James Harrison must like being fined

Harrison likes to scratch "Big Ben is Gay" in the Heinz Field turf.

 

Harrison's obligatory apology ...

I’ll start by offering my apologies for some of the words that I said during the four days in May that Men’s Journal was invited to my house to discuss what the NFL has recently been portraying as their attempts at ‘player safety’ rules and regulations, and to cover my everyday workout routine.


I did make comments about my teammates when I was talking about the emotional Super Bowl loss, but the handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation and the context was lost. Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben’s or Rashard’s fault that we lost the Super Bowl. That would be ridiculous. Both Ben and Rashard are great players and great teammates. Clearly the entire team bears responsibility for the loss, me included. It was a team effort and a team loss. My teammates know me well, and hopefully understand the things I said were not meant to accuse them of the loss. We all have discussed several things that went wrong in the Super Bowl since that day. What I do apologize for and take full responsibility for is for speaking in such a candid manner to someone outside the team.


I also need to make clear that the comment about Roger Goodell was not intended to be derogatory against gay people in any way. It was careless use of a slang word and I apologize to all who were offended by the remark. I am not a homophobic bigot, and I would never advocate intolerance of gay people.


As far as the photo that was shown on air yesterday, collecting guns is a hobby of mine, and I advocate the responsible use of firearms. I believe in the right to bear arms. I like to go to the shooting range. I like to hunt. I like to fish. I could just as easily have posed with my fishing poles but it obviously wouldn’t be an interesting picture for the magazine. I am not promoting gun violence by posing for that photo. There are also other photos in the magazine story that were not shown on air yesterday – including me with my sons, with my mom and as a kid.


Unfortunately, the above items and other comments have detracted from the original purpose of the story – a position I have been advocating for some time now. If player safety is the NFL’s main concern, as they say it is, they are not going about it in an effective manner. There’s nothing about extending the season or issuing exorbitant fines on defensive players that makes any shift toward the prevention of injury to players.


I believe that the league may have been feeling increasing pressure about injuries and concussions last year, and that they panicked and put rules in place that weren’t fully thought out. I’m not advocating more flags and fines, I’m just saying that the current rules are not completely fair, and I don’t believe in the way that the league is handling their position as overseer of the NFL and the well-being of its players.


As far as the character and reputation hits I may suffer as a result of my comments in the article, I’ll take those hits and more if it brings increased attention to the re-examination and installation of rules and regulations that would create a real impact on player safety.

 

"I'm sorry I acted like an idiot, again. I really didn't mean it."

 

You notice he didn't apologize for criticizing Goodell, just for his choice of words while doing so.

Of course, the asshole blames the reporter instead of himself for running his mouth about his teammates.

 

Yep, always the media's fault .... hope the magazine releases transcripts, if not recordings.

 

I wonder who wrote that? Do you think it was the PR staff of the Steelers? I doubt that in a lockout.

 

I assume his agent or somebody in his agent's office. Of course, his agent dropped the ball in the first place if he didn't advise Harrison against spending four days with Men's Journal in the first place. He should know that given that much time, Harrison was bound to say something stupid.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11196/1160567-66.stm

Gerry Dulac in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Harrison and other recent incidents damaging the Steelers' image.

A few things jumped out at me.

Gerry does need to check his facts a little better. Santonio Holmes was traded, not released.

I understand using LaVar Arrington's comments since he is from Pittsburgh (though I haven't been able to take Arrington seriously since I find out he tried to pass himself off as having grown up in a rough area), but who the heck is Ervin Baldwin?

Lawrence Timmons had to make the team cringe a little with his comments, basically suggesting tolerance for drunk driving.

"We should abide by the rules, but at the same time we're all human," Steelers inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons said in an interview on Sporting News Radio in Toronto. "We shouldn't drive drunk, I understand that totally. And we shouldn't make certain derogatory comments, either. But we are human, and we make mistakes sometimes."

 

Of all the Harrisons, perhaps our least-loved president.

 

The fault of the media is in quoting and commenting on the rantings of idiots as if what they say matters.

 

The author of the story, Paul Solotaroff (who penned the "Power and Glory" story that is in BASW of the century) was on the radio saying he and Harrison spoke on the phone and he told Harrison to say whatever he had to say to make nice with his teammates, including that it was all Solotaroff's fault.

 

I didn't read it that way at all. I read it as an acknowledgement that Hines Ward made a mistake by driving drunk, just as James Harrison made a mistake with those comments -- or really, any comments.