Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has been the subject of controversial headlines this week after former NFL linebacker James Harrison hinted that the coach may have paid him for an illegal hit on an opponent, but Harrison insists that is not at all what happened.
During an appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Going Deep” podcast with Steven Cheah and former Steeler Willie Colon this week, Harrison spoke about the $75,000 fine he received for a vicious hit on former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi in 2010. He said Tomlin handed him an envelope after that game, though he did not specify what was inside. On Friday, Harrison took to Instagram to blast all the people who jumped to the conclusion that Tomlin was paying players to injure opponents.
Harrison ripped those who interpreted his comments to mean the Steelers were running a bounty system similar to the one the Saints were found guilty of implementing years ago. He insisted Tomlin “NEVER paid me for hurting someone or TRYING to hurt someone or put a bounty on ANYBODY!”
“If you knew the full story of what happened back then you’d know that BS fine for a Legal Play wasn’t even penalized during the game,” Harrison wrote. “The league was getting pressure because the first concussion lawsuits were starting and they had to look like they cared about player safety all of a sudden. Before that they had been SELLING a photo of THAT SAME PLAY FOR $55 on the NFL website with other videos of the NFL’S GREATEST HITS that the league Profited On back then.”
Here’s the full post:
The NFL was selling a photo of Harrison’s hit on Massaquoi at one point, which was incredibly hypocritical. However, Harrison didn’t really explain what was in the envelope that Tomlin supposedly handed him.
If Tomlin did give Harrison something, it may have been money to cover the fine because the coach thought it was unwarranted. That would be different from a coach urging players to severely injure opponents and giving them a cash reward for it, which is what the NFL determined was happening in New Orleans.
Either way, Harrison has no one to blame but himself for the backlash Tomlin is receiving. If he didn’t want to bring heat onto his former coach, he never should have mentioned the envelope.
