Harrison's verdict is in

Harrison's hit was kinda of a grey area type of deal, Colt was outside the pocket tucked the ball then threw. So with all that being said I understand why he went for the shot, however you can't lead with your helmet cut and dry. I understand all of that but the part that bothers me the most is James tell the Bus that he doesn't care if he is fined or suspended by the NFL he isn't changing his play. Comments and an attitude like that will have you on a plane out of Pittsburgh real fast (see Santonio Holmes). You can't have that attitude, you're only hurting your team. I love James but I don't see him in black and gold for much longer if he doesn't adjust his play and attitude.

 

The definition of insanity... doing the same thing over and over (handing out fines) and expecting different results (Harrison not making illegal hits). He forced Goodell's hand and guess what... the boss wins every time.

Say Harrison takes your "advice" and goes H2H with another QB or WR when he comes back... he is without a doubt gone for the rest of the season including the playoffs. He sues the NFL and the case goes to court in 2 years and in the meantime he isn't wearing Black and Gold anymore because the Steelers are sick and tired of his refusal to adapt and cut him... and the he comes back and knocks Ben, Wallace, Brown or any of the other offensive players we have into next month. Is that what you really want?

Say what you want about conspiracy theories and inconsistent enforcement of the rules but facts are facts. Playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. Adapt or don't play the game.

 

Let 's just suppose Harrison takes your advice and knocks the the next guys block off. And Forces the league to do somehting drastic. Roj hands down a 2011 + 2012 suspension to "Our Hero". Does he win. Not an f'ing chance. Discipline is delegated to the league by the collective bargaining agreement. And Jame'es Union brothers didn't change that during the last off season when they negotiated the last contract.

 

Agreed. The Steelers will eventually get tired of him and release him. I think this will be a huge wakeup call for him though. He needs to watch tape of other pass rushers and take note of how they hit the QB and he needs to mimic what they do. Continuing to do what he has always done will get him longer and longer suspensions, to the point where the team will get rid of him.[/quote:bz7wll4y]
I was very pleased with your high level of sarcasm, but looking at your previous posts it seems you might be serious. James Harrison taking notes on other pass rushers? Mimicking others? I think you are completely missing the point. Harrison is not and never has been a dirty player. However, with the rule changes, now he occasionally breaks them in the course of playing the game fairly. He will not play this game the way Goodell wants him to play it, and the only way you and others can see that is as a negative. Like he's too stupid to get it or too selfish to do it for the team or a malicious player. The sport is getting a lot worse in a number of ways (including things that have nothing to do with contact or safety). He's taking a stand for the sport. I'm glad someone is, and I'm glad he's on our team.

Retiring or being banned before participating in the destruction of something you hold dear can be considered heroic, not just selfish or stupid or mean. Conan O'Brien v. Jay Leno and NBC comes to mind as an example.

 

I was very pleased with your high level of sarcasm, but looking at your previous posts it seems you might be serious. James Harrison taking notes on other pass rushers? Mimicking others? I think you are completely missing the point. Harrison is not and never has been a dirty player. However, with the rule changes, now he occasionally breaks them in the course of playing the game fairly. He will not play this game the way Goodell wants him to play it, and the only way you and others can see that is as a negative. Like he's too stupid to get it or too selfish to do it for the team or a malicious player. The sport is getting a lot worse in a number of ways (including things that have nothing to do with contact or safety). He's taking a stand for the sport. I'm glad someone is, and I'm glad he's on our team.

Retiring or being banned before participating in the destruction of something you hold dear can be considered heroic, not just selfish or stupid or mean. Conan O'Brien v. Jay Leno and NBC comes to mind as an example.[/quote:1bnfb5z7]

I guess I have to disagree. The sport isn't being destroyed, not at all. Yes, some of the rough stuff that's being removed from the game negatively affects the sport, but in this case, all we're talking about is a blow to the head of a QB. The league wants to remove as much head shots as possible, and it's because of how many ex-players have that brain wasting disease from repeated concussions. Just look at Mike Webster as an example of what repeated concussions will do to you. The league has been sued many times by ex-players and will continue to be sued if they don't take a stand against head shots, which is what they're trying to do with the rule changes. There hands are tied, either they try to limit concussions or they will continue to get sued by every ex-players that can't tie their shoes at age 40.

The sport isn't being destroyed just because they don't allow QB's to be hit in the head. Harrison can still throw big hits, but it can't be to the head. What exactly do you want him to take a stand on, that he should be allowed to hit QB's in the helmet?

 

I was very pleased with your high level of sarcasm, but looking at your previous posts it seems you might be serious. James Harrison taking notes on other pass rushers? Mimicking others? I think you are completely missing the point. Harrison is not and never has been a dirty player. However, with the rule changes, now he occasionally breaks them in the course of playing the game fairly. He will not play this game the way Goodell wants him to play it, and the only way you and others can see that is as a negative. Like he's too stupid to get it or too selfish to do it for the team or a malicious player. The sport is getting a lot worse in a number of ways (including things that have nothing to do with contact or safety). He's taking a stand for the sport. I'm glad someone is, and I'm glad he's on our team.

Retiring or being banned before participating in the destruction of something you hold dear can be considered heroic, not just selfish or stupid or mean. Conan O'Brien v. Jay Leno and NBC comes to mind as an example.[/quote:c1wlh9ph]

I guess I have to disagree. The sport isn't being destroyed, not at all. Yes, some of the rough stuff that's being removed from the game negatively affects the sport, but in this case, all we're talking about is a blow to the head of a QB. The league wants to remove as much head shots as possible, and it's because of how many ex-players have that brain wasting disease from repeated concussions. Just look at Mike Webster as an example of what repeated concussions will do to you. The league has been sued many times by ex-players and will continue to be sued if they don't take a stand against head shots, which is what they're trying to do with the rule changes. There hands are tied, either they try to limit concussions or they will continue to get sued by every ex-players that can't tie their shoes at age 40.

The sport isn't being destroyed just because they don't allow QB's to be hit in the head. Harrison can still throw big hits, but it can't be to the head. What exactly do you want him to take a stand on, that he should be allowed to hit QB's in the helmet?[/quote:c1wlh9ph]

The problem with your argument supporting the league is, the majority of the guys having those issues aren't the quarterbacks. Your own example is a case in point. It's the lineman who have the lingering affects due to the constant impact throughout the game.

This is why I've called BS on the league about all these shenanigans since it began. This has nothing to do with player safety and everything to do with preserving their superstars/moneymakers (QB's ie Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees), all under the convenient disguise of player safety.

If Goodell was anything more than a greedy a** dirt bag he would be pursuing the best safety gear available for the players and enforce it. How many times do we see peoples helmets pop off in a game these days.

:godell:

 

I was very pleased with your high level of sarcasm, but looking at your previous posts it seems you might be serious. James Harrison taking notes on other pass rushers? Mimicking others? I think you are completely missing the point. Harrison is not and never has been a dirty player. However, with the rule changes, now he occasionally breaks them in the course of playing the game fairly. He will not play this game the way Goodell wants him to play it, and the only way you and others can see that is as a negative. Like he's too stupid to get it or too selfish to do it for the team or a malicious player. The sport is getting a lot worse in a number of ways (including things that have nothing to do with contact or safety). He's taking a stand for the sport. I'm glad someone is, and I'm glad he's on our team.

Retiring or being banned before participating in the destruction of something you hold dear can be considered heroic, not just selfish or stupid or mean. Conan O'Brien v. Jay Leno and NBC comes to mind as an example.[/quote:2vk4uugq]

I guess I have to disagree. The sport isn't being destroyed, not at all. Yes, some of the rough stuff that's being removed from the game negatively affects the sport, but in this case, all we're talking about is a blow to the head of a QB. The league wants to remove as much head shots as possible, and it's because of how many ex-players have that brain wasting disease from repeated concussions. Just look at Mike Webster as an example of what repeated concussions will do to you. The league has been sued many times by ex-players and will continue to be sued if they don't take a stand against head shots, which is what they're trying to do with the rule changes. There hands are tied, either they try to limit concussions or they will continue to get sued by every ex-players that can't tie their shoes at age 40.

The sport isn't being destroyed just because they don't allow QB's to be hit in the head. Harrison can still throw big hits, but it can't be to the head. What exactly do you want him to take a stand on, that he should be allowed to hit QB's in the helmet?[/quote:2vk4uugq]

The problem with your argument supporting the league is, the majority of the guys having those issues aren't the quarterbacks. Your own example is a case in point. It's the lineman who have the lingering affects due to the constant impact throughout the game.

This is why I've called BS on the league about all these shenanigans since it began. This has nothing to do with player safety and everything to do with preserving their superstars/moneymakers (QB's ie Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees), all under the convenient disguise of player safety.

If Goodell was anything more than a greedy a** dirt bag he would be pursuing the best safety gear available for the players and enforce it. How many times do we see peoples helmets pop off in a game these days.

:godell:[/quote:2vk4uugq]

Hang on, I don't necessarily support the league in everything they're doing. I support the league in disciplining Harrison due to the fact that the rules are clear and he's been warned time and time again. Do I think the rules are only about player safety? No, of course not. You're right, the rules are in place partly to protect the superstars in the league, but every sport does this. The NHL changed the rules a few years back to benefit the more skilled players. Every commissioner in every pro sport wants to protect the sports superstars, as the superstars are what bring the fans in.

Also, remember that Goodell works for the owners, so he's doing what they're telling him to do. If they didn't approve of what he was doing, they would remove him as commissioner.

 

As AFan was mentioning earlier, it's irritating how many flags are thrown each game, and how inconsistent flags can seem to be. But this partivular case seems fairly straightforward: Harrison is fined, warned, then suspended. It's justifiable. But do I like it? No - I think the boundary between suspension and fine need to be much more objectively detailed, rather than a case by case basis.

 

Again, I like the radical thinking.

I'm a bit suspicious of mixing sporting regulations with civil law, though (which this would be doing). In soccer, there was the Bosman case - a player in a very low-level club in Belgium took the European Football Association to a court of Human Rights over the right to be transferred. The result literally changed the face of the game across Europe, in terms of transfers and buying and selling players. For the better? Maybe. But sometimes these things are better done in-house.

I guess it's down to what principles we're talking about here. Most people are talking about football principles - i.e. consistent rulings, recognition of the violence of the sport etc. - in which case, the principles remain inside the game. You seem to be talking more about principles that go beyond the game, and I'm not sure I agree with that.

 

If they are trying to eliminate as many head shots as possible, why is it ok for a defender to go H2H with a RB? Why is a RB or a WR allowed to drop their head and initiate H2H contact against a defender?

Goodell's priority is protecting QBs and WRs so teams score as many points as possible because he thinks that is what fans want.

 

What I find ironic is that your GIF of Joe Greene hitting Dan Pastorini would now be an illegal hit. Greene's head is down and he smacks Pastorini in the side of the helmet. Was Joe Greene dirty? So intreesting how this game has changed and been wussified, in part because of fantasy football.

 

Yeah, I was kidding and knew it would never happen....

 

I would be absolutely, positively, 100% amazed if his the suspension is reversed.

 

Goodell probably called in to say, " delay the appeal denied just to torcher the Steelers fans"

 

... or torture.

Sorry, couldn't resist.