Get A Grip James

Damn damn damn James!

I’ve supported James Harrison through a lot of harassment at the hands of the NFL.

 

I’ve thought that Roger Goodell has come down way too hard on Harrison for his style of play, which has led to numerous fines from Goodell. I’ve thought that Harrison has been unfairly portrayed as a dirty player and reckless. I’ve though that he’s been a whipping boy for Goodell and used as an example of what happens to players for reckless behavior.

 

However, if Goodell and the NFL decide to fine him this time, I wouldn’t have an issue with it at all.

 

Harrison went all sorts of crazy in the latest edition of Men’s Journal magazine. In his highly candid interview entitled “Confessions Of An NFL Hit Man” Harrison blacked out on Roger Goodell as well as various teammates of his and the perception that his fines are racially driven.

 

Here are just a few excerpts:

 

If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn’t do it (on Goodell)

 

Fumble machine (on Rashard Mendenhall)

 

Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again. Or hand the ball off and stop trying to act like Peyton Manning. You ain’t that and you know it, man; you just get paid like he does (on Ben Roethlisberger)

 

I slammed Vince Young on his head and paid five grand, but just touched Drew Brees and that was 20… You think black players don’t see this s— and lose all respect for Goodell? (On race being a factor in his fines)

 

He also called Goodell such nice words as “Crook,” Devil,” “Stupid,” “Puppet,” “Dictator,” and a anti-gay slur.

 

He also called NFL analysts and former New England Patriots Tedy Brushi and Rodney Harrison “Clowns,” and said that Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing “Juiced out of his mind.”

 

James Harrison wasn't exactly nice in Men's Journal article.

Damn damn, damn James (yeah I just went Andre 3000 on you).

 

There are certain ways to exert your frustration and anguish towards your boss, but the way Harrison went about it was completely unacceptable.

 

Harrison was way off base in his comments, all of them. Do I believe that Goodell has been a bit of a pawn for the owners in this entire lockout? Of course, they pay him. However, there are ways of letting your opinion of him be well known.

 

Calling him a racial slur and a bevy of childish words isn’t one of them.

 

Harrison should understand that this is a business just as much as anyone. I understand his frustration with the fines and the lockout, but to get in a national publication and go in on the man that runs your league was completely wrong.

 

Harrison’s complaints and accusations were unwarranted honestly. The idea that his fines were racially charged would make sense if the hit on Drew Brees wasn’t his 4^th infraction of the season while the hit on Young was his first. Goodell has been just as hard on white players as he has on black players (see Roethlisberger). It doesn’t matter what race you are if you mess up under his watch on or off the field then you will be punished.

 

Speaking of Roethlisberger, why go at him or Mendenhall now?

 

Where was this talk two years ago when Roethlisberger’s mind was off in lala land? Why talk now after he took responsibility for the loss in Dallas and has seemed to make a change in the locker room? Plus why go at Mendenhall’s issues on the field when he carried the offense at times last year?

 

Why not take responsibility for not stopping the Packers in the Super Bowl, you know like defenses are supposed to do? Where was the criticism of poor secondary play, pass coverage, and lack of pressure on Aaron Rodgers? Were we all not watching the same game James?

 

How should Big Ben feel about Harrison after the release of the article?

(Side note: you know what I really hate about these articles? It’s that the guy talking smack always retracts what he says. If you meant it James stand by it. Don’t get all shook once your QB calls you up and asks what’s up. Be the guy holding two guns in the picture at the intro of the story and stand by what you said. )

 

This is the last thing that the Steelers needed this offseason with the Mendenhall tweets about Osama Bin Laden and Hines Ward’s DUI arrest. Harrison’s comments come at a bad time and further hurt the image of what the Steelers stand for.

 

If I’m Dan Rooney I’m at my wits end with these constant off the field issues and I would start reaching into some pockets.

 

In the case of Harrison I think Goodell will reach into his once the new CBA is done and the NFL is operational once again. He, once again, has to make an example of Harrison and let players know that there are ways of letting your opinions be known and there are ways of going about them.

 

Hopefully Harrison learns this lesson and puts better thought into his words so next time he wont come off looking childish and nasty.

 

I can’t even defend him for that.

Same Old Steelers

We should be used to this by now.

To steal a phrase from Rex Ryan… same old Steelers.

 

While Ryan and his New York Jets have set their status quo at just making the AFC title game, the Pittsburgh Steelers status quo is winning it. Lets just say that they follow through on that more times than not.

 

The Steelers defeated the Jets 24-19 to move on to their 8^th Super Bowl, tied for the most appearances ever with the Dallas Cowboys. They did so in the way that the Steelers always do things, run the football and hit you in the mouth.

 

They jumped on the Jets from the get go with a 15 play, 66 yard drive that was capped off by Rashard Mendenhall who was a horse in the early going. The nearly nine minute drive set the tone for the Steelers who dominated the first 30 minutes of play. Despite an early Ben Roethlisberger interception the offense was a well-oiled machine. Mendenhall led a rushing attack that went for 131 yards in the first half, 95 from him and had the Jets defense gasping for air.

 

Even without star rookie center Mike Pouncey the Steelers controlled the line of scrimmage and outgained the Jets 210-55.

 

Defensively… well… it was the Steelers come on what do you expect? They held the Jets to three 3 & out and shut down any glimmer of a run game that the Jets thought that they had. They shut down former pal Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards and created 6 points for themselves thanks to an Ike Taylor sack and forced fumble that William Gay scooped up and ran in to give them a 24-0 lead. Total dominance.

 

It was so dominant that the Steelers sort of checked out of the game in the third quarter and gave the Jets life. After a field goal late in the half the Jets showed signs by cutting the lead to 24-10 on a Sanchez to Holmes connection. It lasted until midway through the fourth quarter where the Steelers showed their muscle and held for a goal line stand to eventually end Jets chances.

 

The Steelers now head to Dallas with a chance to add to their record number of Super Bowls (6) and for a little bit more.

 

This is now the era of the black & gold (or black & yellow thanks to Wiz Khalifa). The Steelers have moved past the Patriots for the title of the Superior franchise in the new millennium and past the Cowboys as the NFL’s number one franchise.

Big Ben has a chance to add to his legacy.

 

A win in Dallas at Super Bowl 45 would further cement their legacy and move them to a higher plateau on the NFL legends tower leaving the 49ers and Cowboys in a cloud of dust.

 

For Ben Roethlisberger another ring would equal him with Tom Brady and would give him a claim to the decades best quarterback. Despite his high profile off the field issues Roethlisberger is one of the game’s elite quarterbacks and has a chance to equal Brady in championships before the age of 30. It would put him in the rare company as being one of a handful of QB’s with three titles (Montana, Bradshaw, Aikman and Brady).  Not bad for a guy who at the beginning of the year didn’t know when he was going to get on the field.

 

For coach Mike Tomlin it would put him in a class all by himself as well.

 

He would be the only coach to win two Super Bowls before the age of 40 and you could make a case that he could be the Steelers best coach in their history.

 

Tomlin is one of only 3 coaches whom the Steelers have hired in the last 41 years (Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Tomlin), yet his rate of success has been much higher than his two compatriots.

 

Tomlin won his first Super Bowl in his second year on the job; it took Noll 6 years and Cowher 14. Tomlin has six postseason wins through 3+ years when it took Cowher 11 years to reach that total and Noll 7 years. What Tomlin has done is take the Steelers brand of football and made it better. In the process he can put himself in a class all by his lonesome as the league’s number one coach elevating past Bill Belichick.

 

This is what the Steelers are and have been for the last 40 years. They are a model of consistency who just keep on winning no matter if Dennis Dixon is under center, an unproven Mike Wallace is their number one receiver or their head coach was non-existent when Noll lead the Steelers to their first playoff win in 1972.

 

They do it with little flash and lots of hard work, resembling the town in which they play. The end result is a franchise that teams like the Jets strive to be like at the end of the day, because while the Jets reached their level of normalcy, the Steelers are only at a level beneath what they’re used to.

 

Dallas, Texas in two weeks on the game’s biggest stage with the Vince Lombardi trophy hanging in the balance and the Steelers will be right there. Just like its always been, same old Steelers.