Harrison- One Game Suspension

**steelblood** · 12-13-2011, 01:03 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

To be expected. I expect that he will appeal and then miss the Rams or the Browns game.

**RuthlessBurgher** · 12-13-2011, 01:07 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

Originally posted by steelblood

To be expected. I expect that he will appeal and then miss the Rams or the Browns game.

The appeal will be heard before Monday night's game, so it will be Niners or nothing.

You can't even compare this to the Martin-McMahon bodyslam, because that was blatantly after the play (like Suh and Haynesworth), not during a play itself.

**sentinel33** · 12-13-2011, 01:10 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

I will be a Steeler fan forever. Have been my whole life.

But I am no longer a fan of this league and what it has come to represent.

Roger goodell, the rules commitee and the media are responsible for this.

I cannot expess in a post how frickin' mad I am.

I've never wanted a Super Bowl so bad in my entire life.
Just to stick it in their smug faces.

**drprwnap** · 12-13-2011, 01:18 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

Originally posted by sentinel33

I will be a Steeler fan forever. Have been my whole life.

But I am no longer a fan of this league and what it has come to represent.

Roger goodell, the rules commitee and the media are responsible for this.

I cannot expess in a post how frickin' mad I am.
I've never wanted a Super Bowl so bad in my entire life.
Just to stick it in their smug faces.

\

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

**hawaiiansteel** · 12-13-2011, 02:11 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

Harrison hints that he may not appeal his suspension

Posted by Mike Florio on December 13, 2011

Steelers linebacker James Harrison has the ability to obtain an expedited appeal of his one-game suspension, if he so chooses.

He may not so choose.

�Thank you to all my fans and supporters, I�m just going to move on from here and get ready for my next game,� Harrison said on Twitter after the suspension was announced. It was his second reaction after �Lol!!!�

That seems to mean Harrison won�t appeal his suspension. Then again, coach Mike Tomlin seemed to suggest on Tuesday that Harrison will appeal.

�We have to prepare as if he is not going to play, of course,� Tomlin said. �We will move forward, James will move forward.�

We�ll likely find out soon whether Harrison will move forward with an expedited appeal of the suspension.

[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/13/harrison-hints-that-he-may-not-appeal-his-suspension/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... uspension/[/url]

**papillon** · 12-13-2011, 02:16 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

So, tackling a player between the whistles is half as bad as a guy that purposely steps on a guy after the whistle and is a repeat offender of other personal fouls this year. Okay, I get it.

Pappy

**Oviedo** · 12-13-2011, 02:33 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

Originally posted by sentinel33

I will be a Steeler fan forever. Have been my whole life.

But I am no longer a fan of this league and what it has come to represent.

Roger goodell, the rules commitee and the media are responsible for this.

I cannot expess in a post how frickin' mad I am.

I've never wanted a Super Bowl so bad in my entire life.
Just to stick it in their smug faces.

I agree with your sentiment but the culprits in this are not Goodell, the rules committee, etc. The real culprits are the players or more specifically the former players and their agents and lawyers who are licking their chops to sue the deep pockets NFL just like people went after tobacco companies because they were stupid enough to choose to smoke.

The actions of the league are totally defensive in nature to establish a series of proactive steps in preparation for inevitable lawsuits from former players. We may not like it but this isn't about wanting to make this a soft league, it is about the owners and the NFL protecting themselves because of the litigous society we have become.

If the NFL is ever truly ruined it will happen in courtrooms not the the NFL offices.

**SteelBucks** · 12-14-2011, 04:04 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

Harrison's appeal hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. today
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

James Harrison and his agent won't have to wait long to hear if his appeal of his one-game suspension will be upheld.

The hearing has been scheduled for 2 p.m. today with Ted Cottrell, a former long-time NFL assistant coach who rules on such appeals. Cottrell is hired and paid jointly by the league and the NFL Players Association.

The hearing will be conducted by phone.

Read more: [url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11348/1196786-100.stm#ixzz1gXcUHPXF"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11348/11 ... z1gXcUHPXF[/url]

**hawaiiansteel** · 12-15-2011, 01:30 AM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

Kovacevic: Harrison won't have last laugh

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 14, 2011

For all the gnashing of teeth that followed James Harrison's one-game NFL suspension Tuesday, the one issue I couldn't recall being raised on Twitter, talk shows or anywhere else was the most relevant: What about Harrison's next hit?

Seemed everyone wanted to do a Zapruder-like breakdown of Harrison's helmet-to-helmet missile strike that concussed Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy last week. Or they wanted to review every similar hit over the past decade, then tally up the misdeeds.

Oh, the injustice of it all, the Nation cried in virtual unison.

A few of Harrison's teammates piped up, too, with cornerback Ike Taylor saying: "I don't understand how you punish James for playing through the whistle. He didn't punch anybody in the privates. He didn't stomp on anybody. He didn't spit in anyone's face. You're going to suspend a man for playing football."

Some of it makes for worthy debate.

Thing is, the past isn't the issue here. It's the future.

Let's assume the NFL harbors no ill will toward the Steelers (I've never bought that, given the Rooneys' stature) or toward Harrison (not so sure there, given that Roger Goodell has been known to read Men's Journal). That would make the league's motivation, in theory, an honorable one: Reduce concussions.

Well, Harrison's hit on McCoy was, as the league subtly pointed out in the headline of its press release, his "FIFTH ILLEGAL HIT AGAINST A QUARTERBACK IN THREE SEASONS." The suspension was intended to be cumulative. Moreover, both of the rules cited in the release � one regarding a passer out of the pocket still receiving "special protections," the other regarding "hits to a passer's head and use of the helmet" � were violated.

Case closed. That was easy.

So, do you fine Harrison?

How much of a fine is an effective deterrent to a player whose contract is worth $51 million and who shrugged off $100,000 in fines last year?

I had thought until the announcement that the league would go with a fine, and for no small reason: No player had ever been suspended for a head hit between the whistles. But the league evidently saw Harrison as being beyond fines, so they went with the one avenue they knew would get his � and everyone's � attention: They took him off the field.

It was the right move if aimed at discouraging Harrison in the future. You'd have to think that being forced to watch his teammates play Monday night in San Francisco � a pretty big game against the 49ers, you might have heard � will sting far more than the $73,529 he'll forfeit. He'll be letting the whole team down.

But really, I'm not sure any message will get through.

Remember, Harrison was telling reporters Monday that he expected neither a suspension nor a fine. That was either him trying to spin things or being outright delusional.

Then, Harrison's initial reaction to the suspension on his Twitter account was "LOL!!!" That's Internet code for "laugh out loud."

Imagine the reaction if he'd merely been fined.

It might be instructive for the Steelers and Harrison to look at the case of the Penguins' Matt Cooke.

When Cooke was issued his 17-game NHL suspension last season, it was unprecedented but widely viewed as fair, even locally. He'd been running players for years, and no piecemeal punishment had any effect until this one. He sat out the playoffs and watched his team rubbed out in the first round. Worse, he heard everyone inside the organization, from Mario Lemieux on down, challenge him to get his act together or get lost.

Since then, Cooke has changed his style, has kept clean and has been a terrific third-line player for the Penguins.

"The way I saw it, I had no choice," Cooke told me Tuesday. "I knew there was going to be extra attention on me, and I'm sure it's the same way with James. You can't slip up."

Lesson learned all around.

The NFL was fair to take this step with Harrison, but only for now. That can't be fully judged until there are more suspensions like it.

The Steelers have been fair, too. Tuesday, Mike Tomlin sharply dismissed any paranoia about the league being out to get Harrison and said of the suspension: "We'll accept that. We're disappointed for James. He's worked extremely hard to change his game."

It might not feel fair to Harrison, who is appealing the suspension through his agent � without the team's blessing, perhaps? � and told longtime friend Jerome Bettis on Tuesday he has no plan to change anything about the way he plays.

This is one head-on collision Harrison can't win.

[url="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_771911.html#ixzz1gZgVeN2x"]http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... z1gZgVeN2x[/url]

**steeler_fan_in_t.o.** · 12-15-2011, 03:23 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

[quote

7h6oz69]Well, Harrison's hit on McCoy was, as the league subtly pointed out in the headline of its press release, his "FIFTH ILLEGAL HIT AGAINST A QUARTERBACK IN THREE SEASONS."

I love how the reasoning being held up everywhere is the fifth illegal hit. If I strung together a highlight reel of hits over the past few years, and asked an average viewer which ones were fineable offenses, how many would pick the hit on Brees? QB throws ball and gets hit in the back a second or so later. How about the Vince Young play? I'm not saying that a flag couldn't have happened, but to then be fined for these borderline transgressions and later have them held against you as five illegal hits?

When Cooke was issued his 17-game NHL suspension last season, it was unprecedented but widely viewed as fair, even locally.

Don't compare one sport to another, but if you do want to then consider that the NHL does not rule on suspensions by which hit gets the loudest outcry from the media and the fans.

[/quote

7h6oz69]

I am amazed by the difference in number of comments and articles nationwide regarding Harrison vs. the number written about the Browns returning McCoy to the game. Which was more of a harm to player safety? Hitting a QB high or putting an obviously dazed player back into a game without checking him out? Shows us where the people really stand.....player safety is a facade

**BradshawsHairdresser** · 12-15-2011, 04:25 PM

Re: Harrison- One Game Suspension

Originally posted by steeler_fan_in_t.o.

I am amazed by the difference in number of comments and articles nationwide regarding Harrison vs. the number written about the Browns returning McCoy to the game. Which was more of a harm to player safety? Hitting a QB high or putting an obviously dazed player back into a game without checking him out? Shows us where the people really stand.....player safety is a facade

Harrison- One Game Suspension

Harrison- One Game Suspension

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