it's not a black and white issue. It's hard to find franchise quarterbacks that can help you get to 3 superbowls in 5 years. While I don't think Ben is a top 5 Qb ... he is at least in the 6 to 10 range and sometimes is better than what he's given credit for.

harrison is a very good player but I would venture to guess a lot of it comes from being in the system. How many pittsburgh linebackers leave to not have half of the success they had under LeBeau? Considering Harrison was undrafted and cut multiple times ... I think his true value is still pretty high but nowhere near the "MVP" level that he has been on the Steelers.

Aaaand the obligitory apology.... IMO, it means nothing. You say what he did - you meant it; give it all day to simmer and stew and see how it plays and you and your handlers/agent realize it may have just cost yourself bags of cash?... apologize.
**************************************************************************************

Updated: July 14, 2011, 9:58 PM ET
James Harrison issues apology
ESPN.com news services

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison apologized on Thursday for his remarks in an interview with Men's Journal.

"I'll start by offering my apologies for some of the words that I said during the four days in May that Men's Journal was invited to my house to discuss what the NFL has recently been portraying as their attempts at 'player safety' rules and regulations, and to cover my everyday workout routine," Harrison said in a statement released to Fox 31 in Denver.

He ripped teammates Rashard Mendenhall and Ben Roethlisberger for their performances in the Steelers' Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers.

"I did make comments about my teammates when I was talking about the emotional Super Bowl loss, but the handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation and the context was lost," Harrison said. "Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben's or Rashard's fault that we lost the Super Bowl. That would be ridiculous.

"We all have discussed several things that went wrong in the Super Bowl since that day. What I do apologize for and take full responsibility for is for speaking in such a candid manner to someone outside the team."

Harrison, the 2008 AP Defensive Player of the Year hasn't been shy about ripping the league after he was docked $100,000 for illegal hits last season. He called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a "crook," a "devil," a "puppet" and a "dictator." He only apologized for using an anit-gay slur.

"I also need to make clear that the comment about Roger Goodell was not intended to be derogatory against gay people in any way," Harrison said. "It was careless use of a slang word and I apologize to all who were offended by the remark. I am not a homophobic bigot, and I would never advocate intolerance of gay people."

Harrison did not apologize for a photo depicting him with guns, saying collecting firearms is his hobby.

"I believe in the right to bear arms. I like to go to the shooting range. I like to hunt. I like to fish. I could just as easily have posed with my fishing poles but it obviously wouldn't be an interesting picture for the magazine," he said. "I am not promoting gun violence by posing for that photo. There are also other photos in the magazine story that were not shown on air yesterday -- including me with my sons, with my mom and as a kid."

Harrison said he had hoped to shed light on the NFL's hypocrisy in regards to player safety.

"If player safety is the NFL's main concern, as they say it is, they are not going about it in an effective manner," Harrison said. "There's nothing about extending the season or issuing exorbitant fines on defensive players that makes any shift toward the prevention of injury to players.

"I believe that the league may have been feeling increasing pressure about injuries and concussions last year, and that they panicked and put rules in place that weren't fully thought out. I'm not advocating more flags and fines, I'm just saying that the current rules are not completely fair, and I don't believe in the way that the league is handling their position as overseer of the NFL and the well-being of its players."

Call the commissioner a dictator or an idiot or a puppet, whatever, that's fine. Using a homophobic slur, though, after what we've seen recently with Kobe Bryant and Joakim Noah (and, to a lesser extent, LeBron James saying "retarded")...you've got to be more cognizant of what you're saying. I think that's going to be the thing that gets him, and, surprisingly, its probably what's being talked about the least.

I'd love to have a LBer that can play the position like he can... only I want ours to have half a brain and keep his mouth shut.

Ah yes, we base everything off stats... I forgot...