The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com
January 21, 2011
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 15: Linebacker James Harrison #92 of the Pittsburgh Steelers rushes against offensive tackle Michael Oher #74 of the Baltimore Ravens during the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Heinz Field on January 15, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.(Getty Images)PITTSBURGH — The letter from the N.F.L. is taped to the wall beside James Harrison’s locker, an olive branch that gives no solace.
The N.F.L. fined Harrison, the Steelers linebacker and a leading defensive player of the year candidate, four times this season for a total of $125,000 for what it considered dangerous and banned hits to the head. The note, which came at the end of December, told Harrison that the priciest of them — $75,000 for a hit that knocked Cleveland Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi from an October game — was being reduced to $50,000. Harrison was unmoved.
“A token,” Harrison said of the reduction, adding that he took no satisfaction from it. “Not at all. I shouldn’t have been fined a dime for that hit.”
Harrison became the face of the league’s crackdown on hits to the head this season, an odd twist for a former defensive player of the year.
In recent weeks, as the Steelers have mounted their playoff run, leading to the A.F.C. championship game Sunday against the Jets, the focus has shifted again to Harrison’s play. He had 10 ½ sacks this season, making it the third year in a row he had at least 10 sacks, and he finished the regular season with 100 tackles. Harrison, 32, is indisputably one of the best linebackers in the N.F.L., but it is the other reputation he developed this season that troubles him still. Even as the fines have stopped, the smear on his reputation has lingered.
“Yeah, it bothers me,” Harrison said. “For the most part, all the way around, more people see and feel that I’m not a dirty player as opposed to those who do. They weren’t concentrating on how I played. I had 100 tackles this year, third year with 10 or more sacks. That’s not something they concentrated on.”
Sunday, in a game in which the Steelers have made no secret of the need for more pressure on Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez — they sacked him just once in the teams’ regular-season game — Harrison’s play will probably be critical. At 6 feet, he is compact and fearsome, allowing his scowl to paint the public picture of his personality. He does not talk much to the news media.
But Harrison is also playful about his persona. When he turned abruptly to face a reporter Thursday, he asked him, with a smile: “Did I scare you? Yeah, I did.” And despite the early bluster that the rules crackdown might force him to retire, Harrison said he knew there was a need to eliminate the head shots.
“There’s a need for rules,” he said. “You can’t go in there and hit someone in the head like you’re trying to injure someone. But you have to be able to interpret what is actually happening. When a guy is going to make a hit and he lowers his aiming point, and the guy lowers his head, and you still fine him. ...” His voice trailed off, and then he said: “The receiver is going to curl up. It’s not real cut and dried.”
Harrison then grew tired of talking about his troubles and cut off any more questions about them, demanding only topics relating to the Jets. He would leave the criticism to his teammates Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu, who have both fiercely defended Harrison and decried the N.F.L. Polamalu said player complaints about the fines had fallen on deaf ears.
“I think a lot of players have said a lot of things, and I guarantee he heard everything everybody said,” Polamalu told reporters in November. “But he’s got all the power, and that may be part of the problem, that there needs to be some type of separation of power, like our government.”
Later, after the crowd dispersed Thursday, Harrison motioned toward Polamalu’s locker just a few feet away.
“Troy has been outspoken, too, but he has that soft voice,” Harrison said. “He can get away with it. If I said that, they’d be fining me again.”
No comments:
Post a Comment