By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://mobile.sites.post-gazette.com/sports/
Bob Donaldson/Post-GazetteSteelers linebacker James Farrior tries to get linebacker James Harrison to smile at the cameras photographing the team's drills at practice Thursday.
James Harrison, who returned to the Steelers Thursday after a one-day absence, has filed an appeal of his $75,000 fine.
One day after the NFL fined Harrison for what it termed an illegal hit of Cleveland wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, agent Bill Parise filed the appeal Wednesday with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who will rule on it.
Besides getting support in the appeal from Steelers president Art Rooney, who Thursday called the hit a legal one, Parise said he has been told it was the largest fine the NFL ever issued for a hit.
Harrison on Tuesday threatened to retire over the fine but withdrew that idea and returned to the Steelers after coach Mike Tomlin gave him the day off Wednesday.
Harrison, who did not talk to the media Thursday, did issue a statement after practice through the Steelers. In it, he maintains his hit was legal and that he was fined for something he said afterward.
Here is his full statement:
"After having some time to think about the situation, talk to my family, friends and the Steelers organization, I have come to the decision that I cannot and will not let the league office stop me from playing the game that I love.
"I am all for player safety and I agree that some of the rule changes that have been made are good for the game. As far as my situation, I believe the hit against Massaquoi for which I was fined was legal and well within the scope of the rules. I feel the real reason for the fine was the statement I made after the game wherein I said that I try to hurt people, not injure them. In the same sentence I attempted to clarify my meaning. But I understand that my comments leave a lot open to interpretation. The statement was not well-thought out and I did not adequately convey my meaning.
"I apologize for making that statement and I want it to be known that I have never and would never intentionally try to injure any player. I believe that my statements, along with the hits that happened in other games this past Sunday and the subsequent media storm, are the reasons I was fined on what I know was a clean hit.
"I will not retire from the NFL. I will continue to play the game with the same passion, intensity and focus with which I have always played and let the chips fall where they may. I have never given up, quit or walked away from anything in my life and I am not about to start now. I will not let down my family, friends or the Steelers Nation."
For more on the Steelers, read the blog, Ed Bouchette On the Steelers at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Ed Bouchette: ebouchette@post-gazette.com.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10295/1097193-66.stm#ixzz135LEmARx
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