The steepest of the four fines the previous Steelers linebacker James Harrison incurred in 2010 stemmed from the vicious helmet-to-helmet strike he sent on Cleveland Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, knocking him out by using a concussion. The strike went devoid of penalty on the sphere, even so the N.F.L., intent on meting out stiffer self-control for violations of participant security, docked Harrison $seventy five,000 — a minimum of several of which, Harrison claimed with a podcast Thursday, was offset by his coach, Mike Tomlin.
Harrison, appearing on Barstool Sporting activities’s “Likely Deep” podcast, told his previous Pittsburgh teammate Willie Colon that Tomlin — who nonetheless coaches the Steelers — slipped him an envelope shortly after the good was levied.
“Dude, I’m telling you — seventy five,” Harrison mentioned, referencing the level of the wonderful. “And that i ain’t gonna lie for you: When that happened, right, the G-est point Mike Tomlin at any time did, he handed me an envelope after that. I ain’t gonna say what, but he handed me an envelope following that.”
Harrison recounted the story unprompted, soon after Colon asked him in regards to the heftiest high-quality he absorbed throughout his 15 N.F.L. seasons.
“Pay attention, on everything I like, on my daddy’s grave, I hit that male with about max fifty % of what I had,” Harrison claimed of Massaquoi. “And I just hit him for the reason that I desired him to Allow loose from the ball. If I'd realized they was gonna great me $seventy five,000, I would have made an effort to get rid of him.”
Harrison’s high-quality was afterwards lowered to $fifty,000. Even though Harrison didn't explicitly say exactly what the envelope contained, the mere insinuation that Tomlin compensated him in almost any way evoked comparison towards the so-referred to as Bountygate scandal, in which The brand new Orleans Saints’ coaching workers was resolute about A 3-calendar year period to have provided payouts to defensive players who wounded opponents, Based on a league investigation. The Saints’ coach, Sean Payton, didn't spend gamers himself, though the league suspended him for a year, in part, for not halting the process right after he was produced conscious of it.
It is unclear whether or not the league will discuss the make a difference with Harrison and Tomlin; a spokesman for the N.F.L. declined to touch upon Friday. League policies stipulate that teams and its customers are prohibited from shelling out a participant’s great.
In a press release, Steelers President Artwork Rooney II claimed he was positive that Harrison’s allegations are untrue. “I'm really certain practically nothing similar to this at any time happened,” Rooney reported. “I don't know why James would come up with a comment like this, http://ufotech.com.vn/members/a9vltjg245.515906/ but there is simply no basis for believing something such as this.”
Harrison on Friday posted a press release to his Instagram account that seemingly walked back his earlier remark. “Mike T. Has NEVER paid me for hurting another person or Looking to hurt someone or place a bounty on ANYBODY!” it read.
Harrison, along with the Hall of Fame security Troy Polamalu, was the snarling deal with of the Steelers’ protection within the 2000s, every time they won two Super Bowls. The league’s defensive player from the 12 months in 2008, Harrison created a name for administering violent hits that teetered within the boundaries of legality. After the strike on Massaquoi in 2010, Harrison and Tomlin argued that it absolutely was clear and didn’t benefit a fine. Tomlin, at some time, also explained he favored tougher penalties and rule alterations to improve player protection.
A member with the N.File.L.’s Competitiveness committee, Payton, as well as Saints’ Firm, have experienced a combative partnership Along with the league given that Bountygate, and it has only deepened, after the egregious non-call that very likely denied New Orleans an excellent Bowl berth following the 2018 season. Through a radio job interview on Thursday, Payton all but challenged N.File.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate the Steelers, stating he would be “shocked” If your league did and that folks “shouldn’t maintain their breath” waiting for it to do so.
“I do think what came about with us back again in 2011 in so numerous ways was a sham, and nonetheless there wasn’t lots we could do with it,” Payton mentioned on 105.7 FM in Baltimore. “The players were vindicated, but from the league or coaching standpoint, there is absolutely no union, there is absolutely no illustration.”
He extra, “That’ll be a thing that’s tucked absent or underneath the rug at Park Avenue. They’ll explore it briefly. Hear, don’t get me started out on that. I dropped $six million in salary, and honestly it absolutely was something which I’ll in no way certainly get over for the reason that I understand how it absolutely was handled And exactly how it had been run and the reasons driving it. That’s just the truth.”