Harrison: I used 'inappropriate' words to describe Goodell

LATROBE, Pa. -- James Harrison is an emotional guy. Always has been. The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker plays with an intensity few in the NFL can match.

Yet the four-time Pro Bowler knows that fury has its limits, and Friday he admitted he blew right past them in a magazine article earlier this month in which he used a gay slur when talking about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and criticized teammates for their play in Pittsburgh's Super Bowl loss to Green Bay.

"The comments I made about Roger Goodell were inappropriate at the least and way out of line," Harrison said. "I was speaking out of anger and frustration at the time and any comments that I may have made that offended anyone with my careless use of words, I apologize."

Harrison used the slur while expressing his frustration over the league's new player safety rules. One of the NFL's fiercest hitters, the volatile 33-year-old drew $100,000 in fines for illegal hits last season. He thought he was venting about the new rules -- and not Goodell personally -- while calling him a "crook" and a "devil."

Only it didn't read like that, and Harrison allows he should have used a "better vocabulary" when talking about the issue and the commissioner.

The 2008 AP Defensive Player of the Year hasn't spoken to Goodell since the article was published and isn't sure whether he'll be disciplined by the league.

"I don't think (Goodell) is a guy that's going to hold something on a personal level (against me professionally)," Harrison said. "I attacked him on a personal level, which wasn't right. I don't expect anything to be done."

There's also the question on whether Goodell would even have the power to suspend or fine Harrison.

The comments were made during the NFL lockout, meaning technically Harrison wasn't working for the league at the time. Harrison said he wouldn't decide whether to fight any penalty until it is levied.

The team has not indicated it will discipline Harrison, though coach Mike Tomlin agreed with Harrison's assessment that his words were inappropriate. Harrison spoke to owner Art Rooney recently but hasn't been excluded from any team activities as the defending AFC champions opened training camp.

One place where the article didn't create a stir appears to be the locker room. Harrison reached out to running back Rashard Mendenhall -- whom Harrison called a "fumble machine" -- and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger -- whom Harrison said needed to "stop trying to act like Peyton Manning" -- after the article came out.

Both players said there were no hard feelings and are well aware that Harrison's temper can sometimes get the best of him.

"He called me that morning (the article came out) and left me a voice mail because he was sure I wanted to talk to him and I had no idea what he was talking about," Roethlisberger said. "So I called him and he explained everything and it literally was nothing, absolutely no linger effects whatsoever."

Roethlisberger threw a pair of interceptions in Pittsburgh's 31-25 loss to the Packers, with both picks leading to touchdowns. The way the quarterback looked at Harrison's outburst, all he was doing was stating the obvious.

"No one is going to be harder on me than I am and I told James, I told everybody that it was my fault we lost the Super Bowl anyway, so if he wants to reiterate what I said, that's fine," Roethlisberger said.

The players appear eager to put the incident behind them and move forward, though Harrison is hardly the only Steeler to make waves off the field during a bumpy offseason for one of the league's marquee franchises.

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Wide receiver Hines Ward won "Dancing With the Stars" then was arrested for DUI in Georgia, a charge that drew national headlines and took some of the shine off his image as a humble and hard-working team leader. He declined to talk specifics about his arrest, but understands why it was a big deal.

"That's what comes with it, the price of fame," Ward said. "Every little thing you do is in the media eye and the public's eye. For me it's a learning process. You can't be one of the boys and do things, you have to look at the big picture. I'm confident in the end that everything will work out."

Mendenhall, like Roethlisberger, shrugged off Harrison's jabs. He also declined to expound on his controversial tweets following the death of Osama bin Laden in April. He's only too anxious to move forward.

So is the rest of the team, which continued a flurry of activity by releasing veteran offensive tackle Flozell Adams early Friday morning. The 36-year-old Adams became expendable after the team agreed to terms with Willie Colon and Jonathan Scott late Thursday night.

Colon and Scott, along with the team's other signings, can't practice until next week, meaning things will be very much in flux as the Steelers begin the process of trying to get back to the Super Bowl.

The loss to the Packers has hung with Roethlisberger for months. Even his wedding last week to Ashley Harlan, a physician assistant, hasn't made him forget about his disappointment in Dallas.

"We can't dwell on the past," he said. "We have to focus on the future and what's to come."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Harrison, Woodley up in arms over so-called 'Steelers rule'

The NFL's announcement that it will punish teams if their players commit multiple flagrant hits is being called "the Steelers rule" by some. But the Steelers want nothing to do with it.

Pittsburgh linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley expressed anger and bewilderment over the league's rule changes, accusing the NFL of ruining the game with heavy-handed legislation.

Harrison, whom the league fined $100,000 for flagrant hits last season, kicked off the criticism Tuesday night when he tweeted "the people making the rules at the NFL are idiots." He further explained his views in his blog, in which he admitted, "I don't disagree with all of the rule changes," but accused the NFL of picking on the notoriously hard-hitting Steelers.

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"The decision to call a penalty or impose a fine is seemingly, at least some of the time, dependent upon the uniform and the player," Harrison wrote. "After my meeting this past fall with (NFL Commissioner) Roger Goodell, (executive vice president of football operations) Ray Anderson, and (assistant director of operations) Merton Hanks and some others, who I now have absolutely no respect for (to keep it PG), I definitely believe there is no equality in their enforcement of these rules.

"These rules are targeting hard hitting players and defenses i.e. STEELERS. I guess the NFL needed a poster child for their campaign."

Woodley agreed with his teammate, tweeting: "Thoughts on 'the steelers rule'??? lol I'm sorry that I'm not sorry we hit 2 hard." He was more emphatic during an interview Wednesday on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

"Football is turning soft now," Woodley said. "Too many fines. Too many penalties protecting the quarterback every single play. Defensive guys can't be defensive guys no more. I mean, that's what Pittsburgh, that's what we're built on ... playing aggressive football, attacking, hitting people hard, you know, making quarterbacks shake. ... You can't even touch them.

"Having all the fines and the penalties is stupid because it's taking away from the game," Woodley added. "We knew what we were signing up for when we started playing football. We knew that. Everybody knew that. Every quarterback knew that, Roger Goodell knew that, but I don't know if he ever played football, so I don't if he really understands the hard hitting of the sport."

Woodley said the Steelers have won the most Super Bowls in NFL history because "we play hard-nosed football. We didn't get six Lombardis by playing soft football. We got it by playing aggressive football -- hitting teams hard -- and I don't think that will ever change. I don't care how many times you get fined."

Steelers president Art Rooney II isn't thrilled about the NFL policy's link to his team.

"I'm not sure I like it being referred to as the Steelers rule," Rooney told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Wednesday. "It's a policy the commissioner is still considering and has not put into effect yet, but he intends to put it into effect.

"I would hope it's something used on rare occasions and only in exceptional situations. I think our rules are adequate, and I think everyone is trying to adjust here."

NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp doesn't want to hear it. Instead, he'd like Pittsburgh to "get on the train" when it comes to player-safety rules.
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The punishment for excessive flagrant hits will be financial, although NFL vice president Adolpho Birch said Tuesday that he didn't rule out Goodell applying further sanctions such as stripping teams of draft choices.

Citing the "notion of club accountability," Birch said details such as the amount of the fines against teams, or how many player fines would trigger punishment, haven't been determined.

The NFL began a crackdown on illegal hits, particularly those to defenseless players, last October. It threatened suspensions, but no players were suspended. However, Anderson has said suspensions will be considered for egregious hits.

Harrison believes there will be confusion about what hits fall into that category.

"Now you have to wait until a guy catches, or even worse, you have to let them catch the ball before you can even attempt to tackle him," Harrison wrote in his blog. "Along with that, you cannot let any part of your helmet or facemask touch any part of them basically from the chest up. If you are following the letter of the rules exactly, now most tackles, if not ALL tackles can be flagged, fined and/or result in ejection from that game, or future game(s). ...

"I know there are hits out there that could go either way, but if it's me I already know which way they are going to go," Harrison added. "I love this game, but I hate what they are trying to turn it into."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Steelers' Harrison suggests NFL not serious about player safety

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison isn't letting up in his criticism of the NFL in the days leading up to the Super Bowl.

One day after sarcastically suggesting that a pillow could be used to soften blows he delivers to opponents, Harrison called the NFL's talk about wanting to protect players "just a show."

Harrison said before Wednesday's practice in Fort Worth, Texas, that the owners' push for an 18-game regular season and the possibility of a lockout prove the NFL is more interested in maximizing revenue than the health of its players.

"It's not about player safety," Harrison said. "It's about money."

The league and the players' union face an early March deadline for trying to negotiate a new labor agreement.

"It's no doubt to me," said Harrison, whose Steelers will play the Green Bay Packers for the NFL championship Sunday. "I believe they're going to lock us out."

Harrison was fined $100,000 by the NFL for illegal hits this season, and he even went briefly so far as to threaten to retire because he said it was too difficult to adjust to the new way rules were being enforced. On Wednesday, though, he acknowledged that any talk of quitting was a result of being "hotheaded."

Asked Wednesday if he's worried about the dangers of concussion from violent hits on the field, he said: "That's my style of play. There's a risk with everything you do. ... Since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, that's how you play the game."

At Tuesday's media day at Cowboys Stadium, Harrison said he feels as if the league was "looking for a poster boy" when it started fining him.

In a deadpan delivery, Harrison said: "I don't want to hurt nobody. I don't want to step on nobody's foot or hurt their toe. I don't want to have no dirt or none of this rubber on this field fly into their eye and make their eye hurt.

"I just want to tackle them softly on the ground and, if y'all can, we'll lay a pillow down where I'm going to tackle them, so they don't hit the ground too hard, Mr. Goodell."

Harrison, who paid more in fines this season for four different hits than the entire Packers team was docked, also was asked if he was bitter about the attention his physical play received from the NFL office this season.

"They took $100,000 out of my pocket," Harrison responded to NFL Network's Kara Henderson. "You think I'm not bitter?"

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Steelers' Harrison penalized vs. Bills for roughing the passer

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison incurred a costly roughing-the-passer penalty against Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick on Sunday.

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With 4:45 to go in the third quarter, Harrison came untouched up the middle of the line on a Pittsburgh blitz. The linebacker drove Fitzpatrick into the ground, and Harrison was flagged for leading with his helmet.

Harrison stomped his foot on the ground following the play.

"It's not going to change the way I play," said Harrison, who's already been docked $100,000 this season. "There was nothing wrong about the play."

The penalty negated an incomplete pass on second-and-10. Three plays later, Fitzpatrick hit Bills running back Fred Jackson for a 65-yard catch-and-run TD.

Harrison recently was called to the NFL office in New York regarding how rules designed to protect players from injury are being enforced.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Steelers LB Harrison cools off, decides against retirement

That retirement talk by James Harrison didn't last nearly long enough for some NFL quarterbacks.

The three-time Pro Bowl linebacker resumed practicing with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, one day after he threatened to retire because of the NFL's stricter punishment of players for dangerous hits.

Harrison was one of three players fined a total of $175,000 by the NFL on Tuesday for flagrant hits last weekend -- he was docked $75,000 for a helmet-hit on Cleveland Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi -- and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday followed up the fines by releasing a memo emphasizing significant penalties will be imposed upon players who strike an opponent in the head or neck in violation of existing rules.

La Canfora: NFL can't be senseless

Harrison, arguing the restrictions won't allow him to play football as he has always played it, met with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on Wednesday to discuss the changes. Tomlin decided to give Harrison a cooling-off day and sent him home from practice.

Harrison's teammates didn't take his threat to retire seriously, saying he enjoys playing too much to quit during the second season of a six-year, $51.2 million contract. Harrison agreed with that in a statement issued Thursday by the Steelers.

"I have come to the decision that I cannot and will not let the league office stop me from playing the game that I love," Harrison said.

Harrison didn't talk to reporters before or after practice. The team said the statement would be Harrison's only comments.

"I will continue to play the game with the same passion, intensity and focus with which I have always played and let the chips fall where they may," Harrison said. "I have never given up, quit or walked away from anything in my life, and I am not about to start now."

Too bad for the New England Patriots' Tom Brady, who joked that life for NFL quarterbacks would be easier if Harrison retired.

Steelers safety Ryan Clark also found some levity in the situation. Asked about the notoriously intense Harrison's mood upon returning to the team, Clark said the linebacker isn't "a fluffy person" even when he's in a good mood.

"He's fine," Clark said. "Obviously, it's a tough situation, and he was able to handle it the way he needed to. We're glad to have him back."

In his statement, Harrison said player safety must be emphasized, but he argued again that his hit on Massaquoi was permissible under NFL rules. Tomlin also said the hit was legal.

"I feel the real reason for the fine was the statement I made after the game wherein I said that I try to hurt people, not injure them," Harrison said in the statement. "In the same sentence, I attempted to clarify my meaning. But I understand that my comments leave a lot open to interpretation. The statement was not well-thought out, and I did not adequately convey my meaning. I apologize for making that statement, and I want it to be known that I have never and would never intentionally try to injure any player."

Browns center Alex Mack suggested that Harrison should be worried about his own health. Mack said Harrison's concussion-causing hits Sunday on Browns wide receivers Massaquoi and Joshua Cribbs weren't isolated.

"If you watch the game film, he was doing that to everyone on every play. People would be on the ground, and he would try to spear them," Mack said. "There's a play on film where (running back) Peyton Hillis is tackled, and he (Harrison) comes up and spears him. It's like you're being cheap, you're being dirty."

Dirty, he said, and dangerous.

"You're ruining your own brain, and you're damaging other people," Mack said. "It's your brain. You need that a lot."

Neither Massaquoi nor Cribbs was able to practice Wednesday or Thursday. Browns coach Eric Mangini said both players could be medically cleared for practice Friday.

Steelers nose tackle Chris Hoke insisted Harrison, who was the 2008 Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year, isn't a dirty player who lives off cheap hits.

"That's not James -- that's a misunderstanding," Hoke said. "He goes out and plays hard. There's not a dirty ounce in his body. ... It's all about hard work for him. He's one of the first guys in here in the morning and one of the last to leave. He's a class act. It's good to see him back, because he's a humongous part of our team."

Although Harrison's one-day absence was the predominant topic in the Steelers' locker room, defensive end Aaron Smith said it wasn't a distraction. Many veteran Steelers players routinely take days off from practice during the season; the only difference was Harrison didn't watch from the sideline or attend meetings.

Smith also said Harrison's situation won't be a distraction Sunday.

"When you go out there on Sunday, all you think about is the football game," Smith said. "You don't think about anything else."

And the Steelers will play ... uh, the Miami Dolphins, right? With so much talk about Harrison, Steelers players are being asked relatively few questions about their opponents.

"Is that who we're playing?" Smith said, only kidding.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Harrison on downfall with Browns: 'It was mind-boggling'

Jerome Harrison doesn't know how he went from the Cleveland Browns' leading rusher to trade bait so quickly.

"I couldn't understand how that happened, and that really had me spent," Harrison told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in a phone interview Thursday, one day after being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for running back Mike Bell. "I didn't understand one part of how it happened. I didn't get into any fights with anybody, and I didn't think there were any bad feelings toward me by any of the coaches or anything.

Harrison practiced with the Browns on Wednesday, then found out about the trade.

"It was mind-boggling," he said. "But it's the nature of the business. I didn't understand it. I'm not an angry person, so I'm not upset. But I was a little frustrated."

Harrison believed this season would be so much more after he rushed for a Browns-record 286 yards -- the third-most in NFL history -- against the Kansas City Chiefs last season and gained 561 yards in Cleveland's final three games. He figured he had finally proved himself worthy of being an every-down back, but the Browns obviously didn't think so when they acquired Peyton Hillis from the Denver Broncos during the offseason and drafted Montario Hardesty in the second round.

When Hardesty was lost for the season in September with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament, the Browns turned to Hillis, who is 14th in the NFL with 350 yards on 76 carries and four touchdowns. Harrison, on the other hand, has just 91 yards on 31 carries.

"I thought I could rush for more than 1,500 yards and take this team to the playoffs," Harrison told the newspaper. "I liked where (team president) Mike Holmgren was taking this team. I love all my teammates and the fans in Cleveland. My time here has been amazing. I really did plan on being here."

Browns coach Eric Mangini said Thursday that Harrison wasn't phased out of the team's offense -- Hillis just did "a great job expanding his role." Mangini also said Harrison's unhappiness over his role wasn't the reason for the trade.

"If anybody's ever dissatisfied with either their role or their situation, you always have the chance to talk to me about that and sit down," Mangini said, according to the Browns' official website. "That's ongoing, and we hadn't had that conversation, so my assumption is that he understood his role, but that's really what it was. This decision and any of these decisions are going to be made based on what we think is going to help us move forward as a team as opposed to that side of it."

The Eagles announced the deal in a press release Wednesday. The Browns only confirmed the trade, with a spokesman saying it was contingent on both players passing physicals.

"All I can say is thank you," Harrison told the Plain Dealer. "I don't feel like they were using me there, so thank you for letting me get the opportunity somewhere else. Excitement might be an understatement. I just want to go somewhere and win."

Like Harrison, Bell's chances have been limited this season. He has rushed for just 28 yards on 16 carries.

"I think, first of all, a change of scenery might be good for both players," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said Wednesday, according to the team's official website. "Mike Bell can fit their scheme. They're looking for a downhill runner between the tackles. They like to run the ball a lot. For us, Jerome, he's a quicker guy, he's athletic, (and) he can catch the football."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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