[Men's Journal] James Harrison rips Goodell, Roethlisberger in article

He's losing his mind.

My alma mater got $100,000 from me and you don't see me acting like a lunatic.

 

Harrison is somewhat of an attention w****. He was threatening to retire from the league if they changed the rules on the defensive side. I dont care if you have to play flag football, that man wasnt retiring with the money he's making.

Only a complete idiot would be naive enough to think this isnt going to stirr up some drama in the locker room.

 

Also said that Brian Cushings is juiced out of his mind.

I hope he gets fined or suspended for these comments.

 

Aren't most good linebackers kind of nutty?

I've never seen a really happy linebacker, unless he puts some guy in a gurney with a neck brace.

 

He spoke mostly the truth, but went the wrong way about it.

 

I love James Harrison to death but criticizing your teammates after you recorded a whopping one tackle in the Super Bowl? C'mon now.

He should have just stuck with the Goodell diatribe. At least that was funny and at least somewhat on point.

 

Would the Steelers consider releasing him? I don't think they would take kindly to those words about their franchise QB.

 

Not a chance. Ben is notoriously disliked in the locker room (at least before his second sexual assault allegation and subsequent ass-kissing/PR-friendly campaign he's put on since) so it's not like the organization will be shocked to hear a teammate calling him out.

Was this is appropriate? Was this the right way to do it? Absolutely not and the Steelers will address this with fines and/or in-house disciplinary action (once the lockout ends and they're actually permitted to address the issue). Just don't expect anything crazy to happen here.

 

For the Lazy:

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I'm not 100% sure the NFL is just gonna let this go. Not only did he call the Commissioner (his boss by proxy) every name under the Sun, but he also called him a derogatory slur for gay people AND posed holding guns. For a league that is trying to clean up its image, these are two MAJOR no-no's. Let's not forget the fallout that occurred when Kobe used the same slur....and that was just in a game-time situation in the heat of the moment. This was a calculated, intentional usage of the word directed towards the head honcho of the league. I don't think you're viewing this in the same light as the rest of the country, honestly. I'm thinking a HEFTY fine, and possibly a multi-game suspension could be coming for Mr. Harrison. The Rooneys don't put up with **** like this, and this off-season has seen their team reputation get sullied first with Mendenhall's tweets, then Hines Ward's DUI, and now this. Big Ben still isn't out of the water yet for his actions either....remember that.

 

We know he would be in serious trouble with Dictator Stern. I actually hope the NFL comes down hard on him for his comments.

 

You're reading too much into this. Sure, some of his comments were over-the-top and he'll be held accountable for that but at the end of the day he still has a point: the league is overly sensitive to this safety issue and they're putting waayyyyyy too much thought into policing something they can't realistically (or practically) expect to be enforced. Not only that, but the Rooney's believe (as Harrison has proclaimed) that he's been singled out by the league. Yeah, he'll be punished for all the crazy **** he said but the core issue still remains -- and the Rooney's will stand by him.

And nobody cares about Mendenhall's tweets anymore, the Ward DUI very well might get reduced and Ben has done everything he's been asked to -- he's well on his way to earning his golden star again. Trust me, the situation here is the furthest thing from dire.

 

I think he mixed up goodell with commissar Stern.

 

NEW YORK -- Heavily fined Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison calls NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a "crook" and a "devil," among other insults, in an interview with Men's Journal.

He even rips teammates Rashard Mendenhall ("fumble machine") and Ben Roethlisberger for their performances in this past season's Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers.

"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," he said, referring to Roethlisberger's two interceptions in the game. Harrison had one tackle, a sack, in the loss against the Packers.

Harrison called Roethlisberger on Wednesday morning to explain his comments. Roethlisberger told ESPN's Merril Hoge that Harrison said the writer of the article twisted many of his comments around and it was not his intention to criticize the quarterback. Roethlisberger told Hoge that he is taking Harrison at his word and that their relationship is "fine."

Mendenhall didn't take offense to Harrison's comments when he posted a response Wednesday on Twitter.

"And lastly, I dont have a problem with what @jharrison9292 said because I know him. But I want you guys 2 check this out," he wrote, providing a link to ESPN.com's 2010 rushing statistics page, which showed he fumbled just twice during the regular season in 324 rushing attempts.

Harrison, the 2008 AP Defensive Player of the Year hasn't been shy about ripping the league after he was docked $100,000 for illegal hits last season. In the August issue of Men's Journal, which has Harrison on the cover holding two pistols, his rants against Goodell reach another level of wrath.

"If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn't do it," Harrison told the magazine. "I hate him and will never respect him."

His other descriptions of the commissioner include an anti-gay slur, "stupid," "puppet" and "dictator."

Harrison told ESPN that the interview took place "in April or May sometime."

If the Steelers had defeated the Packers in the Super Bowl, Harrison said, he would have whispered in Goodell's ear during the trophy ceremony: "Why don't you quit and do something else, like start your own league in flag football?"

Harrison also questions whether a black player is punished more for a hard hit on a white player than the opposite.

"I slammed Vince Young on his head and paid five grand, but just touched Drew Brees and that was 20," Harrison said. "You think black players don't see this s--- and lose all respect for Goodell?"

Harrison also criticizes other NFL executives, Patriots-turned-commentators Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi ("clowns"), and Houston's Brian Cushing ("juiced out of his mind").

Bruschi is an analyst on ESPN's "NFL Live."

Cushing, when asked to respond to Harrison's remarks, told KRIV-TV in Houston: "I'll pray for him."

While Harrison criticized some of his teammates, he had high praise for Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.

"He's the one guy in football I respect absolutely, 'cause he's spiritual and lives it like he talks it. You know, he gets more flags than anyone on our team but never gets fined for nothin'. He's so polite and talks so softly that he could tell Goodell to kiss his a--, and Goodell would smile and say thank you," he told the magazine.

Beyond the insults, Harrison makes some serious points about what he believes are the league's misguided attempts to increase safety. He explains how non-guaranteed contracts make players more likely to hit high, because in the short term, a torn knee ligament is more costly than a concussion.

And Harrison suggests the real way to prevent head injuries is to shorten the season to 14 games, start offseason workouts later and trim the length of training camp so "we're not bangin' heads so much in August; that's where the brain trauma comes from."

In a statement released Wednesday, Steelers president Art Rooney II said he hasn't read the article or spoken to Harrison. "We will discuss the situation at the appropriate time, when permitted once the labor situation is resolved," he said.


http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/sto...elers-blasts-roger-goodell-magazine-interview

 

I don't think he ever plays in the NFL again.

 

I have no problem calling him a dirty player.

The only player in the NFL dirtier is Cortland Finnegan.


This is just a classic case of ignorance in the spotlight.

 

I thought about these scenes, when I see James Harrison pop up in the news for saying something completely off the wall. Like I said earlier, it seems like some of the better linebackers are a little bit on nuttier side. Anger issues.


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Thank you James. Dunno why the hell so many (especially in the media) are complaining about this. Sports-wise, these summer months are boring as hell. The entertainment is much appreciated.

 

Say what you want. Harrison is an idiot plain and simple. Nobody is out to get him. If he wants to not be fined anymore, he needs to go back to form tackling school and learn how not to lead with his head.

Look, I'm as big a Cushing supporter as there is. I think you could say Cushing is a little nutty, but had he been the one saying these things, I would retire the jersey I have of his and want him off the team.