James Harrison Gets 1-Game Suspension for McCoy Hit

Harrison is going to have to learn that he can’t make hits like that on league starters in the skill positions. The league office is just trying to protect offensive players while placating the media and others showing that its “tough” on concussions. It was the right call…

I can’t figure out Goodell, I really can’t. I see him trying to send a message, but he consistently does it in such a half-assed manner, it undermines said message.

Break a leg, Harrison. I dont mean that in a “good-luck on stage!” way.

Hose job, they are not consistent with any calls or fines. They are still men playing a mans game. They should have an outside arbitrator handle fines and appeals under approved guidelines.

Harrison thinks he did nothing wrong. I’m fascinated by the commentary on this. The hit was a textbook example of a penalty- he led with his helmet when he could have still hit McCoy hard without doing so. He got McCoy in the head, which all levels of football are trying to protect now that they are learning more about concussions. The Harrison advocates are the Steelers fans, the anti-Browns, and anti-McCoys (Aggies). They basically argue that Mccoy was asking for it when he scrambled, and that penalizing Harrison is wimpifying the game.

I have a different argument. The game is less rough than it was 40 years ago. However, the game also was policed differently in that era. In 1970, if a LB was a headhunter, he could expect a crack-back block (one blocker engages him straight up, and then another “blocker” dives at the LB’s knees from the side). This was an illegal, dirty play that could end a player’s career. Of course, in that era, ending a player’s career meant that he got started on selling insurance that much sooner, whereas today it means he loses millions.

Harrison is not a tough guy. He is a bully that wants carte blanche to flount the rules he doesn’t like (helmet to helmet hits), while being protected by those same rules (ban of crack-back blocks). I am sure he (and his advocates) are too stupid to appreciate the distinction.

Screw a 1 game suspension. After repetitive hits for fines just about every other week, he should be suspended for at least 4 games to send a message. Go lower or get the fuck out.

I am not an Aggie or anti-McCoy, that was a penalty, not a suspension and those crack back blocks are still happening with no penalties or suspensions. Make it consistent and remove Godell from the position of da, judge, jury and appellate court.

Steel Horm, what do you mean it wasn’t a suspension? He was suspended, so by definition it is a suspension. Are you saying it shouldn’t be a suspension? Start your own league, then.

Steel Horn, it didn’t happen in a vacuum. The reason he was suspended is because this is the 5th or 6th hit like this he has been penalized for and fining him repeatedly seems to have had no deterring effect. The only recourse now is to start taking away his PT.

The hit didn’t happen in a vacuum. A lot of other player would make that hit — and get fined, but not suspended for it — and I think that is okay.

Harrison has a record of illegal hits, and just like your past comes into play in almost any other facet of life (in court or any other business), his checkered past played a part in the suspension, and it should.

It’s the NFL telling him, “dude, it’s one game this time, but you keep leading with your crown and we are talking serious suspension — and serious loss of money.”

t1: “Great Minds Think Alike.”

GET OUTTA MY HEAD STEVE!

Reason number 4,583,903 in “Why I Hate the Steelers.” From all the way back when Shell speared Earl Campbell to now, I just hate them. Long legacy of dirty players. I’d root for North Korea or Iran over the Steelers.

I have a great deal of contempt for the Steelers for a number of reasons, including their history of dirty play. But, most of all, I am vexed as to why there are so many flamboyant Steeler fans subjecting the good folks of San Antonio to their overt and, apparently coordinated, preening and dickheadery. Give it a rest already, Assholes!

I know the why t1 and it was overdue, I am just in a anti-commissioner mood right now with Stern and Goodell.

I also don’t like some rulebook thumper implying I am an aggie or anti-McCoy. Now that makes me want to hit somebody- put me in coach.

Yes, Fuck Pittsburgh! 40 years of dirty play and dirty players. The Pittsburgh Steroids. Can you imagine if they called the game in the 70s like they call it now? Half their defense would have been suspended by mid-season.

Two plays after the illegal hit Harrison dove for McCoy and left the Browns with poor field position. If he gets tossed from the game immediately, the outcome might’ve changed. Pretty great incentive to concuss your current opponent, and one of the reasons I favor ejecting the guys making dirty hits. They don’t care about the fines because they are way too small a percentage of their salaries. Suspension isn’t bad, but I’d still favor ejection and then the possibility of fines and suspension being tacked on to the initial punishment.

The game may not be as dirty as it was decades ago but it sure as hell is more physical. That’s where the grey area arises which leads to all sorts of confusion as to what is and what is not “legal”.
Charlie Waters was somewhat of a badass at his time but I’d take getting hit by him over getting hit by any starting safeties in the NFL today. A clean, yet hard, hit today is often worse than a dirty hit in the 70’s.
As to Harrison. He’s a punk and should have been suspended for more than a game. If he was some no-name on, say, the Seahawks, he probably would have been.

Ty, you"re an idiot! Football is a physical sport and Harrison did not do anything wrong. He hit a QB that was running like a back. There was nothing dirty about the hit. If a player leads with his shoulder and the offensive player cringes and lowers his head helmet to helmet contact is unavoidable. The game is has already been wussified enough. Let them play the game the way it was meant to be played. What’s next are they going to put flags on QB’s and WR’s so defenders can’t hit them. This is bullshit you and Roger Goodell should go makeout with each other because both of you are wussies.

Wow. Is rolandv trying to be a caricature of a moron? The NFL officials have already explained that a QB is still protected when he is running. If rolandv isn’t pantomiming an idiot, he must have concussed himself a few too many times.

If a player leads with his shoulder and the offensive player cringes and lowers his head helmet to helmet contact is unavoidable.

Except Harrison didn’t lead with his shoulder and McCoy didn’t lower his head.

Why are the leagues policing the game like this? Why are they taking away the KOs that the fans love so much? Read this-

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/05/sports/jerry-quarry-53-boxer-battered-by-years-in-the-ring-dies.html

Ask yourself. If you were a professional athlete, would you rather be facing knee replacements at 50 or dementia at 50?

That hit was dirty as hell, and while I’m far from a Steelers fan and pull for the Browns due to Colt if that had been Jabaal Sheard on Roethlisberger I’d have felt the same way. There are times when a player is having to fly in/jump in from a tough angle on a bang-bang play and end up (more or less) unintentionally landing a helmet-to-helmet blow, but that was a lined-up, squared-up case of headhunting. Harrison’s history of similar accomplishments as well as his retarded desire to fight City Hall on this issue and unrelenting fuckups on the mic and on Twitter made a suspension a no-brainer. I agree with Nick that this could have been a three-gamer if the Commish really wanted to look serious, but I think he spent too much of his capital playing Sherriff on much less consequential issues and is worried about backlash if he comes down too hard now that it actually matters.

On the flip side of this coin, everyone who watches the NFL has thrown up their hands at some point when a linebacker inadvertently grazes two fingers across the side of a QB’s helmet and gets a game-changing personal foul call. If I could change one thing about the NFL, I’d add a booth ref to each crew whose job it was to adjudicate only the most game-changing penalties - personal fouls and pass interference. The on-the-field refs would throw a flag on these, but it would immediately go to the booth for a judgement on severity. Blows to the head (or below the knees on QBs) could get a five (inadvertent), ten (standard) or fifteen yard penalty, and the booth ref could make a recommendation on ejection but that judgement would ultimately lie with the head ref. PI calls would be five (blown call but since he threw the flag we have to call something), fifteen (minor interference) or spot foul. From the toss of the flag to the ruling the crew has a maximum of 30 seconds to decide - we see six different angles during that time on our couch, so no reason the NFL can’t give the same looks to the booth ref, who is exhaustively trained on these specific calls. You’d probably only see 3 or 4 instances of this in a standard game, and when you factor in the huddling and conferring that the ref crew normally does on calls like this you’re maybe adding a minute to the run time of the average game. Want to make that up somewhere? Make all TDs an automatic seven points unless the team wants to waive the seventh point and go for two - I’ve been advocating that for fifteen years.

TaylorTRoom,

QB’s are protected when they slide and Colt did not slide. Your example about the boxer with dementia is not a good one. Boxers repeatedly take blows to their head throughout a bout and their carrier. Football players do not even come close to what a boxer’s dome is subjected to.

Stop being such a wuss! A QB is a football player just like any other player on the field when he runs. I am all for player safety and if a player purposely spears another player with the crown of their helmet to another players head it should be a penalty, but the bullshit that is being called today is destroying the game. For god sakes, it is football a contact, violent, collision sport, people like you and Roger Goodell want to wussify the game and it makes me sick.

I think every personal foul/helmet to helmet call should be reviewed to discern whether the tackler lead with his crown or shoulder and if the person getting tackled caused the incidental helmet to helmet by their response to the tackle. These plays happen so fast that a referee assumes it was a head-to-head hit and throws a flag, which changes the complexion of the game when in reality it was just a good old football hit.

You obviously do not like the hitting aspect of the game and I do. Therefore, we can agree to disagree and wussies like you and Roger Goodell are probably going to get your wish and make the game a nice friendly sport free from hitting.

“QB’s are protected when they slide”

All players are protected from illegal hits at all times.

“Football players do not even come close to what a boxer’s dome is subjected to”

Google “John Mackey dementia”. Wrong again.

“I am all for player safety and if a player purposely spears another player with the crown of their helmet to another players head it should be a penalty,”

…like Harrison did…

“I think every personal foul/helmet to helmet call should be reviewed to discern whether the tackler lead with his crown or shoulder and if the person getting tackled caused the incidental helmet to helmet by their response to the tackle.”

That’s great that you feel this way, because that is exactly what the NFL did. They decided Harrison deserved a suspension. There is no doubt this was a dirty hit. Are you srguing hits like this should be legal? If so, start your own league. Every other league, amateur and pro, has gotten very concerned about concussions, due to the long term debilitating consequences.

“if the person getting tackled caused the incidental helmet to helmet by their response to the tackle. These plays happen so fast that a referee assumes it was a head-to-head hit and throws a flag, which changes the complexion of the game when in reality it was just a good old football hit.”

Does what you’re describing have anything at all in common with the Harrison hit? McCoy did not duck his head, Harrison targeted him, hit him head to head on purpose, and would have been an illegal hit in 1980 as well as 2011.

"Football players do not even come close to what a boxer’s dome is subjected to"

The average life expectancy of an American male is 77.6 years — the average life expectancy of an NFL lineman is 55 — others depending on how many years they play is 58.

I had a doctor one time explain what being an NFL running back is like. He said:

“Go out and buy some pads and a helmet. Close your garage door and go out into the middle of the street. Then take off and run into your garage door full-speed 15-25 times over a couple of hours. Repeat over the next 16 weeks.”

Players are bigger, stronger and faster than in the past, and they are more than willing to launch themselves into each other, despite the consequences. They are paid well for it, and many understand the lifestyle swap they are entering into.

But it also means that the league has an obligation to see to it that if they are going to beat on each other for our entertainment that it at least should be within the confines of the rules of the game.

Is there even an occasion when a linebacker has the opportunity to be hit like Harrison hits people? If so, fine…keep slingin’ ‘em, James. If not, and I don’t think there is (the afore mentioned crackback is illegal), Harrison is a coward to go along with being a slimy asshole.

I say an NFL team needs to give him the “The Longest Yard” treatment. Let him come free up the middle and rifle one in his, um, loins. Of course, the way Harrison is so obviously compensating by trying to be a badass, there’s not a QB in the league with that kind of accuracy.

TaylorTRoom,

It was a clean hit I looked at it over and over again. The league doesn’t care that it was a clean hit. Their ultimate goal is to make all vicious but legal hits illegal. So they classified Harrison’s hit as illegal even though it wasn’t.

Goodell wants to send a message don’t even think about hitting someone with aggression, force, attitude, emotion, adrenaline or bad intentions because you will get suspended/fined. I’m a football purest and I don’t like how Goodell is changing the true violent nature of the game.

Not NFL but a good example of what I am trying to explain. Do you remember Vaccaro’s hit on the WR in the Kansas State game where we got a 15 yard penalty and then they scored and the whole complexion of the game changed. Vaccaro’s hit was a perfectly legal but a flag was thrown because the ref perceived that it was intentional helmet to helmet. Stuff like this is happening all the time in college and the NFL and it really sucks when a team gets penalized.

I don’t think the people on this thread are acting objectively when it comes to Harrison’s hit on Colt because we are Texas fans and Colt’s our boy. Trust me if it was some Longhorn defender hitting a QB in the exact same manner everyone on this thread would be saying it was a legal hit.

If you support Goodell when it comes to making the game more pedestrian that’s your thing, but I think it’s sad for someone like me that truly enjoys some good hard hitting football which in the near future will not be part of the game anymore and that is truly sad.

Obviously, it wasn’t a clean hit. It was flagged when it happened, and it was followed up with a fine and suspension afterwards.

There is a funny phenomenon on the web where you can find yourself in an argument, make winning point after winning point, all with evidence, but your opponent refuses to concede. Given that nobody is jumping to roland’s defense, I’m going to say that I believe I have won this argument and drop out. If roland responds, I won’t reply in kind. I am busy taking my victory lap.

Your perception is correct. I stopped reading rolandv’s posts after the second or third one. He’s either a great parody or a genuine Aggie still defensive about the dirty hit his beloved Aggies put on Colt at Memorial Stadium.

Yeah, that was a great one. Heard hits McCoy so late that he gets expelled from the game. Fran admits that after reviewing the game film (not the TV feed, but the footage that shows the whole field) that it’s dirty, and makes Heard write an apology letter. Yet, you still hear Ags argue that it was a bad call.

He’s either a liar, a troll, or a complete idiot.

Wow, you guys are gay! Gay victory lap lol

Again, calling somebody “gay” as though that’s a profound insult is classic (repressed) Aggie or perfect parody. I truly can’t tell which, but I’m leaning parody.

Nobis,

I really like your idea of making these calls subject to booth review. Since the guys are sitting in the booth with little or nothing to do most of the game anyway, why the hell not?

Roland actually sprinkled a few decent points in there, but he ruined it with general idiocy. I agree that as a general matter, QB’s get too much protection, and that Nobis’s point about two finger grazing of a helmet DOES get called with frightening regularity. I also agree that Stern and Goodell have SCARY amounts of personal power, and that said power is often used in a ham-fisted, biased, and stupid manner.

Your problem Roland, is that the play you cite to make these points, has been universally (outside of Pittsburgh fandom) accepted as an illegal hit, and roundly condemned. Would it have been so labeled if it wasn’t Harrison, the posterchild for unapologetic asshattery? I think it would be. Would he have been suspended? No way. But you can’t keep doing the same thing over and over, and then cry “Who, me?!?” when they catch you doing it again for the 6th time in 3 years. And when you give interviews in magazines saying you’re going to KEEP doing it, and you don’t mind playing for free anyway.

Nobis,

Thanks for actually reading and understanding my second to last post. I would like to make it clear I hate the Steelers and I’m bleed burnt orange. Like I said if it was someone like Brian Orakpo (Redskins) doing the exact same thing to let say Sam Bradford (Rams) all these fuckers would be saying it wasn’t an illegal hit. This isn’t about the Steelers, Harrison or McCoy it’s about the state of football and where it is headed.