On the football field, as in nearly every arena in life, the punishment doesn’t always fit the crime.
James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers has become the poster child for the NFL’s crackdown on dangerous tackling. And he has paid the price in fines. His teammate Troy Polamalu has defended him, but Harrison’s reputation as a dirty player is growing. (As a Steelers fan, I do not subscribe to this view.)
So what do you do if you’re playing the Steelers and want to take your own shot at a player you think is dirty, but don’t want to incur any significant punishment yourself?
According to Harrison, the Baltimore Ravens had a good idea on Monday night. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Harrison and several Steelers players are upset over a false-start penalty against Ravens guard Chris Chester on an extra point Sunday night that, they say, wasn’t as harmless as it might appear.
Harrison said he thinks Chester was deliberately trying to hit him or perhaps even injure him because Chester fired out on the play – something offensive linemen are not taught to do on extra points or field goals.
“Of course it was deliberate,” Harrison said today in the Steelers locker room. “There’s no way that happens on an extra point because [offensive linemen] don’t shoot out. It’s obvious it was blatant. It was on purpose.”
Asked if it was a cheap shot, Harrison said, “Yeah it’s cheap, but when it comes down to it, it’s only a 5-yard penalty, they move back to the 7 and re-kick. It’s not going to hurt them.”
and 
. You can also watch it on 
Of course you don’t think he’s a dirty player. Delivering diving forearm shivers to defenseless players is what is affectionately known as “Stiller Football.”
Because who wants to see the skill players that drive a team’s offense out on the field performing? No, much better to have some undrafted thug delivering cheap shots and knocking them out of the game.
I’m with Andy here.
Harrison has been targeted and has paid the price for what are (proven on film) bang-bang football plays. Harrison is short by NFL standards, which add to the appearance that he is leading with the crown of his helmet.
Review the tapes Mike, with an open mind, and you will see the hits really are text book.
The very moment the play happened I pointed out to a friend the exact thing Harrison concluded. I didn’t necessarily think that the Ravens were trying to injure Harrison, but I thought maybe they were trying to “send a message” in a way that would have virtually no negative consequences.
Honestly, it doesn’t seem like a bad strategy and I’m surprised more teams haven’t tried it. But again, not all teams are coached by Jim Harbaugh.
Having watched many Steelers games, I’m surprised people would say that Harrison is dirty. He plays very intensely, but within the whistles. Everything he does on the field seems to be violent and brought with force, but certainly within the rules and what I think most players would call part of the game…until this year, of course, when the calls on him have been part of the NFL’s mid-season evolution of the rulebook.
The griping of Steelers fans that the league is out to get them is as absurd as the declaration of non-Steelers fans that the league favors them and “wants them to win.” Conspiracy theorists can be found on many sides of any issue, of course.
I’ve admire Harrison’s talent and tenacity for years, but he obviously needs to learn a lesson.Harrison openly admits he wishes to hurt his opponent. Maybe the helmet to helmet contact has affected his reasoning.What else would he expect?Chester was wrong ,but I suppose you support Ben’s actions too.But would you if he wore a Raven’s jersey? Fairweather ,biased fans are in denial and boorish as European soccer fans.A new type of bigotry ,to condone one action and complain of a lesser offense.”Firing off the line” is much different than loading up on a defenseless prone receiver reaching to make a play. And often Harrison is at full steam,waiting for an opportunity to injury his opponent.And admits it.He has a million or two in the bank I hope, maybe he should be suspended for life.Whatever happened to sportsmanship?I’m a Mets fan and root for them inspite of their ineptitude.I love the game.But I don’t deny their obvious transgressions. The Mets should rid themselves of KRod too; weak for not fighting the Player’s Union grievance..And I would rather win against an opponent at full strenght,not against one depleted by injury.
“Textbook” hits don’t involve leaping and throwing your forearm out to hit the QB in the sternum and spear him with your helmet when he can’t defend himself, as Harrison did to Ryan Fitzpatrick. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to get to him before the ball was released, so he Supermanned into him just to get in a cheap hit.
That’s what I saw on the tape, and so did the NFL.
The only reason there’s a “West Coast” offensive style is because the league neutered the defensive game. The neutered defenses have to overplay long passes since they can’t play actual full-contact tackle football, so now the short pass has become the offensive favorite. Bad news – the defenders covering the short pass are much bigger and than the defenders on long passes, and have opportunities to hit much harder when the play is “under” them. Poor millionaire babies.
We’re only a couple gruesome replays away from counting “one Mississippi…” or seeing the Super-superbowl between the NFL champ and the Lingerie League champ.
Low cost as opposed to Harrison $125k method of attacking?
They’re not targetting Harrison, they’re targetting the Steelers. The total cost of the fines to Harrison is trivial compared to the value of the yardage from penalties – NFL yardage costs something over $10K per yard, so even a first-down penalty is worth more than all the fines levied at Harrison this year. What is absurd is that two Steeler receivers were knocked out of games with concussions on unpenalized helmet-to-helmet hits, while Harrison has received roughing penalties called for “falling on the quarterback with full body weight” on Brees, and for “helmet to chest” contact on Fitzpatrick.