The Hard Tackling and Often Fined James Harrison
Recently the American football star linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, James Harrison, was fined a whopping $75,000 for illegal tackles that he did in a recent game. The NFL felt that his tackles were extremely rough and they could have seriously injured
the other players. Now the problem for this talented and very popular football player is that he feels he may have to change the way he plays his whole game. He has even been talking about quitting the sport all together if he is forced to change the way he
plays too much. The thing that the big man will have to think about is whether he enjoys paying $75,000 every time he tackles someone or whether he would like to keep his money and amend his playing style.
James Harrison was born in 1978, the youngest of 14 children, in Ohio. Harrison excelled at football in high school and was an exceptional linebacker for Coventry High School. At times though his immaturity let him down and he clashed with teammates and
his coaches. He also had problems with his grades and could not get a scholarship to college because of off the field issues and trouble with the law. He eventually went on to attend Kent State University and the university was thrilled to have him on their
team. His parents funded his first year at university but because of his poor grades, his mother wanted him to come home. The threat from his mother was the turning point in his life and with the help of the coaching staff; he was able to raise his grades
to a very respectable level. He left college in his senior year just shy of graduating.
The problems did not end for the talented footballer because as soon as he left university, no professional team wanted to hire him. They thought he was too short at 6 feet to be a linebacker and too small at 240 pounds to be a defensive player. He was eventually
hired by the Steelers as an undrafted rookie. He did not play in too many games in his early seasons with the Steelers and had problems getting motivated and learning the plays. He spent a long time in the Steelers training camp and then was traded to a few
teams and even went to play in the NFL in Europe. He was eventually hired by the Steelers again and because of an injury to the starting linebacker of the team, Harrison got his shot. He had steadily improved over the years and he made an immediate impression
on the coaches of the team.
He won his first Super Bowl ring in 2006 and even though he did not play a huge part in the victory, it still helped his confidence levels and made him a vital part of the team. The linebacker continued to shine in 2007 and this was the first time that his
skills at tackling were recognised and put to good use. He developed a fierce tackling style that he was able to do great things with it for his team. He continued to develop his skills as a defensive player and in 2008 he topped the league in defensive tackles
along with his team mate LeMarr Woodley. In 2009, he led the Steelers to their second Super Bowl title and was awarded best defensive player for the large number of sacks and tackles he managed to execute. At the end of 2009, Harrison was reported to have
been given a six year contract extension worth $51 million by the Steelers.
Recently, the linebacker’s tackling style has come under fire and he has been penalised by the NFL. For what they say were illegal tackles, he was fined $75,000. This led him to question his whole game style and he even thought about quitting the game altogether.
We will have to wait and see now whether he can amend his style of tackling to tone it down a little bit or will he be forced to quit the game. Some have even said that it might be a way for the NFL to limit the tackling power of the talented football player,
while others have said that it can seriously injure players and is very dangerous.
Harrison’s story is one of overcoming extreme hardships and triumphing over adversity, so something like amending his playing style a little bit should not be too much of a problem for him.
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