James Harrison suspended (merged discussions)

**Captain Silver** · 12-09-2011, 11:16 AM

Looked like leading with the crown to me. Repeat offender. Time to sit.

**SouthSide** · 12-09-2011, 11:21 AM

I know these guys have a lot of money. But you'd think that Harrison would get tired of paying these fines. I can think of better things to waste tens of thousands of dollars on.

**KidSampson** · 12-09-2011, 11:27 AM

Dude spears on about 50% of his tackles. He has shown no interest in ever doing it differently. If the NFL actually had any interest in safety, other than protecting franchise QBs, he would have been suspended several times already.

**DvlsAdvc8** · 12-09-2011, 01:24 PM

Why did Harrison lower his head at all? McCoy already threw the ball - Harrison had to have seen that happen right in front of him.

I expect a fine. It should be a suspension, but it won't happen.

**alienrace** · 12-09-2011, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by Captain Silver

Looked like leading with the crown to me. Repeat offender. Time to sit.

Yeah, I think he's going to sit a game or two. He clearly isn't getting the message.

**lobachevsky** · 12-09-2011, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

Except he no longer had the ball

And he did not duck his head one inch, contrary to another posters claim.

Right on both counts.

In any other city in the universe, Harrison would have spent the wee hours of this morning trying to make bail. That wasn't a tackle, that was clear-cut assault & battery, if not attempted murder.

But he's a Stealer, so if the league even bothers to suspend him they'll find a cakewalk on the remaining schedule--oh, looky here, the Lambs at Heinz on Christmas Eve! My, my, how convenient. Five gets you ten he spends that day warm & dry at home wrapping presents (& the next morning trying to get his new Jack Tatum action figure to work)...

**DarthCorvax** · 12-09-2011, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by lobachevsky

Right on both counts.

In any other city in the universe, Harrison would have spent the wee hours of this morning trying to make bail. That wasn't a tackle, that was clear-cut assault & battery, if not attempted murder.

But he's a Stealer, so if the league even bothers to suspend him they'll find a cakewalk on the remaining schedule--oh, looky here, the Lambs at Heinz on Christmas Eve! My, my, how convenient. Five gets you ten he spends that day warm & dry at home wrapping presents (& the next morning trying to get his new Jack Tatum action figure to work)...

DkBlue??????????

**HoustonRaven** · 12-09-2011, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by lobachevsky

In any other city in the universe, Harrison would have spent the wee hours of this morning trying to make bail. That wasn't a tackle, that was clear-cut assault & battery, if not attempted murder.

Hyperbole perhaps?

**DColeman** · 12-09-2011, 02:32 PM

That hit totally changed the outcome of that game. The Browns were driving. Harrison didn't make any attempt to alter his course after mccoy threw the ball. Typical cheap shot that they do when they are in fear of being beaten. It seemed the crowd there was boo'ing the flag, until they saw it on the replay then got really quiet. Make him sit, but only after Tomlin tells his team thats a legal hit. They should suspend tomlin too.

**lobachevsky** · 12-09-2011, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

Hyperbole perhaps?

The attempted murder part, I'll give you. (Hey, if I can't wax hyperbolic about the Tar&Urine, what good is fandom?)

But assault & battery? Understatement, if anything. Watch the replay a few times & tell me that thug didn't launch his helmet straight at McCoy's head with the intention of knocking him out of the game via injury, if not paralyzing him for life.

Harrison is an idiot who compensates for his stupidity with viciousness. IOW, the quintessential Stealer, & the perfect bookend for The Rapist Drama Queen.

**DarthCorvax** · 12-09-2011, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by lobachevsky

The attempted murder part, I'll give you. (Hey, if I can't wax hyperbolic about the Tar&Urine, what good is fandom?)

But assault & battery? Understatement, if anything. Watch the replay a few times & tell me that thug didn't launch his helmet straight at McCoy's head with the intention of knocking him out of the game via injury, if not paralyzing him for life.

Harrison is an idiot who compensates for his stupidity with viciousness. IOW, the quintessential Stealer, & the perfect bookend for The Rapist Drama Queen.

DkBlue?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

**HoustonRaven** · 12-09-2011, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by lobachevsky

The attempted murder part, I'll give you. (Hey, if I can't wax hyperbolic about the Tar&Urine, what good is fandom?)

True .... But ...

Originally Posted by lobachevsky

But assault & battery? Understatement, if anything. Watch the replay a few times & tell me that thug didn't launch his helmet straight at McCoy's head with the intention of knocking him out of the game via injury, if not paralyzing him for life.

Last night's hit does not even sniff the level of mens rea needed for a legal definition of assault & battery. Cheap shot? Yes. But to call it battery on the level of the legal definition ala Todd Bertuzzi, not even close.

**Ravenswintitle** · 12-09-2011, 03:47 PM

He's doing his job and if Tomlin wanted his actions to change he would speak up.

They want him to send a mesaage and potentially knock the opposing QB out of the game and they'll deal with the fines. Hey it works whether anyone likes it or not.

**Ravens75** · 12-09-2011, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by KidSampson

Dude spears on about 50% of his tackles. He has shown no interest in ever doing it differently. If the NFL actually had any interest in safety, other than protecting franchise QBs, he would have been suspended several times already.

Exactly.

He tried to spear Ray Rice when Rice was down for a good 2 seconds. If he had caught Ray where he wanted (ribs), Ray would've been out for several games.

At some point a fine isn't enough, he needs to be suspended.

The same way the league is trying to send Suh a message that this is his last chance then the same thing needs to happen to Harrison.

What's so sad is that James is an excellent player that doesn't need to do this. Guys like Sizzle, DeMarcus Ware and even his own teammate Lamar Woodley play lights out without all the cheap shots. As James career winds down, he is going to take shots on his knees and be brutalized much the same way his celebrated teammate Hines Ward is enduring now. Some of the shots Hines has taken this year are payback for being a dirty player for years. At the rate its going Hines is going to be carted out on a stretcher to end his career.

**Raven 555** · 12-10-2011, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by willden

I don't think it was very bad really. McCoy was scrambling towards him and if McCoy hadn't ducked his own head, there wouldn't have been helmet to helmet contact. You guys are all forgetting the defenseless part of the equation. Then again, the league is a pansy league now. The hit almost backfired though bringing in Wallace.

Time to get those eye's checked!

**RavenusMaximus** · 12-10-2011, 03:49 PM

Fines have no effect on any of these guys because it's just a drop in the bucket to them. Make them miss a game or two and their game checks and maybe they will start to get it.

**SteelFaninBMore** · 12-10-2011, 04:19 PM

Don't think he gets suspended. King makes a decent point:

I've watched the replay maybe 10 times now. Colt McCoy leaves the pocket, runs to his left, tucks the ball under his right arm, and a step or step-and-a-half before making contact with Harrison, pulls the ball out and quickly flips it to Montario Hardesty. Harrison hits McCoy helmet-to-helmet right in McCoy's facemask, and McCoy falls to the turf. Harrison gets flagged for roughing the passer.

Here's where the debate comes in, and why I believe it will be hard for the NFL to suspend Harrison: If McCoy was viewed as a runner -- which he surely would be while having the ball tucked under his arm, with no intention of throwing it -- then once he is out of the pocket, he is treated like a running back, not a quarterback. And a runner can be hit helmet-to-helmet without penalty.

But if a quarterback leaves the pocket with the intention still to pass, he loses some protection from the rules of being in the pocket. He can be hit low, and the one-step rule about hitting a quarterback after the release of the ball goes away.

After the game, Harrison told reporters: "From what I understand, once the quarterback leaves the pocket, he's considered a runner.''

Not exactly. If he leaves the pocket and looks to be intending to throw, he can't be hit helmet-to-helmet. If he leaves the pocket and appears to be a runner, he can be hit helmet-to-helmet.

It'll be a close call for discipline czars Ray Anderson and Merton Hanks to decide next week. And Harrison should have aimed lower anyway. But I don't know how they look at the replay and say McCoy isn't a runner when he has the ball tucked under his right arm. And is running.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...-14/index.html

**Ravenswintitle** · 12-10-2011, 05:16 PM

I posted something similar earlier. McCoy had left the pocket and was a threat to run. He will get a fine for leading with the helmet but no suspension warranted

**DvlsAdvc8** · 12-10-2011, 05:24 PM

If it were most players, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. Given Harrison's history... I suspend and fine. I know for certain the NFL won't suspend him, because they're in a playoff chase and losing Harrison while also having a gimpy Woodley would be a significant loss.

**willden** · 12-11-2011, 10:36 AM

Now that I think about it, he's definitely getting suspended. I'm sure Goddell has an axe to grind over Harrison's comments over the summer during the lockout. Goddell couldn't do anything at the time and now is his chance. I bet he's actually happy he has the opportunity now.