The talk of the NFL today is about the hits that LB James Harrison laid on a couple Browns players in the teams 28-10 win over Cleveland Sunday. The question now comes down to if a fine will be levied on Harrison, or even a suspension?
Jason LaCanfora tweeted the following about the helmet to helmet hits from Sunday not only about Harrison, but about the hit to the helmet on DeSean Jackson Sunday in Philly.
“Ray Anderson, VP of football ops, tells me suspensions could be coming immediately for helmet-to-helmet hits, even for 1st time offenders.”
Now Harrison has been known for knockout blows, but to face a suspension? I can see a fine for the hit on Josh Cribbs, a player Harrison knows well from Kent State and considers a friend, but the second hit on wide out Mohamed Massaquoi wasn’t leading with his helmet, and it makes no sense for the league to lay down a suspension or fine for the hit.
Mike Tomlin said in his postgame that he believes both shots were clean, and Harrison himself doesn’t think he should be fined. If LaCanfora’s words turn true from Anderson, the league has a real firestorm on its hands on what players can and cannot do.
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mark
October 18, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Honestly, if Harrison is suspended, there is a real problem with officiating and discipline in the NFL. Without a flag, there should not be a suspension. If the tapes are reviewed, and helmet-to-helmet was intentional, then a fine is appropriate. When a player leads with his shoulder, there is bound to be helmet contact. It may be a fine line, but protecting players is a must. If an official can see/not see holding or judgemental calls like pass interference, then throwing a flag on helmet-to-helmet hits becomes an after the fact fine/suspension. Whats next, taking away points because of a holding call that wasnt flagged, but was seen on an official review 2 days later? NO flag,no suspension! A fine for an intentional hit is justified.
Adam
October 18, 2010 at 2:43 pm
I do recall Cribbs making a comment to the sound of “what are we supposed to be scared of playing the big bad steelers” apparently the answer is yes bro
STEEL Q
October 18, 2010 at 9:23 pm
What the hell is this “touch football”!!!
Ed Burns
October 18, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Harrison shouldn’t get suspended for the hit on Cribbs. Cribbs was a RB on the play… The Defenseless Receiver rule doesn’t apply on a keeper left run… I watched the replay a few times, and Harrison lead with his shoulder on the Cribbs hit. Same with the hit on Massaquoi. No flag should = no fine or suspension, but Roger Goodell’s the Commissioner… He suspends players who don’t get charged… I think he’s dumb enough to fine Harrison, and he’s possibly dumb enough to suspend him because the scrutiny of the hits is damaging to the choir boy image he wants for the NFL. To everyone who’s complaining that it’s too violent, out of control, and want felony charges filed on players for hits, if you never played it, and don’t understand the nature of the game, DON’T WATCH IT. It’s a collision sport, which they’re trying to legislate the danger element out of it…
jay
October 18, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I agree with all you guys….THE NVA National Vagina League is what it’s becoming! I blame a lot of things and there’s a lot of synergy involved here but one thing that stands out to me is the pass happy nature of the league has warranted the perceived need for this type of nonsense legislation! I feel that once again it’s the asshole few who spoil it for the good many (i.e., Brandon Merriweather)….His was the only observable and noticeable and OBVIOUS head lead of all the “questionable” hits on Sunday. This is the same guy who kicked someone on the head in college. This fucking crow, asshole that he is, has been like this his whole career. When I was dating and a girl said no, you stopped what you were doing because that’s how you were taught but then you read about these few assholes who rape people and then you see these no mean no campaigns which insult my intelligence. I know what no means they taught me that on sesame street! I don’t need a commercial with two shaded profiles with the first one saying, “N…” and the second one saying, “O…” and together they say, “NO!” This also (should) insult any true football fans intelligence too! It’s pathetic. And please don’t respond with some analogous, “Ben was told no, blah, blah, blah…” Last I checked, she was wearing a shirt that said, “Down to Fuck!” Sesame Street taught us how to read too!
MRB
October 19, 2010 at 7:55 am
You people are hilarious!
How many times has Harrison been guilty of cheap shots going back to their last Super Bowl.
He is a thug and someone on from another team should take him out for the sake of the League.
Just listen to his comments about hurting people; he has no remorse.
The Tony
October 19, 2010 at 8:58 am
Honestly, who is able to take out the silverback in the league? I cant think of anyone?
jay
October 19, 2010 at 2:46 pm
why dont you try it mrb?
Adam
October 19, 2010 at 2:50 pm
MRB—-go the hell away you ass clown, we did not ask your opinion.
NFL Fan
October 19, 2010 at 3:47 pm
I’m a Steelers fan, and I’m all for hard-hitting, body-crushing football, but I am definitely not for killing people, which is what these helmet-to-helmet hits can do. Every-time I watch the replays of Harrison’s hits on the Cleveland Clowns, it is blatantly obvious that he did it intentionally so as to take out their star players. If you say otherwise, you are obviously showing your bias. If somebody hit Rapist-berger or Ward like that and took them out of the game, we Steelers fans would be the first to whine about it.
Also, for Tomlin to say that those were clean hits shows that he secretly supports this head-hunting practice, and he should be suspended/fined as well-I hate to say it.
To Mark: Just because there was no flag, doesn’t mean it wasn’t wrong.
mark
October 20, 2010 at 5:56 am
Ok NFL fan.No flag-no foul doesnt make it right. I see what you mean by that, however is the league going to review every play after the fact? No. There are enough refs/line judges on the field to make calls that impact the game, right? Well, how did they “miss” this one? They constantly “miss” holding calls on James Harrison, 2 weeks ago the Steelers had 11 penalties for over 90 yards, but this week they had 4 penalties. See where I am going? Refs/umps/LJ can make the calls if and when they want to. The hits by Harrison were not flagged because the stripes close to the action did NOT see him lead with his head. Missed calls? Then the league should go back and really review ALL plays and throw flags on Tuesdays and take points off the board. Sounds ridiculous right? It is. Harrison makes a good point now. He ,as well as many others Im sure, do NOT know what is fair or foul anymore.
NFL Fan
October 20, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Mark,
I understand what you are trying to say, but holding calls are a very different thing from turning yourself into a human missile. I don’t believe that every play should be reviewed-like you-but I do think that when it comes to an alleged head-to-head, I do think that there absolutely should be some review process, because when it comes to these types of hits, you can affect somebody’s life, not just their career/income.
Personally, I think the fine that Harrison has been ordered to pay was too light of a punishment. These guys make millions of dollars, so $75,000 dollars is nothing more than a drop in the bucket. Roethlisberger gets suspended for his alleged off the field actions, but Harrison blatantly ignores a rule (twice) that is meant to protect people’s lives on the field, and all he gets is a fine? What kind of crap is that? What kind of message does that send to the players/fans/kids?
Anyways, Go Steelers!!
jay
October 20, 2010 at 11:05 pm
First of all, you’re not allowed to call yourself a Steelers fan and also use terms like Rapist berger or whatever you said…We fans (Abbreviation for the word fanatic by the way) are allowed to retain some bias so long as we don’t go overboard….calling our QB rapist….clearly displays you have gone in the opposite direction of this and, in my opinion, seem soft.
Secondly, you seem leftist which is fine, this is still america but synonymous with leftist and all that peace and stuff is gentlemanly types of games…There are plenty of other than football types of sports to watch for you out there…If you’re so worried about players livelihoods, then do what most libs do and picket or protest the NFL’s current pension program for retired players…Now that’s a crime how they take care of their players….Please don’t come on these blogs and start talking about players’ welfare and safety because football is a violent game played by people who signed up for it….You sound scared, NFL Fan, might want to get a dog!
NFL Fan
October 21, 2010 at 10:20 pm
First of all Sparky, you will not dictate whether or not I am a fan–communists (leftist-dogs) do that sort of thing.
Secondly, because I am a loyal fan, I can say anything I damn well please about my team and its players (including our QB), I’ve more than earned that right! If you don’t like it, go whine to a Clowns fan about it!
I’m all for hard-hitting bone-cruching football, but I WILL NOT support players who play dirty, and break rules that could potentially end somebody’s life. If that makes me less of a fan in your eyes, then so be it, because I don’t give a rat’s $#*! what your opinion is of me.
I am trying to teach my children sportsmanship, values, and integrity, but when our team’s players (my children’s heroes) are getting away with stuff like Harrison, it counteracts everything I’ve taught. What he has done tells them, “it’s ok to play dirty as long as you don’t get caught.” If you can’t understand that, I don’t know what else to say to get through to you.
Oh, and trust me Jay, I’m not scared of some softheaded lib who’s masquerading as a conservative. You’ll just act superior, talk me to death, and tell me we need change.
No harm there–unless you get into office!!
One more thing, I already have a dog, he’s a pit-bull name Polamalu. Do you wanna meet him? I’m sure he’ll just LOVE you!
Go Steelers!!
The Tony
October 19, 2010 at 4:13 pm
The Massaquoi hit was in fact clean. look at the replay and the stills, he clearly leads with his arms. I am not trying to defend Harrison however, the hit on Cribbs was due to the bad angle that just so happened to occur. Cribbs was falling towards his side while Harrison was diving in. Do I think Harrison meant to hit Cribbs in the head? No, IMO I think that he was just making a play to stop Cribbs. Like Harrison says. “I want to hurt people, no injure them”.