NFL News: Pittsburgh’s James Harrison Fined $25K For Hard Hit, Totals $125K In Fines This Season
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison is upset.
Why wouldn’t he be? Already fined $100,000 for three other illegal hits, Harrison adds $25,000 on top to bring his total (so far) this season to $125,000.
Harrison was fined an additional $25,000 for a helmet-hit on Ryan Fitzpatrick, the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, in their overtime victory over the Bills on Sunday. In a time when the NFL is strictly punishing hard hitters, Harrison seems to be the
center of attention.
He was already fined for helmet hits to Cleveland Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi for $75,000 and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees for $20,000. On top of that, Harrison also had a $5,000 fine imposed on him from a roughing penalty on Tennessee
Titans quarterback Vince Young. Harrison appealed these fines, but received word on Monday that the appeals were rejected.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is not too happy about the star linebacker’s most recent punishment.
“We talk about the money like it’s Monopoly money sometimes just because these guys happen to be professional athletes,” Tomlin said. “($100,000) is ($100,000), I don’t care how much money you make. I take offense at times just in general how all of us talk
about the money. ... He’s got two kids. That’s some serious college schooling right there potentially for those kids 16, 18 years from now.”
Tomlin also said that Harrison is a forerunner for NFL Defensive MVP this year, and the fines are drawing attention away from his exceptional playing, and instead making him seem like brute muscle who just wants to hit everything, and hit it hard.
Harrison has already racked up six forced fumbles, double digit sacks, and two interceptions this season, and still has five games left to get more.
“He’s been a catalyst when we’ve needed him at just about every turn,” said Tomlin, whose team fields the NFL’s fifth-ranked defense. “He’s playing really good football.
“In regards to the penalties and fines, there’s no question it’s been troubling for him on a number of fronts. This is a very disciplined and regimented guy. He doesn’t like the perception of being a dirty player. He’s not by any stretch. He’s a football
purist. But also, he’s concerned about hurting our team."
“He’s trying to play within the rules,” Tomlin said. “There’s just a lot of things that happen fast on an NFL field. Sometimes things get interpreted differently.
24 of the Steelers’ total 72 penalties this season have been in their last two games. Even though only ten were committed by the defense, NFL officials are cracking down on defensive players, most particularly the Pittsburgh’s “Steel Curtain” defense, to
protect offensive players from severe injuries from hard hits.
“Right now, it’s a game where the referees have to be on edge,” Steelers safety Ryan Clark their 35-3 victory against the Oakland Raiders, in which they had 14 penalties. “It’s kind of ‘Make the call first, review it later.’”
The Steelers next game will be against the Baltimore Ravens, in which the winner will become the AFC North leader.
“We realize that if we go into Baltimore and we’re as heavily penalized as the past two weeks, chances are we’re not going to win the game,” Tomlin said. “Our preparation needs to be technique-oriented so we can be as clean as possible.”
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