This week’s episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger featured two future Pittsburgh Steelers future Hall of Famers and Super Bowl champions. Episode 15 of the growing podcast welcomed legendary Steelers linebacker James Harrison to watch the black and gold play the Atlanta Falcons. The Steelers won the game 19-16, but the game was an afterthought to the two icons who steadily swapped stories about the Steelers glory days they shared as players.
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 8: James Harrison #92 of the Pittsburgh Steelers tackles Colt McCoy #12 of the Cleveland Browns during the game on December 8, 2011 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers won 14-3. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Harrison was the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year and went to five straight Pro Bowls from 2007-2011. He was a dominant undrafted free agent who played with a violent streak that the NFL has steadily tried to weed out of the game over the last decade. Harrison became one of the NFL’s favorite targets and was fined repeatedly throughout his playing career.
“I tried to hurt people,” Harrison recalled. “I never tried to injure anyone. I tried to hurt people; I wanted them not to be able to finish the game. When I hit my home boy Josh Cribbs, I felt like when I hit him, that hurt. I want to be able to say I got you.”
NFL On CBS | Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cleveland Browns
In 2010, Josh Cribbs and the Cleveland Browns went into a wildcat formation against the Steelers. Cribbs decided to keep the ball and Harrison made him pay dearly with a vicious hit that caused a fumble. Harrison’s friend Cribbs left the game with a concussion and did not return. The NFL was not as sensitive in 2010 and the knockout of Cribbs wasn’t even flagged or considered the most vicious hit of the game by Roger Goodell. Just before the half of the same game, Mohamed Massaquoi was on the receiving end of a hit that got Harrison fined $75,000 dollars as a repeat offender.
“Him and Josh was the same game,” Harrison said when asked if it was the same game by Roethlisberger. “I hit Massaquoi with about 50% bro, dead serious, I just wanted him to let go of the ball. If I would have known then what I found out after, I’d have gave him everything I had. If I knew they was going to fine me $75,000 dollars for that, I would have laid into him. He might not have gotten off that field.”
Harrison was fined $125,000 for illegal hits in 2010 and he was not shy about criticizing the NFL about the repeated fines. Harrison publicly said on The Tony Bruno Show that he was seriously contemplating retirement because of the fines. Shortly after the appearance, he was summoned to meet with Goodell in New York and the meeting was reportedly not completely cordial. After being fined for a late hit on Drew Brees, Troy Polamalu openly questioned the commissioner.
“He’s got all the power and that might be part of the problem,” Polamalu said at the time. “That may be part of the problem. There needs to be some type of separation of power, like our government.”
The incidents were not without consequence. When the new collective bargaining agreement came up for a vote before the 2011 preseason, the Steelers players defiantly refused to ratify the agreement. They said it did not adequately address the league’s systems of fines. In retrospect, the black and gold were ahead of their time in complaining that Goodell had too much power. Harrison, Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II all were highly critical of the commissioner and the seemingly weekly fines assessed against the Steelers.
PITTSBURGH - NOVEMBER 16: Linebacker James Harrison #92 of the Pittsburgh Steelers sacks quarterback Philip Rivers #17 of the San Diego Chargers as snow falls during a game at Heinz Field on November 16, 2008 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Chargers 11-10. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
Since they were aggressively targeted by the NFL for physical play, the Steelers have not returned to the Super Bowl. The two outcomes do not prove causality, but the NFL aggressively transformed the league by taking the teeth away from the nastiest defense in the league. Defensive play has devolved for over a decade now and clean legal hits that are deemed too aggressive are more likely to draw a flag than praise. Roughing the passer calls are out of control and a defenseless receiver has changed from a player attempting to catch a ball, to a solid hit when a receiver has pulled the ball in and made a football move.
Harrison retired for good in 2017 and just a half decade later, it is questionable on whether the former All-Pro would be suspended into oblivion by today’s NFL. The former undrafted free agent fought for everything he got from professional football and just a half decade later, a potential Hall of Fame defensive player couldn’t play in today’s NFL.
Player safety is important, but football is the most violent of games. The NFL wants defenders to tackle players softly to the ground and while he couldn’t play in today's NFL, Harrison could have a lucrative career as the NFL’s official manufacturer of the pillows that will one day line the playing fields.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you happy that the modern NFL has taken away a defense’s ability to play physically? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
