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View Full Version : I Finally Read the James Harrison Article



flippy
07-18-2011, 10:21 PM
Couple thoughts:

1. It wasn't as bad as it was made out to be

2. How come no one pointed out the Dick Lebeau F You to Goodell in that piece: “That’s what we’re told by Coach LeBeau — blow through the guy, not to him. When the fines came down, he said, ‘Don’t change a damn thing. You’re doing it the way we do it on this team.’?”

A coach saying to disregard the commission seems like a bigger story than all the James Harrison anti PC comments.

3. How bout the endorsement from Clark? “There are guys who are workaholics, and then there’s James. Dudes hurt themselves training with him,” says teammate Clark.

This is why James can say anything he wants. He works way harder than everyone. Ben, Mendy, or no other Steeler can really say anything given James work ethic.

And to point out James didn't do anything either in the SuperBowl is a bit of a joke. The guy was seriously injured yet played through the pain. Given his back surgery we now know about, I suspect most guys would have given up on last season - not James.

4. “I hate those mother****ers,” he says, “especially those two clowns who talked about me after the fines.” He’s referring to Rodney Harrison, the ex-Patriot turned analyst on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and Tedy Bruschi, another former Pat who appears on ESPN. “Sayin’ I’m dirty — ****, Harrison was the dirtiest player ever, a steroid cheater who was known by the whole world to be a headhunter and late hitter. And Bruschi’s an idiot, straight-up simple. I’d like to meet them both in a dark alley.”

How come no one talked about the Pats being cheaters? All these writers are owned by the NFL and Kraft. And the best part about the quote is it sounds like James wants Bruschi and Harrison at the same time in that dark alley. I bet those 2 have nightmares.

5. The racisms James alludes to has nothing to do with the fines like I had thought from comments, but more to do with protecting white QBs. And he makes an interesting point about paying $5k for slamming Vince Young, but then paying $20k for bumping Drew Brees.

Here's a situation where he may have a little bit of a point. But he may also want to take a look at his own offense and see the shots Ben and Byron have taken throughout their career without any flags fines. I think Lefty may have taken the worst shots thru his career, but Ben takes more w/o fines. But he is a Steeler so the racial rules of Goodell may be trumped by his dislike for our team.

I dunno if there's really racism protecting different QBs? But it does seem like it's ok to hit a black QB or Ben to me. I would say maybe it has something to do with mobility, but Byron stands in cement and can't move, so that throws that theory out the window.

6. Everyone that has a problem with James is a hypocrite. This is a guy that's probably given more of himself than any Steelers player we've had. And he's one bad mofo. And we celebrate him for it. But then off the field, we want his words to sound like they came from Barrack Obama.

We're expecting too much from this guy. On one hand we want him to be the baddest man on the planet. And then on the other hand, we want him to act like refined british royalty. What else would you expect to come from the mouth of one of the baddest dudes to walk the earth?

Actually, his words convey a bit of a childlike innocence. Get over the F#ck, F@g, etc. curses. Those are no big deal, just the way some people talk. But when you get past that, you realize, there's no BS in James' speech. He's raw. And that's something we could all learn from. 99% of what people say is BS to cover up their own insecurities.

And I'm sure there's some folks brave enough to speak their mind without fear. But most likely it's because of their innocence and that they probably don't know to put up a wall or a filter.

And one other side comment, if you look through the volunteer photos on Steelers.com, there's 2 guys in most of the photos. CBatch and James Harrison. And the latter is the one that's always with the kids with the biggest smile on his face.

All these commenters on James missed the real story. It's a shame. This guy's a one of a kind.

SanAntonioSteelerFan
07-18-2011, 10:42 PM
...


2. How come no one pointed out the bad word Lebeau F You to Goodell in that piece: “That’s what we’re told by Coach LeBeau — blow through the guy, not to him. When the fines came down, he said, ‘Don’t change a damn thing. You’re doing it the way we do it on this team.’?”

A coach saying to disregard the commission seems like a bigger story than all the James Harrison anti PC comments.

Yeah, this is pretty huge. Will Saint LeBeau be fined, or suspended?


...
And to point out James didn't do anything either in the SuperBowl is a bit of a joke. The guy was seriously injured yet played through the pain. Given his back surgery we now know about, I suspect most guys would have given up on last season - not James.

Thank you, not one of those pinheads on the media acknowledge this essential point. They are carrion feeders!


...
How come no one talked about the Pats being cheaters? All these writers are owned by the NFL and Kraft. QFT. Amen brother.


...6. Everyone that has a problem with James is a hypocrite... But then off the field, we want his words to sound like they came from Barrack Obama.

We're expecting too much from this guy. On one hand we want him to be the baddest man on the planet. And then on the other hand, we want him to act like refined british royalty. What else would you expect to come from the mouth of one of the baddest dudes to walk the earth?

Disagree here. Just expecting a Steeler to not throw his teammates under the bus. Hard to find daylight between what he said and Manning's, "We had protection problems", or take your pick of your favorite TO-ism. I just don't expect this stuff from a Steeler, and don't like it.


...And one other side comment, if you look through the volunteer photos on Steelers.com, there's 2 guys in most of the photos. CBatch and James Harrison. And the latter is the one that's always with the kids witte biggest smile on his face.

All these commenters on James missed the real story. It's a shame. QFT.

Thanks for summarizing the article and taking the time to post this, Flippy.

flippy
07-18-2011, 11:16 PM
Seeing that Ben and Mendy had no issue with James' comments, I'm sure they were taken a bit out of context. I'd bet he said something directly to those guys worse than the comments in the article.

I get the sense that James works harder than every guy on the Steelers roster. And he's probably earned the right to call out his teammates to a degree as a result and it's not taken so badly because the guys know where it comes from and the work ethic.

Neither Mendy or Ben really had a comment back or came across as defensive. So I really saw that part as no biggie. Ben and Mendy completely diffused it imho.

winwithd
07-19-2011, 12:12 AM
I read it over the weekend and I think I like James even more now. I'll probably read it a couple more times before the season starts. I wonder if the Cheats actually knew 90% of the blitzes that were coming in the AFC Championship in 2004(?) or if James was exaggerating a little.

I just saw a Peter King interview on NFL.com and he is talking how there are now two closer guys among football bigwigs that Rooney and Badell, and that Rooney was a part of getting Badell his job. He thinks the Rooneys have to be considering doing something to James for what he said. So how is it that Badell can be anti-Steeler if he and the Rooneys are so close?

Somewhere else (and I am not sure where at the moment) I liked where I saw Mike Vrabel say that the union would have something to say about it if Badell goes after James with a fine or suspension for what he said. He also essentially said Badell is getting paid plenty to have thick skin and not make it personal.

One more thing, I see James referred to sometimes on here as Deebo. I've never gotten where that comes from or what it means. Could someone clue me in?

flippy
07-19-2011, 12:44 AM
Deebo's the badarse character from the movie Friday:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Deebo.jpg

_SteeL_CurtaiN_
07-19-2011, 01:05 AM
Actually, his words convey a bit of a childlike innocence. Get over the F#ck, F@g, etc. curses. Those are no big deal, just the way some people talk. But when you get past that, you realize, there's no BS in James' speech. He's raw. And that's something we could all learn from. 99% of what people say is BS to cover up their own insecurities.

And I'm sure there's some folks brave enough to speak their mind without fear. But most likely it's because of their innocence and that they probably don't know to put up a wall or a filter.


So true...sad but true.

Eich
07-19-2011, 09:04 AM
Those were some fine comments Flippy. I really apprecaite that perspective.

I really think the only Steeler that's going to have any issue with Harrison is the Front Office for the negative PR. I'll take Farrior at his word:


"I talked to (Steelers linebacker James) Farrior and (he) said, 'Listen, we thought the dude was straight crazy. We thought the guy had severe emotional problems,' " Solotaroff said on "The Dan Patrick Show" on Thursday. "And I'm not sure James has amended his opinion of Mr. Harrison, but he loves him, and so does everybody on that defense. They love this guy to pieces."

Sugar
07-19-2011, 10:26 AM
Thanks for some perspective on this. I'm looking forward to reading the article. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of this wasn't blown up by the mag's PR guy. The Steeler Nation is probably the largest fanbase in sports and this will have them reading this mag that many probably would have ignored otherwise.

birtikidis
07-19-2011, 12:39 PM
Has a linebacker ever said a nice thing about a qb? or a rb for that matter?
I think James sees it as a ribbing that might help motivate Ben. Remember, WE don't know the guys personality on this team. Maybe James knows that pissing Ben off is the best form of motivation he can give.

RuthlessBurgher
07-19-2011, 01:07 PM
For those who haven't read the whole thing yet, here it is:


James Harrison: Confessions of an NFL Hitman
Posted By Paul Solotaroff On July 13, 2011 @ 7:16 am

Steelers linebacker James Harrison has been labeled the scourge of football — a one-man concussion machine. But he says he plays the game the way it’s meant to be played, and he doesn’t care what anyone thinks — especially the commissioner.
by Paul Solotaroff
Up here in an end-of-time exurb called Troon, carved high into the bluffs above Scottsdale, Arizona, it’s all Charles Darwin and sun-split rocks, life forms baked to the core. Diamondbacks and scorpions slip through the gates of the copper-colored homes in these hills, while wild boar joust with gaunt coyotes over trash cans pushed to the curb. Even in May, the heat is a monster, pressing its breath on you in the haze.

It’s no more imposing, though, than the force that awaits me as I swing my Jeep onto the apron of a three-car driveway. He answers the door wearing only a towel and a glare that could scare away bats. “You’re early,” growls James Harrison, the black-hat linebacker of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the scourge of the National Football League’s vexed campaign to check concussive tackles. “You said noon. It’s five of,” he goes on, letting the scowl linger a beat.

It’s his signature expression, the one he shows reporters who dare ask him questions after practice and the one he turned on Roger Goodell when the commissioner of the league summoned Harrison to his office last fall to explain his knockout hits. Harrison’s attendance in New York was all but mandatory: He had hung up furiously on Goodell after calling him to challenge an enormous fine, one of several he got last year. The meeting went poorly, by all accounts, and Harrison ended the season the NFL’s most heavily fined player in a single season, with $100,000 in levies.

Harrison, who lives in a suburb north of Pittsburgh, has come to Arizona to heal and train after back surgery over the winter, and he is bored and antagonized by the desert. “There’s snakes out there. I grabbed a rattler by his tail and threw him over the fence last month.”

You grabbed a rattler bare-handed?

“Had to,” he says. “My son was here visiting, so that bitch had to bounce out. ASAP.”

Yes, of course, James Harrison grabs poisonous snakes and twirls them overhead with trumpets blaring. This is the man who seized Vince Young and dunked the Titans quarterback, all 230 pounds of him, headfirst into the turf like a cruller. This is the man who knocked two Cleveland Browns cold in the span of seven minutes last year and then baited Goodell with his postgame comments, saying he liked to “hurt” opponents. He amended that in the next breath, saying he tried to inflict pain without causing serious injury, but it sounded like lawyer-ese and was ignored.

He turns on his heel without further remark and disappears down the hall to get dressed. He’s remarkably short for a bull-rush linebacker, going 6 feet (barely) without socks and cleats, but marvelously carved for a man of 250, with delts and calves like bocce balls and thunderous, smooth-shaved quads. (The only hair on Harrison is the pointy beard he’s been trying to grow all spring. He’s kept his skull bald since his sophomore year of high school, when he approached his opponents before a game, doffed his helmet to show his new-mown pate, and told them they were going to die that day.)

He comes back in a Nike tee and black mesh shorts that cover his shins. It’s the getup he’ll sport for the next three days, wearing it to steakhouses, where men in Brioni stare at him in pique, and to jewel-box bistros, where ladies who lunch glower at him over lobster salad. Harrison makes just under $9 million a year and has closets full of handmade, brightly colored suits that he wears when the mood arises. But in lily-white Scottsdale, where he barely knows a soul, he couldn’t care less about the feelings of the local swells or their custom of donning socks to dine in public. My world, my terms, his outfit announces.

Which is another way of saying that Harrison — refreshingly — is the same guy off the field as on, working through an old and complicated grudge about being disrespected. Having to pay his way to college (and Kent State at that) after a brilliant but suspension-filled high school career; going undrafted as a pass-rush linebacker in ’02 despite setting a school record for sacks in a season; and getting cut four times, three by the Steelers, in favor of players with far less strength and speed: That is jet fuel to him and always has been, the reason you can’t get him to take a down off. Harrison, who played in agony last season with lower-back woes he didn’t report (he never missed a series, let alone a start), had a discectomy after Pittsburgh’s loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV, then flew here in March, three weeks post-surgery, to push like a madman with fitness guru Ian Danney. Six days a week, he is up at first light to train in Danney’s sweatbox gym, running in hot sand pits and doing backward hurdles after giant leg-press sets. But he is back home by 10 am, and that leaves the rest of the day to text and tweet — and seethe over last season’s insults. The fines, the flags, his branding as a thug: They try his soul long after the fact, trailing him to this posh but desolate place, where even the air burns and crackles.

“My rep is James Harrison, mean son of a bitch who loves hitting the hell out of people,” he says. “But up until last year, there was no word of me being dirty — till Roger Goodell, who’s a crook and a puppet, said I was the dirtiest player in the league. If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn’t do it. I hate him and will never respect him.”

Thus begins a three-day bonfire rant that burns far and wide before it stops, scorching the commissioner and his top assistants, the studio analysts at two networks, and the stars and franchises he most despises, none more than the New England Patriots. The diatribe is wildly impolitic and starts fights that no one needs, least of all Harrison. But along the way it says timely things about violence in the NFL and stops to consider, however tersely, the effect of all those hits upon himself. And that, more than anything — more than the grudges, the name-calling — makes Harrison worth hearing.

As far back as 1960, at least, when Chuck Bednarik, the cement-mixer linebacker of the Philadelphia Eagles, almost beheaded New York Giants flanker Frank Gifford with a blindside shot at midfield, we’ve indulged a certain hypocrisy regarding pro football’s gilded mayhem. We know that players we’ve loved and lived through are damaged by the collisions, but we don’t wring our hands or click the games off, as we’ve largely done with boxing. Instead, we cheer hits we can feel in our molars, playing the best back in our heads and on our laptops like backyard wrestling fanboys. We want it both ways, the blood and the beauty, and wouldn’t have watched at record rates last year if all we were served was tiptoe catches by men falling out of bounds.

But as much as football thrives on seating us front row at a war, it’s gotten a lot harder to ignore the fallen or to pretend that they bounce back up. The 2010 season was a relentless loop of avert-your-gaze hits, shattering all records for on-field concussions and season-ending shears of soft tissue (468 players placed on injured reserve, a 22 percent jump from 2009; 261 documented concussions, or almost 30 percent more than in 2008). One weekend last October, dubbed “Black-and-Blue Sunday,” there were 11 men concussed, several of them severely, including two — Eagles wideout DeSean Jackson and his tackler, Atlanta’s Dunta Robinson — knocked stiff on the same play. It was also the day that Harrison iced the two Browns, though neither hit was flagged by officials nor looked, through the prism of slow-motion replay, like a deliberate attempt to injure. Nonetheless, the league had a riot on its hands. The football press, which ducked the subject of concussions until it was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the conversation by a series of grim reports in the New York Times, erupted that week in righteous indignation, screaming, “Something must be done!” in zombie chorus. At his office in New York, Goodell gathered his senior staff to craft a stern response. Robinson and the Patriots’ Brandon Meriweather were fined $50,000 each, an enormous leap from the usual toll of $4,000 to $10,000. And Harrison, who had never been fined more than $5,000, was charged $75,000 for his knockout hit on Cleveland receiver Mohamed Massaquoi.

Harrison, who was home getting a massage on his off day when the news came down about the fine (he learned of it via the crawl on ESPN), leapt off the table, apoplectic. “I lost it completely, said, ‘**** y’all, I quit if you’re gonna fine me that for a legal hit.’ Spoke to my player rep and my agent, said, ‘That’s it, I’m done. What papers do I have to sign to retiretoday?’ And if my agent hadn’t have said, ‘You’ll have to pay back six mill,’ I’d’ve been out the game and not looked back.”

That last bit is hokum and Harrison knows it. He desperately loves football for its fireball explosions, the blood burn he gets from planting his right foot and blowing up the guy with the ball. It is all he’s ever craved since he discovered at 10 that he could smash another kid as hard as he liked and not catch a whipping from his mother, Mildred. The only thing close to the joy he gets from hitting is the pleasure he takes in proving people wrong, none more than the suits in the NFL office. That is why he still boils over losing to Green Bay in last year’s Super Bowl: He wanted so badly to mount the postgame podium, snatch the trophy from Roger Goodell, and tell him to his face, on national TV, exactly where to stick those fines. “I’d have whispered in his ear, ‘Why don’t you quit and do something else, like start your own league in flag football?’?”

What incensed him, beyond the size of the deductions from his checks or the sense that he’d been bull’s-eyed for his comments last October, was the notion, shared by many on the Steelers and other teams, that Goodell is blind to the sport’s complexities, having never played college or professional ball. (Though, to be fair, what recent commissioner in any sport has?) When Harrison was summoned to league headquarters in November to meet with Goodell, NFL executive vice president Ray Anderson, and director of football operations Merton Hanks, he was made to watch a reel of his questionable hits plucked from four years as a starter. “They take 10 plays out of 4,000 snaps and want to know my thought process on each,” he says. “What I tried to explain to Goodell, but he was too stupid to understand, is that dudes crouch when you go to hit them. With Massaquoi, my target area was his waist and chest, but he lowered himself at the last possible second and I couldn’t adjust to his adjustment. But Goodell, who’s a devil, ain’t hearing that. Where’s the damn discretion, the common sense?”

He goes on in cold fury, spitting curses and charges, none of which will earn him sympathy from the “devil” or endorsements for Double Stuf Oreos. “Faggot Goodell” (also described as a “punk” and “dictator” by Harrison), Anderson (“another dummy who never played a down”), and Hanks, a former Pro Bowl safety with the Niners (“he needs to be ashamed because he played D before, though he never was what you’d call a real hitter”), conspired, he says, to target the Steelers, who have “too much force, too much swag, and are predominantly black.” Says Harrison: “We sent them a tape of 27 hits from games that following week — 27 hits like mine or worse — but none of ’em got flagged or fined. And what’d they say to us? Nothing, not a peep. So I guess they ain’t fouls unless we do ’em.” (Asked for comment on Harrison’s claim that he and the Steelers are targeted, a league official said only, “There were 262 fines issued last season to players other than James Harrison for unnecessary roughness. Other than noting that fact, we do not wish to comment.”)

There is more in this vein from Harrison, a great deal more, of which this is but a taste. “Clay Matthews, who’s all hype — he had a couple of three-sack games in the first four weeks and was never heard from again — I’m quite sure I saw him put his helmet on Michael Vick and never paid a dime. But if I hit Peyton Manning or Tom Brady high, they’d have ****ed around and kicked me out of the league.” And: “I slammed Vince Young on his head and paid five grand, but just touched Drew Brees and that was 20. You think black players don’t see this **** and lose all respect for Goodell?”

Such outbursts aside, though, his gripe isn’t race; it’s, rather, about the soul of the game. Football, as he’s played it and the greats before him played it — the Lamberts and Nitschkes and, yes, Bednariks — has always been a crucible of force on force, big men bleeding for every yard, with the winners being the ones going the extra step: hitting harder, training longer, dying younger. The game lives by a code in which honor and pain are words that describe the same thing, and while the league — belatedly — is thinking long and hard about how to protect its players, there is no protecting them from themselves, at least by Harrison’s lights. “I get dinged about three times a year and don’t know where I am for a little minute. But unless I’m asleep, you’re not getting me out of the game, and most guys feel the same way. If a guy has a choice of hitting me high or low, hit me in the head and I’ll pay your fine. Just don’t hit me in the knee, ’cause that’s life-threatening. How’m I going to feed my family if I can’t run?”

If you’ve been wondering why players hit higher than they used to, here’s as good a reason as any. A concussion is, on average, a one-game injury, according to numbers kept by the league. But a torn medial collateral ligament is a season or more — and the NFL is the only major sport that refuses to guarantee contracts. Stack up the far-off prospect of brain damage against a voided $30 million, and most players will roll the dice on the former. “Guys tackle high now and are taught that way. We’re not gonna change that up because you say so,” says James Farrior, the Steelers’ inside linebacker, a two-time Pro Bowler himself. If you’re aiming higher, though, you’re leading with your head, which courts the risk of helmet-to-helmet hits. But the Steelers don’t want their players wrapping up low and letting the runner have forward progress. Says Harrison: “That’s what we’re told by Coach LeBeau — blow through the guy, not to him. When the fines came down, he said, ‘Don’t change a damn thing. You’re doing it the way we do it on this team.’?”

That would be Dick LeBeau, the Hall of Fame defensive coordinator who’s as revered as any in the league. (When he was elected to Canton last year, every single member of the current Steelers flew in to hear his induction speech.) An elegant tackler in his day as a Pro Bowl corner for the Lions, LeBeau, like the man he works for, head coach Mike Tomlin, is a principled and heartful student of the game, not the least bit goony or fire-breathing. Though LeBeau couldn’t be reached to confirm Harrison’s version of what he told the team, his brand of Steeler football is to hit fiercely at full throttle, and only to the whistle, not beyond.

For the past four years, Harrison has embodied that ethos, a self-made star of the highest order. The very best linebackers excel at two of the three tasks that fall to their position. They rush the passer and stop the run, like the Packers’ Clay Matthews and the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware, but aren’t especially useful in pass coverage. Or they defend the outlet throws (think Houston’s Brian Cushing and San Francisco’s Patrick Willis) but don’t collapse the pocket with their blitzes. Harrison does all three and forces fumbles besides, knocking more balls out with his tomahawk strips than anyone since Derrick Thomas. “He’s basically unblockable,” says Ryan Clark, a Steelers safety. “Just watch him during a game: He’s either making a play or being held by one or more guys.” Harrison was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, when his numbers across the board (16 sacks, 101 tackles, and seven forced fumbles) were freak-show good, and he might have won the trophy again last year if his back hadn’t seized and cost him power. He’s a half-foot shorter than most of the tackles trying to block him, but gets tremendous leverage from his hips and quads, a drivetrain like no one else his size. “He’s weight-room strong but super-strong in games, a lower body with insane amounts of pop,” says Steve Saunders of Power Train Sports, Harrison’s fitness guru in Pittsburgh. “Combine that with his upper body — he benches 500, close-grip — and James can move guys anywhere he wants.”

One evening, after dinner, Harrison drives us to the airport to pick up Lisa Ripi, his massage therapist. Ripi, a petite but powerfully built woman (she was a professional bodybuilder in her 20s), has two of the most coveted hands in the NFL. Four dozen players, among them the Steelers’ Farrior and the Giants’ Brandon Jacobs and Osi Umenyiora, fly her around the country to treat them, expensively and out of their own pockets, to postgame or midweek massages. But none of her star clients — a roster that also includes celebrities like Adam Sandler and Russell Brand — is half so devoted as the one she’s just come to see. Harrison brings her out for a week at a time, gets marathon rubdowns and acupuncture treatments, and pays her to run his house as well, cooking and dusting and folding. On this night, having flown five hours (in coach!) from New York City, she changes into short shorts, tidies his living room, then puts him on the table around midnight. It’s quite the tableau vivant by his oversize bed: a pale blonde perched like a pilot bird on Harrison’s naked rump, grunting and squeezing while Harrison tweets to his 50,000 followers on Twitter. Ripi works him like a heavy bag, driving elbows and knees into resistant knots, then hops off the table, unzips a case, and twists 200 needles into his back. Most human beings can stand a hundred; Harrison is annoyed there aren’t more. “I need another row,” he grunts, showing his scowl. Ripi, exhausted (it’s well past 2 now, or 5 am Eastern time), sticks another hundred or so in. “Therapy whore,” she says, draping a towel over his rear. It’s not entirely clear that she means this kindly.

As much as Ripi sees him, she’s just one of many people hired to keep Harrison going. He employs two personal trainers on a revolving basis; an active release therapist (don’t ask — too arcane); and a homeopath to pump him with IV vitamins. He bought a hyperbaric chamber that he spends an hour a day in, taking enriched oxygen to speed the healing process after his savage workouts. Having waited five years, a lifetime in football, for his chance to become a starter, he works harder as an All-Pro — a great deal harder — than he did when he first broke in. “There are guys who are workaholics, and then there’s James. Dudes hurt themselves training with him,” says teammate Clark. While Reggie Bush IMs from a Vegas pool (or wherever he’s tweeting the lockout), Harrison’s doing spider crawls across a gym while pulling a stack of plates by a chain, and backing those up with power lunges, an 80-pound dumbbell in each hand. Come June, if there’s a season, he’ll add a second session a day, then tack on a third before camp.

Asked what, at 33 and fresh off surgery, still pushes him this hard, he harrumphs, “The money,” then stops and thinks a moment. “Nah, it ain’t that. I got plenty of money, and I’m much more careful how I spend it.” (Harrison signed a six-year, $51 million extension after his monster season in ’08.) Fumbling for an answer, he tries out “pride” but doesn’t sound convinced of it. Likely as not, what drives him now is the fury that drove him as a boy, when, as the youngest of 14 kids in the house, he had some epic meltdowns. He punched holes in the walls when he lost video games, set fire to himself and an attic rug playing with lit matches and rubbing alcohol, and ran around shooting birds and squirrels in his yard in Akron, Ohio.

Oddly, he was the quiet one of six brothers and seven sisters, speaking to almost no one outside the family and sleeping with his parents till he was 12. “James was my baby, a mama’s boy,” says Mildred Harrison, who with her husband, James Sr., a retired trucker, still lives in the house where she raised her kids on a diet of love and sternness. Wielding a belt that she called Black Beauty — “My mom would come to school and whip us in class,” says Harrison — she successfully saw each of her progeny through high school and on to stable jobs and college. Most of them settled within five or six blocks of her and travel, en masse, to Harrison’s home games. “I haven’t missed one in eight years,” she says.

Somewhere in the process of dealing blunt-force lessons, Mildred taught her kids to come out swinging if bigger people pushed them around. This may have worked too well with Harrison. In high school, he tried to attack an assistant coach who bad-mouthed him to other players; told fans of a rival school to suck his dick after they shouted racial taunts during a game; and shot a kid in the butt with a BB gun, though to be fair, several teammates did it too. “He was the most physically tough player I’ve ever been around, but he had some anger problems off the field,” says Mo Tipton, the now retired head coach at Coventry High School in Akron. “When Kent State called, I told them he’d be the best defensive player in the conference — if he was still on the team as a junior.”

Harrison was suspended for the first two stunts and arrested and charged for the third offense before pleading to a misdemeanor. That almost killed his career before it started. The colleges that pursued him (Ohio State and Michigan State, among many) turned their backs, and even Kent State pulled its scholarship offer when he bombed his ACTs. If his parents hadn’t borrowed money to send him there, he’d probably be driving a semi now and playing beer-league football. He repaid them by not going to class for a year, holed up with the video gameFinal Fantasy VII; it took Mildred showing up with a moving van to scare some sense into him. Harrison buckled down, earned dean’s list grades, and became an All-Conference linebacker, sacking Ben Roethlisberger five times in a game against conference bullies Miami of Ohio.

But very few are drafted from the Mid-American Conference, and Harrison was lucky to snag a training camp deal with Pittsburgh in 2002. (Signing bonus: $4,000.) He showed up late, with a chip on his shoulder, and barely bothered to crack the complex playbook. “I thought he was straight crazy, had emotional issues. He’d stop in the middle of plays and say, ‘Take me out,’?” says Farrior. “You could see he was a beast, but he didn’t like structure. He still doesn’t, but takes it better.”

After being cut four times in the span of two years (once by the Baltimore Ravens), Harrison was ready to chuck the game and set about earning his trucker’s license. Then he caught a break. Clark Haggans, a Steelers linebacker, broke a hand while lifting weights, and Harrison got one last invite in ’04. He came to camp burning to learn the blitzes and stayed up nights turning flash cards over and scribbling play cues on his wristbands. Harrison made the team as a special-teams monster, crushing kickoff returners (and the occasional fan who ran onfield) with pile-driving shots you have to YouTube. But the Steelers made him wait three years to start and thought so little of his long-term prospects that they took linebackers with their top two picks that spring. Properly insulted, Harrison came out blazing, taking apart the Ravens by himself that fall with one of the great Monday night jobs in history. (Three-and-a-half sacks and three forced fumbles, 10 tackles, one recovery, and an interception.) He was named the team MVP that ’07 season and the league’s best defender the following year, and became the (then) highest-paid linebacker in history in ’09. He hasn’t looked back since, except in anger. “There’s a river,” he reckons, “of people that want to cheat me.”

“I should have another ring,” he says, apropos of nothing as we drive back from lunch one scorching afternoon, the sun still a demon at 4 pm. “We were the best team in football in 2004, but the Patriots, who we beat during the regular season, stole our signals and picked up 90 percent of our blitzes” in the AFC title game. “They got busted for it later, but, hey, they’re Goodell’s boys, so he slapped ’em $500,000 and burned the tapes. Was he going to rescind their Super Bowls? — man, hell no!”

He’s just getting started on the Pats. “I hate those mother****ers,” he says, “especially those two clowns who talked about me after the fines.” He’s referring to Rodney Harrison, the ex-Patriot turned analyst on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and Tedy Bruschi, another former Pat who appears on ESPN. “Sayin’ I’m dirty — ****, Harrison was the dirtiest player ever, a steroid cheater who was known by the whole world to be a headhunter and late hitter. And Bruschi’s an idiot, straight-up simple. I’d like to meet them both in a dark alley.”

When Harrison gets going on one of these runs, there’s no telling where he’ll end up. He can be biting (and baiting) on a wide range of subjects: Ask him, at your peril, his views on gay marriage, which make Glenn Beck sound squishy; his position on spanking (he’s for it, and how; his two young sons should try handing down fines); and if you ever get him going on gun control, better whip out your Kevlar notepad. (Harrison says the answer to campus shootings is to arm all the teachers and students.) But then, without prompting, he’ll turn on a dime and offer a sober plank on player safety, saying the league should trim the season to 14 games, begin off-season training activities in May, not March, and cut training camp down to just a couple of weeks of one-a-day practices, not two. That way, he says, “we’re not bangin’ heads so much in August; that’s where the brain trauma comes from.”

There is less than no chance of any of this happening; the league is determined to add games, not cut them, and the union hasn’t pushed to end two-a-days, though if it listened to its members, it would. Fewer hits to the head in camp would constitute major harm reduction, according to a recent study of college players by the National Institutes of Health; it found that a majority of concussions occurred during practice, not in actual games.

Harrison, for all his bluster, isn’t heedless of the facts or the effect of all those hits on his long-range health. “When you hit a dude hard, you feel it, too, and the Steelers go at play-to-die speeds. But if, God forbid, I wind up having brain damage, so be it. That’s something I’ll have to deal with down the road.”

He has three years left on his handsome contract, and if he’s lucky enough, he says, to finish that out, he’ll quit and turn to his new passion: real estate. With his partner, a veteran developer named Tom Janidas, he’s building off-campus housing at two colleges in West Virginia, and has already put together an impressive portfolio, with many more units to come. “There’s no ceiling for James in the real estate business; he’s as shrewd and focused an athlete as I’ve met,” says Janidas, who made a sizable fortune building malls and surgical centers. “I couldn’t have cared less about his fame. I only take quick studies, and he’s that.” Harrison talks avidly about future projects and amassing his own major fortune, then buying a jet to show his sons the world, taking them “wherever they have running water.”

He lives with the boys’ mother, a lawyer named Beth Tibbot, though they have no plans to marry. In 2008 he was arrested for domestic assault after a fight over their oldest son’s baptism. (She opposed it, but Harrison insisted. He wanted his sons, he says, “to know God.”) He broke down the door Tibbot had locked herself behind, shattered the phone she’d used to call the cops, and hit her in the face with an open hand. Harrison, to his credit, quickly copped to what he did, and the charges went away after he took anger-management classes, the success of which you can judge for yourself.

Because it remains an open question for him: Can he catalyze the rage he plays the game with, hitting high and hard but within the rules, while preventing it from leaking into his life? One morning, driving back home in his giant SUV, he got going on the long list of players who piss him off, including Houston’s Brian Cushing, suspended last season for doping: “That boy is juiced out of his mind.” Then he laid down fire on some of his friends in black-and-gold, calling Pittsburgh running back Rashard Mendenall a “fumble machine” for getting stripped by Matthews in the Super Bowl, a late-game flub that stopped the Steelers cold on their drive for a go-ahead score, and groaning about Roethlisberger’s fecklessness, including two bonehead interceptions that day. “Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again. 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.”

There’s more of this stuff. His near-punchout of Bruce Arians, the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, during an altercation in practice; and his ambiguous take on Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh’s sanctified safety: “He’s the one guy in football I respect absolutely, ’cause he’s spiritual and lives it like he talks it. You know, he gets more flags than anyone on our team but never gets fined for nothin’. He’s so polite and talks so softly that he could tell Goodell to kiss his ass, and Goodell would smile and say thank you.”

But for now, at least, Harrison’s probably said enough. He doesn’t need invective to make his point that he plays a savage game and that any attempts to childproof the sport will be met with fierce resistance. The players are so big now, so fast and so fit, that no fines, however stiff, or threats of suspension can keep them from hurting one another. At some point in the future, the keepers of the kingdom will have a decision to make: either drastically rewrite the sport’s DNA (outlaw tackling above the waist, say, and impose weight limits) or watch it die in flames like ancient Rome. For now, though, these men are our gladiators, and horrified or not, we throng the coliseums, hoisting two thumbs merrily in the air.

winwithd
07-19-2011, 07:05 PM
Thanks for the info on Deebo, Flippy.

I read that Sean McDermott the Eagles DC last year told his defense they were not to change anything about how they played after the league informed them on the new rules for the defenses on tackling. I am guessing there were others DCs too.

fordfixer
07-20-2011, 02:44 AM
Hillis admires Harrison’s truthfulness
Hillis admires Harrison’s truthfulness
By Adam Rank |
http://blogs.nfl.com/2011/07/19/hillis- ... thfulness/ (http://blogs.nfl.com/2011/07/19/hillis-admires-harrisons-truthfulness/)

Published: July 19th, 2011
Steelers LB James Harrison made few friends when he unleashed on commissioner Roger Goodell, Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall in a recent magazine article. But he has one admirer within his own division — Browns RB Peyton Hillis.

Hillis was at the NFL Network studios on Tuesday, and when I jokingly suggested that he follow Harrison on Twitter, Hillis was quick to come to Harrison’s defense. That’s not something you would expect from fierce AFC North rivals.

“I have much respect for James Harrison,” Hillis said. “He seems like a real educated guy. He’s an honest, truthful guy. And a lot of people like to lash out at him because he is that way. But I respect him. I respect people who speak their mind — and not only speak their mind, but speak the truth.”

flippy
07-20-2011, 10:05 AM
I respect people who speak their mind — and not only speak their mind, but speak the truth.”

Truth is the key point. And that's really why no one should have an issue with what James had to say.

fordfixer
07-20-2011, 12:28 PM
What would Harrison do for a Klondike bar? Be quiet?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... -be-quiet- (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d820c7fd5/article/what-would-harrison-do-for-a-klondike-bar-be-quiet-)
By Adam Rank NFL.com
Writer
Published: July 14, 2011 at 08:35 p.m.
Updated: July 15, 2011 at 08:25 p.m.

James Harrison (left) needs to mend some fences with Ben Roethlisberger before they ever hug again.


Life would be awesome with a reset button. Sent a drunk text to your boss? A reset button would be cool. That third shot of Jaeger? Yeah, a reset button would be super cool.

But life doesn't work that way. And when you say, "If (Roger Goodell) was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn't do it. I hate him and will never respect him," well, you can't hit reset on that.

And a half-hearted apology won't cut it either.

James Harrison likely stands by his feelings about Goodell. But what the enigmatic Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker probably regrets is putting his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, on blast.

Not that Harrison doesn't have strong feelings about his sometimes mistake-prone quarterback. Men's Journal writer Paul Solotaroff joined the "Dave Dameshek Football Program" on Thursday afternoon and said as much. But Solotaroff did say that Harrison likely would back off his harsh criticism of Big Ben because the two need to coexist in the locker room. And that's exactly what Harrison did Thursday night.

James, words are cheap, and so is your letter. Here are six real ways you could make it up to Roethlisberger.

And without further ado ...

6. Save him a lot of money on car insurance by switching him to Geico
Hey, who wouldn't like to save on their auto insurance? And considering Roethlisberger's history with motorcycles, his premium probably is kind of high. Too soon?


5. Woo Plaxico Burress back to the Steelers
The best way to get on Roethlisberger's good side is to give him another receiver to catch his passes. So helping convince Burress to re-sign with the Steelers might be a good way to break the ice. Or course, if you want to go the extra mile, you always could convince a couple of offensive linemen to join the team, too.

4. Spring for tickets to the new Harry Potter movie
The social event of the season has to be the new Harry Potter movie. How hot is this ticket? Advance sales have reached $32 million. And hey, James, if Big Ben asks you to pay for the popcorn, you probably should, even if you don't think you said anything wrong.

3. Klondike bars after practice!
Take it from a husky guy (be polite, haters): You can't go wrong by giving us ice cream. Especially after a hard practice. Honestly, who could be upset when somebody gives you a Klondike bar? Trust me: Nothing heels the feelings of a husky man like a tasty dessert.

2. Don't give the speech at his wedding
James, you've been invited to Big Ben's wedding this weekend, and that's a good thing. Now keep the revolvers at home. And if they're passing around a microphone so you can toast the newlyweds, please defer to somebody else. You don't want it to end up like Steve Buscemi in "The Wedding Singer."

1. STFU
Seriously.

Djfan
07-20-2011, 12:40 PM
He's right. It's just that simple. That article probably ruffled quite a few skirts at NFL headquarters. But, he's still right.

I loved this quote:


and became an All-Conference linebacker, sacking Ben Roethlisberger five times in a game against conference bullies Miami of Ohio.

It made me laugh out loud.

I wonder what full contact real estate development looks like?

flippy
07-20-2011, 01:02 PM
What would Harrison do for a Klondike bar? Be quiet?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... -be-quiet- (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d820c7fd5/article/what-would-harrison-do-for-a-klondike-bar-be-quiet-)
By Adam Rank NFL.com
Writer
Published: July 14, 2011 at 08:35 p.m.
Updated: July 15, 2011 at 08:25 p.m.

James Harrison (left) needs to mend some fences with Ben Roethlisberger before they ever hug again.


Life would be awesome with a reset button. Sent a drunk text to your boss? A reset button would be cool. That third shot of Jaeger? Yeah, a reset button would be super cool.

But life doesn't work that way. And when you say, "If (Roger Goodell) was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn't do it. I hate him and will never respect him," well, you can't hit reset on that.

And a half-hearted apology won't cut it either.

James Harrison likely stands by his feelings about Goodell. But what the enigmatic Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker probably regrets is putting his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, on blast.

Not that Harrison doesn't have strong feelings about his sometimes mistake-prone quarterback. Men's Journal writer Paul Solotaroff joined the "Dave Dameshek Football Program" on Thursday afternoon and said as much. But Solotaroff did say that Harrison likely would back off his harsh criticism of Big Ben because the two need to coexist in the locker room. And that's exactly what Harrison did Thursday night.

James, words are cheap, and so is your letter. Here are six real ways you could make it up to Roethlisberger.

And without further ado ...

6. Save him a lot of money on car insurance by switching him to Geico
Hey, who wouldn't like to save on their auto insurance? And considering Roethlisberger's history with motorcycles, his premium probably is kind of high. Too soon?


5. Woo Plaxico Burress back to the Steelers
The best way to get on Roethlisberger's good side is to give him another receiver to catch his passes. So helping convince Burress to re-sign with the Steelers might be a good way to break the ice. Or course, if you want to go the extra mile, you always could convince a couple of offensive linemen to join the team, too.

4. Spring for tickets to the new Harry Potter movie
The social event of the season has to be the new Harry Potter movie. How hot is this ticket? Advance sales have reached $32 million. And hey, James, if Big Ben asks you to pay for the popcorn, you probably should, even if you don't think you said anything wrong.

3. Klondike bars after practice!
Take it from a husky guy (be polite, haters): You can't go wrong by giving us ice cream. Especially after a hard practice. Honestly, who could be upset when somebody gives you a Klondike bar? Trust me: Nothing heels the feelings of a husky man like a tasty dessert.

2. Don't give the speech at his wedding
James, you've been invited to Big Ben's wedding this weekend, and that's a good thing. Now keep the revolvers at home. And if they're passing around a microphone so you can toast the newlyweds, please defer to somebody else. You don't want it to end up like Steve Buscemi in "The Wedding Singer."

1. STFU
Seriously.

James makes it up to Ben, by keeping him in the game until the end where he can pull it out.

As much as I love Ben, this offense has been mediocre for years and often plays to the level of the competition and never really puts the pedal to the medal and puts a game out of reach. We just stay in games (primarily thanks to our D) and Ben wins it in the end.

It was a successful formula that worked for NE when they were cheating and winning SuperBowls. Let the D carry the team and the QB make his money at the end of the 4th quarter.

Brady's evolved into a different QB now. And it's about time Ben should do the same. Although, it hasn't helped NE win any more SuperBowls.

Maybe we should just stick to D and Ben playing the last couple minutes of the game. That's what tends to work.

And James is as good as anyone in the league at creating disruption that leads to turnovers to get Ben that ball.

Ben gets plenty out of James and that's why he doesn't have a problem.

Ben would probably agree with James that Ben fudged up in the SuperBowl. And Ben probably shoulders the blame for not winning it in the end when he had the ball and the opportunity.

Djfan
07-20-2011, 01:47 PM
Ben has admitted to being the SB goat, and decided to put his name plaque from the SB locker room in his toilet as a reminder to himself to not suck anymore.

feltdizz
07-20-2011, 03:58 PM
Ben has admitted to being the SB goat, and decided to put his name plaque from the SB locker room in his toilet as a reminder to himself to not suck anymore.

Besides the last drive in 2008 Ben hasn't played like Big Ben in any SB's....

I would love to see Ben get to another SB and play like he does in the playoffs. The lack of highlights by Ben in SB's is disappointing given the career he has thus far.

chiken
07-24-2011, 10:58 PM
wow how quickly we forget what really happened in the super-bowl.. So many people down on Ben and his performance but no one is taking into consideration how Young our offense was. A 2nd year Stud and 2 rookies. Hines was injured - Holmes (a vet) was gone.
There was no way we could have kept up with the Pack if things got out of hand. Yes the Defense kept us close, and yes we had a chance of grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat but come on guys, be honest.
We are giving James a pass (deservedly so)for being banged up but Ben was just as banged up.. Our offensive line was banged up. Our offensive play-makers were young (which was evident in that final drive) and Remember we lost Our other starter (Sanders) in that game as well (a rookie mind you).
I know it hurts because we were 1 drive away, but if you really watched the games you knew we were much further than that. The guys lacked chemistry, and on the biggest stage that is what you need in that situation. We didn't have it, hadn't had it offensively all year (missing those 4 games really cost us in the chemistry dept with the offense)

AS for JAmes, I love what he brings to the game, love love love watching him play - but he needs to remember what happen in the last super bowl against Arizona.. Lead surrendered, Last Drive, down 4. We know the rest.

Captain Lemming
07-25-2011, 12:12 AM
wow how quickly we forget what really happened in the super-bowl.. So many people down on Ben and his performance but no one is taking into consideration how Young our offense was. A 2nd year Stud and 2 rookies. Hines was injured - Holmes (a vet) was gone.
There was no way we could have kept up with the Pack if things got out of hand. Yes the Defense kept us close, and yes we had a chance of grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat but come on guys, be honest.
We are giving James a pass (deservedly so)for being banged up but Ben was just as banged up.. Our offensive line was banged up. Our offensive play-makers were young (which was evident in that final drive) and Remember we lost Our other starter (Sanders) in that game as well (a rookie mind you).
I know it hurts because we were 1 drive away, but if you really watched the games you knew we were much further than that. The guys lacked chemistry, and on the biggest stage that is what you need in that situation. We didn't have it, hadn't had it offensively all year (missing those 4 games really cost us in the chemistry dept with the offense)

AS for JAmes, I love what he brings to the game, love love love watching him play - but he needs to remember what happen in the last super bowl against Arizona.. Lead surrendered, Last Drive, down 4. We know the rest.

James scored as many points as Ben did that day. James int could have been a touchdown for the Cards. It was a potential 14 point swing.

Had James not dropped back on a hunch and made that play the Cards might have CRUSHED us that day.

Ben owes his reputation as a big game player to Harrison, because if James doesnt make that play Ben has one ugly SB win and two loses. There is no chance at a clutch game winning drive.

SteelTorch
07-25-2011, 12:50 AM
5. The racisms James alludes to has nothing to do with the fines like I had thought from comments, but more to do with protecting white QBs. And he makes an interesting point about paying $5k for slamming Vince Young, but then paying $20k for bumping Drew Brees.

I disagree. I think the discrepancy has more to do with the fact that Drew Brees is a bigger name, and thus a bigger money-maker, than Vince Young. Other than that, great post! :tt2

NJ-STEELER
07-25-2011, 02:00 AM
Huh. Sb43 would have been over at half time if the cards scored there instead of the int TD??

Would have we still been playing a prevent ish type defense if we down or even in the 4th quarter?

Ben should have been the MVP in that game. he threw Holmes open a few times in that drive. His pump is what allowed for the long gainer when the cards defender bit up on the play and fell down allowing tone's YAC

chiken
07-25-2011, 07:13 AM
Def didnt mean to hijack this thread as a "oh save our horrible QB thread" but sir if you feel that Ben Failed us on Defense and it was actually James Harrison that lead us down the field and hit holmes for the game winning TD (not once but twice) then man more power to you.

Bottom line is at the end of that Day THE QB (whomever you feel that should be) had the ball in his hands with the length of the field to navigate, on the biggest stage possible, with the clock running down. And every player on our Defense was watching, hoping and praying. In Fact in the last 2 superBowls - James was on the sideline at the end of the game "without" the lead praying that his QB came thru in the clutch.

steelblood
07-25-2011, 09:05 AM
The lebeau comments are a little out of context, I believe. "Blow through the guy" means simply not to drag him down, but to knock him down. That is legal and most defensive coaches want that. He never says LeBeau endorses head-hunting. Now, telling them not to change things when the fines come down is problematic. But, that is likely an over-simplification of what he said in general. I'm sure LeBeau did not endorse head hunting. He wouldn't be that stupid. I'm also sure that LeBeau honestly believed (and correctly so) that many of the fined hits where borderline or ridiculous under the rules. LeBeau wanted his defense to keep its edge and not think too much out there. Adjustments were obviously made and the Steelers lead with the helmet less down the stretch.

feltdizz
07-25-2011, 09:41 AM
Huh. Sb43 would have been over at half time if the cards scored there instead of the int TD??

Would have we still been playing a prevent ish type defense if we down or even in the 4th quarter?

Ben should have been the MVP in that game. he threw Holmes open a few times in that drive. His pump is what allowed for the long gainer when the cards defender bit up on the play and fell down allowing tone's YAC

The Cards defender didn't fall because Ben pumped.. he fell because he expected Holmes to turn out and Tone turned in....

The pump froze defenders... if Ben's pump makes defenders fall he would pump all day long :wink:

RuthlessBurgher
07-25-2011, 10:17 AM
5. The racisms James alludes to has nothing to do with the fines like I had thought from comments, but more to do with protecting white QBs. And he makes an interesting point about paying $5k for slamming Vince Young, but then paying $20k for bumping Drew Brees.

I disagree. I think the discrepancy has more to do with the fact that Drew Brees is a bigger name, and thus a bigger money-maker, than Vince Young. Other than that, great post! :tt2

It has more to do with the fact that the Vince Young hit was considered a first offense, and the Drew Brees hit was a third offense. Fine amounts tend to increase over time, which is why the Young hit early in the season was only $5K while the Brees hit late in the season was $20K (the Massoquoi hit in between them had the largest fine, $75K, because it was the most vicious of the three and it happened to occur on the same day as the Meriwether and Robinson incidents).

NJ-STEELER
07-25-2011, 10:21 AM
No look again

The pump brought him up and when he tried to change direction he slipped and fell

feltdizz
07-25-2011, 11:18 AM
No look again

The pump brought him up and when he tried to change direction he slipped and fell

#29 bit on the pump to Mewelde....

#47 breaks on Holmes when the ball is released and slipped when Holmes turned to the outside. He started to make a move on the pump but he didn't and then he breaks on Holmes.

Watch the 6:18 mark of this clip and it shows a perfect slow motion replay from behind the line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGR8AuBMtXI

The last 2 throws by Ben were incredible... and incredibly hard to catch.

feltdizz
07-25-2011, 11:23 AM
5. The racisms James alludes to has nothing to do with the fines like I had thought from comments, but more to do with protecting white QBs. And he makes an interesting point about paying $5k for slamming Vince Young, but then paying $20k for bumping Drew Brees.

I disagree. I think the discrepancy has more to do with the fact that Drew Brees is a bigger name, and thus a bigger money-maker, than Vince Young. Other than that, great post! :tt2

It has more to do with the fact that the Vince Young hit was considered a first offense, and the Drew Brees hit was a third offense. Fine amounts tend to increase over time, which is why the Young hit early in the season was only $5K while the Brees hit late in the season was $20K (the Massoquoi hit in between them had the largest fine, $75K, because it was the most vicious of the three and it happened to occur on the same day as the Meriwether and Robinson incidents).

he tapped Brees.... we see hits like the one on Brees every sunday...

His name has something to do with it. I don't want to get into the race thing but Clay Matthews hits QB's like that all the time and he doesn't get the heat Harrison gets.

Harrison said he wants to punish the people he tackles and because he said it he was a marked man last season.

Sugar
07-25-2011, 12:18 PM
5. The racisms James alludes to has nothing to do with the fines like I had thought from comments, but more to do with protecting white QBs. And he makes an interesting point about paying $5k for slamming Vince Young, but then paying $20k for bumping Drew Brees.

I disagree. I think the discrepancy has more to do with the fact that Drew Brees is a bigger name, and thus a bigger money-maker, than Vince Young. Other than that, great post! :tt2

It has more to do with the fact that the Vince Young hit was considered a first offense, and the Drew Brees hit was a third offense. Fine amounts tend to increase over time, which is why the Young hit early in the season was only $5K while the Brees hit late in the season was $20K (the Massoquoi hit in between them had the largest fine, $75K, because it was the most vicious of the three and it happened to occur on the same day as the Meriwether and Robinson incidents).

This= $$

steeler_fan_in_t.o.
07-25-2011, 02:10 PM
It always amazes me when something like this has to turn into a Steeler vs. Steeler debate. Ben owes his SB43 win to James - no, Ben saved the D......why can't it be a team effort?

Right now, two of the greatest highlights in SB history belong to those men - as well as the other players who helped make their plays possible. Tone's toe tapping catch (although he did drop an easier ball just one or two plays earlier), the multitude of blockers out front of Harrison on his return. Neither of those plays are possible without their teammates.

feltdizz
07-25-2011, 02:19 PM
It always amazes me when something like this has to turn into a Steeler vs. Steeler debate. Ben owes his SB43 win to James - no, Ben saved the D......why can't it be a team effort?

Right now, two of the greatest highlights in SB history belong to those men - as well as the other players who helped make their plays possible. Tone's toe tapping catch (although he did drop an easier ball just one or two plays earlier), the multitude of blockers out front of Harrison on his return. Neither of those plays are possible without their teammates.

True..

but the first pass wasn't easier... both were hard to make. I'm sure Tone was tired as well given the amount of touches he had on the last drive.

steeler_fan_in_t.o.
07-25-2011, 02:23 PM
It always amazes me when something like this has to turn into a Steeler vs. Steeler debate. Ben owes his SB43 win to James - no, Ben saved the D......why can't it be a team effort?

Right now, two of the greatest highlights in SB history belong to those men - as well as the other players who helped make their plays possible. Tone's toe tapping catch (although he did drop an easier ball just one or two plays earlier), the multitude of blockers out front of Harrison on his return. Neither of those plays are possible without their teammates.

True..

but the first pass wasn't easier... both were hard to make. I'm sure Tone was tired as well given the amount of touches he had on the last drive.

Thats fine, but the point is that neither Holmes nor Ben is remembered for this memorable play without the other, the same way that JH does not finish off the greatest defensive play in SB history without an entire defensive team effort to block for him.

grotonsteel
07-25-2011, 04:27 PM
James makes it up to Ben, by keeping him in the game until the end where he can pull it out.

As much as I love Ben, this offense has been mediocre for years and often plays to the level of the competition and never really puts the pedal to the medal and puts a game out of reach. We just stay in games (primarily thanks to our D) and Ben wins it in the end.



Mediocre offense??? Really?? What do you want 50 points a game??? If Steelers don't run the ball 50 times a game and half the Steeler Nation goes up against Bruce Arians. Maybe you are a fantasy football fanatic. Steelers have invested heavily on Defense and they expect Defense to show up more than Offense.

A Offensive Line with a rookie Center. Missing both Offensive tackles and an UDFA RG. 2 Rookie WRs what do you expect an Offensive juggernaut??

ESPN.com: Stats & Info

Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Harrison Wrong About Roethlisberger
By Jason Vida


Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesBen Roethlisberger thrives under pressure

After capping a stellar season with a subpar performance in Super Bowl XLV, it’s understandable if James Harrison and the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers are less-than-happy about the way the 2010 season ended.

But after James Harrison’s comments to Men’s Journal, it’s tough to imagine the mood will be any lighter when Steelers training camp opens this summer. Speaking of teammate Ben Roethlisberger's play in Super Bowl XLV, Harrison said:

"Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again. 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."

It’s doubtful that the fact that Roethlisberger’s second interception of the game came on a play that started on the Packers 49-yard line, technically “their side of the field” will make Harrison reconsider his comments.

Ben Roethlisberger
In Own Territory Last Season

Rank
Comp pct 72.1 3rd
Yds per att 10.3 1st
Passer rtg 103.7 1st
Int 3 T-3rd
>>min. 100 att

But Big Ben’s unparalleled ability to lead the Steelers out of their own territory in the regular season should.

In 2010, Roethlisberger not only didn’t ask the Steelers defense to bail him out frequently, he was arguably the best quarterback in the league at helping his team reverse field position when backed up against its own goal line.

Roethlisberger completed 147 of 204 passes for 2,094 yards with three TDs and three interceptions in his own territory last season. His 103.7 passer rating here is even more impressive when one considers the difficulty in throwing touchdowns on plays that originate at least 51 yards from the end zone.

Of the 33 quarterbacks who threw at least 100 passes in their own territory last regular season, none had a better passer rating on those attempts than Roethlisberger, and his 10 yards per attempt on these passes was also best in the NFL.

Just three of Roethlisberger’s 204 passes from his own end were intercepted last season, an interception percentage of 1.47 percent. Only three of the 33 QBs mentioned above had a lower interception of percentage in their own territory – Josh Freeman, Tom Brady and Alex Smith.

In Own Territory Last Season

Roethlisberger Manning
Comp pct 72.1 68.5
Yds per att 10.3 7.1
Passer rtg 103.7 78.4
Int 3 12<<
>>T-4th most in NFL

Harrison also made the comment that Roethlisberger is trying to emulate Peyton Manning with his play in his own territory. In fact, he’s been much better than the Indianapolis Colts future Hall-of-Famer in such situations.

Twelve of Manning’s 17 interceptions last season came on the Colts side of the field, more than all but three other NFL quarterbacks. And Manning’s passer rating in his own territory was 78.4, a full 25 points behind Big Ben’s.

The stats show that Roethlisberger has been a better quarterback than Manning in his own territory. If Harrison is tired of his defense being asked to bail out the Steelers offense time and time again, he should be thankful that Ben is no Peyton. He’s only paid like him.

NJ-STEELER
07-25-2011, 05:37 PM
Ur right felt. I was wrong about 47

I was thinking of 29 coming up on the pump to memo and creating a bigger gap for Holmes to go thru

Captain Lemming
07-25-2011, 08:12 PM
James makes it up to Ben, by keeping him in the game until the end where he can pull it out.

As much as I love Ben, this offense has been mediocre for years and often plays to the level of the competition and never really puts the pedal to the medal and puts a game out of reach. We just stay in games (primarily thanks to our D) and Ben wins it in the end.



Mediocre offense??? Really?? What do you want 50 points a game??? If Steelers don't run the ball 50 times a game and half the Steeler Nation goes up against Bruce Arians. Maybe you are a fantasy football fanatic. Steelers have invested heavily on Defense and they expect Defense to show up more than Offense.

A Offensive Line with a rookie Center. Missing both Offensive tackles and an UDFA RG. 2 Rookie WRs what do you expect an Offensive juggernaut??

ESPN.com: Stats & Info

Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Harrison Wrong About Roethlisberger
By Jason Vida


Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesBen Roethlisberger thrives under pressure

After capping a stellar season with a subpar performance in Super Bowl XLV, it’s understandable if James Harrison and the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers are less-than-happy about the way the 2010 season ended.

But after James Harrison’s comments to Men’s Journal, it’s tough to imagine the mood will be any lighter when Steelers training camp opens this summer. Speaking of teammate Ben Roethlisberger's play in Super Bowl XLV, Harrison said:

"Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again. 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."

It’s doubtful that the fact that Roethlisberger’s second interception of the game came on a play that started on the Packers 49-yard line, technically “their side of the field” will make Harrison reconsider his comments.

Ben Roethlisberger
In Own Territory Last Season

Rank
Comp pct 72.1 3rd
Yds per att 10.3 1st
Passer rtg 103.7 1st
Int 3 T-3rd
>>min. 100 att

But Big Ben’s unparalleled ability to lead the Steelers out of their own territory in the regular season should.

In 2010, Roethlisberger not only didn’t ask the Steelers defense to bail him out frequently, he was arguably the best quarterback in the league at helping his team reverse field position when backed up against its own goal line.

Roethlisberger completed 147 of 204 passes for 2,094 yards with three TDs and three interceptions in his own territory last season. His 103.7 passer rating here is even more impressive when one considers the difficulty in throwing touchdowns on plays that originate at least 51 yards from the end zone.

Of the 33 quarterbacks who threw at least 100 passes in their own territory last regular season, none had a better passer rating on those attempts than Roethlisberger, and his 10 yards per attempt on these passes was also best in the NFL.

Just three of Roethlisberger’s 204 passes from his own end were intercepted last season, an interception percentage of 1.47 percent. Only three of the 33 QBs mentioned above had a lower interception of percentage in their own territory – Josh Freeman, Tom Brady and Alex Smith.

In Own Territory Last Season

Roethlisberger Manning
Comp pct 72.1 68.5
Yds per att 10.3 7.1
Passer rtg 103.7 78.4
Int 3 12<<
>>T-4th most in NFL

Harrison also made the comment that Roethlisberger is trying to emulate Peyton Manning with his play in his own territory. In fact, he’s been much better than the Indianapolis Colts future Hall-of-Famer in such situations.

Twelve of Manning’s 17 interceptions last season came on the Colts side of the field, more than all but three other NFL quarterbacks. And Manning’s passer rating in his own territory was 78.4, a full 25 points behind Big Ben’s.

The stats show that Roethlisberger has been a better quarterback than Manning in his own territory. If Harrison is tired of his defense being asked to bail out the Steelers offense time and time again, he should be thankful that Ben is no Peyton. He’s only paid like him.




Clearly the facts make his Harrison's case (if they are taken very literally and out of context :)).

Throwing picks in your own territory IS acting like Peyton Manning.

Ben YOU ARE NOT Peyton Manning!!!!

STOP trying to be Peyton Manning. :)

Captain Lemming
07-25-2011, 08:30 PM
It always amazes me when something like this has to turn into a Steeler vs. Steeler debate. Ben owes his SB43 win to James - no, Ben saved the D......why can't it be a team effort?

Right now, two of the greatest highlights in SB history belong to those men - as well as the other players who helped make their plays possible. Tone's toe tapping catch (although he did drop an easier ball just one or two plays earlier), the multitude of blockers out front of Harrison on his return. Neither of those plays are possible without their teammates.

You are absolutely correct. Ben was a hero that day. I guess my point is that you cannot make the case that Harrison of all people not forget how Ben saved the game when Harrison so directly contributed to Ben being in the position to win.

Both deserve credit.

feltdizz
07-26-2011, 08:44 AM
Ur right felt. I was wrong about 47

I was thinking of 29 coming up on the pump to memo and creating a bigger gap for Holmes to go thru

no worries

:Cheers

hawaiiansteel
07-27-2011, 04:03 PM
Keisel defends Harrison

July 26th, 2011


Anyone that thinks the Steelers seriously entertained getting rid of James Harrison for comments made during his infamous interview with Men’s Journal magazine was seriously off base.

Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel illustrated why Tuesday.

When told that Harrison was one of the first Steelers at the team facility Tuesday –- and he may well have been the first one there -– Keisel was anything but surprised.

“He’s one of hardest working guys I’ve ever been around in my life, which is why he’s one of the best players I’ve ever been around in my life,” Keisel said.

Keisel also dismissed any talk of Harrison’s comments about Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall causing a rift in the Steelers’ locker room.

“I think his words got misinterpreted. I think mix and match quotes maybe,” Keisel said.

“I haven't talked to James about it or to Ben about it or to Rashard about it. I think all those guys know that James would never do something like that to criticize his own teammates. I think it just got misinterpreted and we'll move forward.”

http://blog.triblive.com/view-from-the- ... ox+Blog%29 (http://blog.triblive.com/view-from-the-press-box/2011/07/26/keisel-defends-harrison/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+triblive%2Fblog%2FViewFromThe PressBox+%28View+from+the+Press+Box+Blog%29)

Captain Lemming
07-27-2011, 08:13 PM
Keisel defends Harrison

July 26th, 2011


Anyone that thinks the Steelers seriously entertained getting rid of James Harrison for comments made during his infamous interview with Men’s Journal magazine was seriously off base.

Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel illustrated why Tuesday.

When told that Harrison was one of the first Steelers at the team facility Tuesday –- and he may well have been the first one there -– Keisel was anything but surprised.

“He’s one of hardest working guys I’ve ever been around in my life, which is why he’s one of the best players I’ve ever been around in my life,” Keisel said.

Keisel also dismissed any talk of Harrison’s comments about Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall causing a rift in the Steelers’ locker room.

“I think his words got misinterpreted. I think mix and match quotes maybe,” Keisel said.

“I haven't talked to James about it or to Ben about it or to Rashard about it. I think all those guys know that James would never do something like that to criticize his own teammates. I think it just got misinterpreted and we'll move forward.”

http://blog.triblive.com/view-from-the- ... ox+Blog%29 (http://blog.triblive.com/view-from-the-press-box/2011/07/26/keisel-defends-harrison/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+triblive%2Fblog%2FViewFromThe PressBox+%28View+from+the+Press+Box+Blog%29)

Keisel is a great spokesman for the team. Dude always says it just right.