Jame Harrison

[greebs]

good to see the nfl suspended the headhunter for a game. doubt it will change the way he plays but at least they are sending a message that they are tired of his dirty play. I think a better method to fix his mentality would be to make him switch to one of the old fashioned single bar face masks on his helmet like kickers used to use many years ago. betcha james would be a little less likely to use his helmet the way he does now.

[nofishfisherman]

I say give him a leather helmet. He'll learn quick enough then.

I'd also tell him that the next illegal hit will cost him 3 games, the next after that will cost him 6 games, then 9 game, and so on. Up to this point he has been completly unaplogetic about the hits and refuses to change the way he plays. I think if you hit him hard enough with longer and longer suspensions then the team will have more insentive to get involved and start policing his hits on their own. So far the teams don't care because the player is the only one who is punished. What does the team care when the player is fined $50,000?

I think the league is 100% correct on trying to get these types of hits out of the game. They are shortening peoples careers and lives and I don't think they add anything to the game. You can still deliver a big hit and do it legally and safely.

[JosMN]

I totally agree with both of you. This guy just doesn't care. I dont care if its a spur of the moment hit, but he ALWAYS leads with his head.

But the hits on quarterbacks, even a perfect "close coil contact continue" hit on them not leading with the head, its a flag. That I DO NOT agree with. They are protected way way to much now days. You can't really even touch them anymore. If you watch the back judge he is already reaching for the flag before a QB is hit. And usually, out it comes.

But, on the other hand, I cant stand Harrison. He has no respect for anybody but himself.

[mrklean]

Gonna be funny when he leads with his head again and he is the one who gets knocked out wish he would have gotten 2 games

[2k1stang]

5 illegal hits on a QB in the last 3 seasons. He's also been fined twice for unnecessary roughness on other hits. Obviously he doesn't learn.

I did think this was interesting, and I was previously unaware of it. "The Steelers were the only team in the league to vote against the new collective bargaining agreement in August, citing the lack of a proper appeals process regarding fines and suspensions as one of their main concerns."

[FISHINGURU]

Good for Harrison, playing football the way it should be played. I'm totally sick of all the new rules, it's making football not even fun to watch anymore.

If you don't want to get hit put on a skirt and start cheering.

[nofishfisherman]

You don't think football is fun to watch just because its illegal to hit a defenseless player in the head? Its not about not getting hit, its about not getting your brain smashed into the side of your skull.

I can agree that they protect the QB too much with the no hits to the legs, etc but I think they should protect the head of any defensless player. We already lose a ton of players every year to concussions. If it keeps increasing at the current rate we'll be watching the backups to the backups playing most of the year. How fun is that going to be?

[2k1stang]

Good for Harrison, playing football the way it should be played. I'm totally sick of all the new rules, it's making football not even fun to watch anymore.

If you don't want to get hit put on a skirt and start cheering.

I can partially agree with you, but I listened to a football show on Sirius/XM yesterday that made a good point. These guys play until they are 35 or maybe 40. They're halfway through their lives at that point.

Don't get me wrong. I love seeing a guy get lit up by a defense.

[brian6715]

Good for Harrison, playing football the way it should be played. I'm totally sick of all the new rules, it's making football not even fun to watch anymore.

If you don't want to get hit put on a skirt and start cheering.

You can't be serious? In this day and age, when we are learning how much brain damage these full contact sports cause, there has to be some sort of rules/regulations on this. Look at Derk Boogaard, it basically killed him. Sydney Crosby is contemplating retirement (at what, 24 years old?)

If you want a league of idiots battling it out and lowering their IQ's until their knuckles are back dragging on the ground, something isn't right in your head. Quarterbacks have to be smart in this league in order to successful... there is so much more to the game than huge hits. If you want that type of thing, watch boxing.

[Getanet]

If Harrison or his agents are smart they might be able to argue that all the hits he has delivered with his head prevents him from fully comprehending the rule that it's illegal to head-hunt - and thus he should no longer be fined or suspended in the future.

I will be shocked if Harrison doesn't have some serious neurological issues by the time he's 50, if he makes it that long.

[zepman]

Good for Harrison, playing football the way it should be played. I'm totally sick of all the new rules, it's making football not even fun to watch anymore.

If you don't want to get hit put on a skirt and start cheering.

+1

[greebs]

is this suspension really a new rule? I played hs football back in early 80's and spearing wasn't legal back then either. isn't intentional helmet to helmet contact basically a form of spearing?

[reinhard1]

i wonder what the rules say when a guy pounds a guys head on the turf a few times and then stomps on the guys arm when he's still down. sounds more like proffesional wrestling than football. good luck.

[TR21HP]

It's been said time and time again, it's all about the money. Do you honestly think the owners care one bit about their players? Basically they are just protecting their investment and that's all players are or have ever been to management. Your big draw goes down and you lose games which equates to lost revenue.It hasn't changed one bit since I played in the 70's as far as commitment to the players by owners. Yes spearing is illegal but any of us who played college ball were taught to tackle that way, put your helmet in his chest and drive through the head. Had a number of concussions and they are starting to be a minor problem now that I'm 60 but probably no different than any other man my age.

[Snag]

I think Harrison was more upright because McCoy was trying to throw it over his head. If he had the ball tucked and he hits him like that, then I would have an issue. How about the coaches not noticing the hit or ignoring it and putting him back in.

[Jim Uran]

I like the old rough and tough football days, these guys get paid plenty for their risk! Let them duke it out lol

[nofishfisherman]

I guess I'm surprised that a lot of you guys like seeing these guys get their brains turned into pudding. What do you guys get out of watching people sustain brain injuries?

I think people have some sort of misguided perception of the old rough and tough days. In the old days they played without helmets or with leather helmets. Do you think defenders would intentionally lead with their head while making a tackle during the old "rough and tough" days.

The reality is the helmet to helmet hit is not some sort of relic of the rough and tough days, its a much more modern practice. If you guys do like to old rough and tough days why don't we bring back the close line tackle, the horse collar tackle, why don't we get rid of the face mask penalty, why don't we allow blows to the head of all kinds. Now that would be rough and tough.

To me the game doesn't lose anything when you take away a helmet to helmet hit. Big hits are still legal and some of the biggest hits are delivered legally with the shoulder pads (thats what they're there for). The only reason to use the helmet is when you want to try knocking someone out cold. In my opinion thats just not fun to watch.

I realize these guys get paid a lot of money but they are also dieing at a very young age. Do we as fans have the right to demand that these guys put themselves at a greater risk than already exists just beacuse we want to be entertain? Again I question the entertainment value of watching a guy gets his brained splattered inside his skill. The fact that some of you guys want it makes me a little sick. I think in 10-15-20 years from now we are going to see a lot of these guys getting pushed around in wheelchairs, drooling on themselves and not being able to hold a conversation with their children. The sad part is that they'll only be 40-50 years old when it happens.

[TR21HP]

These players choose to play this way not as a result of fans wanting to be entertained. In fact watch any football game, especially on defense, as 90% of the defensive backs won't or will not tackle period. All these changes have been put in place to keep the stars on the field longer and get more points. More points creates higher television ratings which relates to increased revenue and higher profits for the league. If you paid any attention to the collective bargaining proceedings this past spring you saw how much the owners cared about players, especially retired veterans as they were left out of most of the negotiations and received very little compensation in the agreement. Football is an extremely violent game played by violent people, always has been and always will be.

Until you have been on the field of a pro football game you can't believe how fast this game is you have very little time to react in most situations. To watch comfortably from your sofa and watch replays in slow motion may be entertainment but it doesn't even come close to reality.

[simple1]

I for one think you have to protect the players. Its one thing to have a hard time walking and quite another to not remember who you are by time your 60.

[Antero]

In fact watch any football game, especially on defense, as 90% of the defensive backs won't or will not tackle period.

You obviously get this fact from watching the Vikes d backs !

[TR21HP]

Hardly Antero. Most D backs are too worried about how their braids look, how many wrist bands they have on and if their towel is still hanging properly after a play. The NFL has never had such great athletes playing football than now but they are just that- great athletes playing football.

I swear I'd never bring this up because of the media shove but why do you think Tim Tebow is doing as well as he is? Because he's a football player first and an athlete secondly.He was never a gifted quarterback but he understands the game and uses it to win games. A lot of the players in the NFL presently have never had to use anything but their athleticism. It got them through high school and college but it is an entirely different game in the pros. If you spend the time to think you're done. And yes, the Vikes d.b.'s are deplorable.

[Antero]

It's absurd to say that 90% will not ever tackle, if that was the case the scores in every game would be astronomical. I agree that some do not tackle well and that some try and avoid tackling (Deon).

[JosMN]

I think its absurd also saying that 90% don't tackle. Hard hitting defensive backs you say? Just to name a few:

Ed Reed

Chris Harris

Brandon Meriweather

Benard Pollard

Jermaine Phillips

Roy Williams

Antoine Winfield

Charles Woodson

Bob Sanders - in his prime

Sheldon Brown

Laron Landry

Brian Dawkins

Troy Polamalu

Ronnie FNNN Lott, perhaps the best of all time!

Most of all starting NFL Free and Strong safties are hard hitting guys.

You need to get out of your slow "Mean" Joe Greene and Richard Butkus era. They might have been tough nosed, but you are right - they didnt have near the athletic ability.

[Musky Buck]

Speed kills and thrills. When Derek Boogaard skates 1/2 speed his hits are half as hard, at full throttle you're in big trouble(RIP), these guys and there size with their speed and strength, no wonder many pass routes don't go across the middle. Is steroid testing conducted all year long, a few of these guys seem to have roid rage goin even after the game is long over.

[TR21HP]

Steroid testing is done twice a year to every player but HGH is not tested at this point but will be. My Chiropractor, who played professionally with the same team I did is a forensic chiropractor ,one of only a few around ,and has said the average NFL hit has the same effect as being in a 30 mph car crash. As far as those safeties listed few are great tacklers, they hit hard so they can be featured on Sports Center but how many times do you see each weekend the big hit only knocks the runner to the side and he continues for additional yards. I am not relating to the old days and if you read an earlier post I am saying todays players are the greatest athletes to ever play the game they are just not that good technically, they've never had to be. Of all those safeties you listed maybe Ed Reed and possibly Polamolu belongs in the same breath as Ronnie Lott. That's not based on watching television in your living room that's from playing against that monster.