Pittsburgh Steelers James Harrison fined, again
It is starting to feel like routine. Harrison knocks down an offensive player, the league frowns, Harrison says he did nothing wrong and the league slaps him with a fine leaving Harrison scratching his head.
This is the fourth time the league has put a heavy fine on Harrison. He was fined twice for hits in October and November and his grand total in fines now is a whopping $125,000. Granted NFL players make a lot of money and compared to Harrison’s $3.55 million
salary for the season, the fines don’t feel like an impossible burden to bear. But we are talking about $125,000 dollars. That’s college tuitions fees going down the drain right there.
Harrison became the poster child for the league’s crack down on helmet to helmet hits. Harrison was fined $75,000 for a hit on Cleveland Brown’s wide receiver Mohamed Mossaqoui, $20,000 on Saints quarterback Drew Brees and now this. The latest fine came
off a hit Harrison landed on Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Harrison was not expecting to be fined for this particular hit. “It's the exact thing as last week. It was the same exact hit. I hit him (Fitzpatrick) the same way I did the quarterback
from Oakland and I got the same flag but I didn't get a fine. ... I'm expecting the same thing on this.” Harrison turned out to be wrong and now must pay $25,000 dollars for the hit.
Harrison is stuck between a rock and the NFL. He gets paid what he does because of his ferocity. He is an excellent defender for Pittsburgh. The Steelers are a side that depend on their defence and Harrison is a part of it. The Steelers want him to take
it to their opponents, the league want him to tone it down. Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin has voiced his support, in his own way, for Harrison through it all.
The coach said that Harrison would have to change his style of play not because he was wrong but primarily because the league did not agree with him. Tomlin said that his own opinions on the subject did not matter. He was also reluctant to call out the league
for signalling out Harrison in their crack down on illegal hits. Tomlin was asked if he thought the NFL’s treatment of Harrison was fair, the coach ducked and said life itself was not fair and that he was not concerned about fairness. “I'm concerned about
preparing for the Baltimore Ravens.”
Concern about going against the Ravens would mean showing some concern for Harrison. Fines are fine but neither Harrison nor the Steelers can afford a suspension. Harrison has 10 sacks this season. It is his third consecutive season with double digit sacks.
His hits have forced 6 fumbles and he has intercepted the ball twice. The league itself isn’t sure what to do with Harrison. In one week the league fined Harrison $5,000 for hit on Titans’ quarterback Vince Young and also named his AFC’s defensive player of
the week.
“He doesn’t like the perception of being a dirty player. He’s not by any stretch,” Tomlin told. He met with Commissioner Roger Goodell to present a defensive players side of the story. He has shown an interest to play within the rules but the rules just
don’t seem to agree with Harrison. He has a history of controversy and many already consider him a dirty player. The fact that he vowed not to change the way he plays the game in October does not help his credibility either but things have changed since then.
As reluctant as he might be, Harrison would have to change the way he plays if he wants to continue to play. The league has promised suspension for players who don’t turn around their ways. It is Harrison’s fourth strike. The league has proven to be reluctant
about suspensions so far but just to be taken seriously on the issue of Helmet-to-Helmet hits, the league might move to suspensions.
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