James Harrison speaks his mind.

[Fixxxer]

This guy is a POS. He will be droolling and talking incoherently by the age of 40. I hope he doesn't get to seriously hurt one of his fellow players by the time he retires or gets retired.

[DrDawkinstein]

How can anyone be against what he said?

 

That hit on McCoy was legal 4 years ago. Now its not. People want to call Harrison a head hunter, but thats what the media praised him for with DPOY award. The Rooney's rewarded him with a huge contract. Everyone loved his aggression and his passion. Now he's a danger to the game?

 

Fans have become so fickle now, it's taken all the fun out of the game.

 

disagree there, brosef. just because it was legal doesnt mean it wasnt dangerous, or didnt have serious physical repercussions.

 

as the game and players evolve and become bigger and faster, so must the rules to keep players safe. also, medicine and science had progressed and we are just starting to understand the true damage done by these helmet to helmet hits. especially as we see players from past generations committing suicide and having major mental health issues.

 

again, im against the softening of the game, but im also very for good tackling. you can make big hits which are even more devastating, by tackling correctly. this whole "human missile" thing is lazy and leads to as many missed tackles as big hits.

 

if Harrison had gone low and hit McCoy in the numbers (proper tackling), he could've knocked McCoy out for the game cleanly and legally.

 

tackling upright with your head down is dangerous for both the guy getting tackled, but even more so for the tackler. it's just bad business.

 

his aggression is great. his passion is great. his tackling technique is atrocious and dangerous.

[Slayers]

Im against the "softening" of the game, but what Harrison is doing is dangerous and borders on assault. The way he plays is not the way people are taught to play, as a matter of fact it's how people are taught NOT to play.

 

He purposely tackles in a very unsafe manner. He could tackle clean but he chooses not to. He's short so why cant he go low?

 

He's been fined/penalized 5 times. He's talked to the NFL. He's talked to the Steelers organization. Tomlin himself said the hit was illegal and he needed to pay the consequences.

 

He should have been suspended for 4 games and maybe appealed it down to 2. Next time he should be banned.

 

I hate to tell you wrong but the way that he hit Colt is the exact way you are taught to hit aim at the numbers and drive threw the guy is the way everybody is told to hit that is what Harrison did. Some of his hits are boarder line cheap but he hits the same way every time head on the numbers which is the way a good coach teaches you to hit.

[IHFO]

I hate to tell you wrong but the way that he hit Colt is the exact way you are taught to hit aim at the numbers and drive threw the guy is the way everybody is told to hit that is what Harrison did. Some of his hits are boarder line cheap but he hits the same way every time head on the numbers which is the way a good coach teaches you to hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUN5OG28-f4&feature=related

 

nowhere near the #s bro. sry you're wrong on this one.

[DrDawkinstein]

I hate to tell you wrong but the way that he hit Colt is the exact way you are taught to hit aim at the numbers and drive threw the guy is the way everybody is told to hit that is what Harrison did. Some of his hits are boarder line cheap but he hits the same way every time head on the numbers which is the way a good coach teaches you to hit.

 

Was just about to post the clip, but I see someone beat me to it (thanks IHFO).

 

As you can see in the clip, you are clearly mistaken. His helmet his McCoy square in the facemask. Not chest, not neck... the facemask. And McCoy was not going low or ducking down.

 

Furthermore, if you want to talk about tackling form, he NEVER drives through. Rather he leaves his feet to launch upwards. Horrible form regardless of how dangerous it is as well.

 

Harrison is 3 inches shorter than McCoy and actually had to launch himself UP into McCoy's face.

 

Should have been a 4 game suspension.

Edited December 15, 2011 by DrDareustein

[benderbender]

I wish we had a player that had a inch of the guts he has

 

Or at least a pair of Achilles

[DC Tom]

Was just about to post the clip, but I see someone beat me to it (thanks IHFO).

 

As you can see in the clip, you are clearly mistaken. His helmet his McCoy square in the facemask. Not chest, not neck... the facemask. And McCoy was not going low or ducking down.

 

Harrison is 3 inches shorter than McCoy and actually had to launch himself UP into McCoy's face.

 

Should have been a 4 game suspension.

 

I'm not sure he launched himself...but he put his head down and led with the crown of his helmet. If he thinks that's even REMOTELY good tackling, he needs to give Kevin Everett a call.

[Thoner7]

How can anyone be against what he said?

 

That hit on McCoy was legal 4 years ago. Now its not. People want to call Harrison a head hunter, but thats what the media praised him for with DPOY award. The Rooney's rewarded him with a huge contract. Everyone loved his aggression and his passion. Now he's a danger to the game?

 

Fans have become so fickle now, it's taken all the fun out of the game.

 

Thanksfully I am not the only one who thinks this hit looked fine.

 

I hate to tell you wrong but the way that he hit Colt is the exact way you are taught to hit aim at the numbers and drive threw the guy is the way everybody is told to hit that is what Harrison did. Some of his hits are boarder line cheap but he hits the same way every time head on the numbers which is the way a good coach teaches you to hit.

 

 

As you can see in the clip, you are clearly mistaken. His helmet his McCoy square in the facemask. Not chest, not neck... the facemask. And McCoy was not going low or ducking down.

 

Harrison is 3 inches shorter than McCoy and actually had to launch himself UP into McCoy's face.

 

Honestly I was always taught to go dobber to dobber and facemask to face mask. You also have to explode through the tackle (or I guess you could get run over for another 4 yards). Harrisons hit looks completely fine to me, and I think that the way they fine him for using near perfect techinque is what is keeping players from avoiding other, actually serious, helmet to helmet hits. Why would a player avoid illegal hits if they get fined and penalized for legal hits too?

 

There is no other safe way to tackle, they way Harrison tackles in textbook. Its not like he is crushing his helmet into an earhole, the top of his helmey is meeting the guys facemask... where the hell do you want him to put it? His hit on Fitz last year - I still remember seeing an inch or two of blue jersey between the crown of his hat and Fitz's mask - but he was still fined. What the NFL is really doing is going after Harrison for hitting too hard. If he just softly grabbed McCoy there would have been no penalty but because he tee'd off on him he gets a suspension. I think its BS. Goodell sucks and the NFL has gotten worse and wrose since he took over.

[NoSaint]

While some of you guys are at it - who misses a good old fashioned clothesline. I mean whats better for preventing head injuries than a tackle that doesn't involve using my head. Stupid rules ruining the game.

 

Oh wait- dangerous tackles have been removed time and time again and the game has only gotten more popular. Odd. I guess head injuries might be responsible for anyone that argues Harrison is in the right here.

[Thoner7]

I'm not sure he launched himself...but he put his head down and led with the crown of his helmet. If he thinks that's even REMOTELY good tackling, he needs to give Kevin Everett a call.

Thats not putting your head down. Putting your head down is getting you back parralell to the ground. Everett was starring at the turf with his hit, just look.

 

 

Harrison keeps his eyes up. He does it right - which is why he can crush people. If there was a resonable alternative to hitting hard I wouldnt be defending him, but I dont know what you expect him to do (other than just hit like a girl)

Edited December 15, 2011 by Thoner7

[NoSaint]

Thanksfully I am not the only one who thinks this hit looked fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honestly I was always taught to go dobber to dobber and facemask to face mask. You also have to explode through the tackle (or I guess you could get run over for another 4 yards). Harrisons hit looks completely fine to me, and I think that the way they fine him for using near perfect techinque is what is keeping players from avoiding other, actually serious, helmet to helmet hits. Why would a player avoid illegal hits if they get fined and penalized for legal hits too?

 

There is no other safe way to tackle, they way Harrison tackles in textbook. Its not like he is crushing his helmet into an earhole, the top of his helmey is meeting the guys facemask... where the hell do you want him to put it? His hit on Fitz last year - I still remember seeing an inch or two of blue jersey between the crown of his hat and Fitz's mask - but he was still fined. What the NFL is really doing is going after Harrison for hitting too hard. If he just softly grabbed McCoy there would have been no penalty but becausDe he tee'd off on him he gets a suspension. I think its BS. Goodell sucks and the NFL has gotten worse and wrose since he took over.

 

 

Or he could have gone a foot lower and blown up his chest with a shoulder, and wrapped up. Hard hit all the way still but much less dangerous for all parties.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

He purposely tackles in a very unsafe manner. He could tackle clean but he chooses not to. He's short so why cant he go low?

 

I actually think his height is why he tackles like he does. He's probably used to not going low on guys, because when upright, he's nailing guys in the chest.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

I still say the forward pass is going to ruin the game forever. Tomfoolery is what it is.

[Meathead]

with all the evidence piling up how bad contact to the head is for the brain its astonishing that anybody would call the nfl 'soft'

 

nostalgia can be a wonderful thing, but when it makes you ignore vital scientific evidence then it becomes a dysfunctional obsession. just because grandpa smoked a pack a day and lived for eighty years doesnt mean its fine for you to do it

 

the nfl is cracking down on head impacts, as it morally should. the nhl is behind the curve but even in their typical kicking and screaming and maddeningly inconsistent way they are as well

 

given all we know theres no way we shouldnt be dramatically changing that portion of the game. they are both very violent contests and will stay that way even when we remain fully committed to not turning any more of our sports heros into ticking brain time bombs

[Jim in Anchorage]

I watched the game and was amazed the browns put McCoy back in. The look on his face, even on TV, Screamed concussion.

[San-O]

James Harrison HAS a mind?

 

Maybe he should start using it.

[GaryPinC]

Thats not putting your head down. Putting your head down is getting you back parralell to the ground. Everett was starring at the turf with his hit, just look.

 

youtube.com/watch?v=9SoDPFhT-u8

 

Harrison keeps his eyes up. He does it right - which is why he can crush people. If there was a resonable alternative to hitting hard I wouldnt be defending him, but I dont know what you expect him to do (other than just hit like a girl)

 

What are you talking about? Sitting here, I can put my head down, look at the ground, and my back is perpendicular to the ground. No way does head down mean parallel back, even on a tackle.

 

Harrison dropped his head at the last second and leads with the crown of his helmet. Any coach that taught you to do that is just plain wrong. The main reason Harrison hasn't ended up like Everett is because his helmet strikes the other player around the top shoulder/head area.

 

What the NFL needs to start doing is also fining Tomlin, def coord. and linebackers coach for not correcting this and thus enabling Harrison to continue.

[Erik Flowers]

In the last 20 years, the "big hit", helmet to helmet hits and shoulder tackles have worked their way into the game to the point where almost no one uses a form tackle anymore. Form tackles don't end up on ESPN - those huge hits do, and that's what kids mimic, and those kids are now college and pro players. Everyone wants to see themselves on ESPN.

 

Harrison and his ilk are predators - he isn't looking to tackle, or even end up on ESPN - he is looking to put a guy out of the game. You think its a coincidence he keeps doing it to quarterbacks?

 

The game isn't softer by taking out predatory hits, its just re-emphasizing the types of tackles that were common place for the first 80 years of the sport's existence.

[DrDawkinstein]

Honestly I was always taught to go dobber to dobber and facemask to face mask. You also have to explode through the tackle (or I guess you could get run over for another 4 yards). Harrisons hit looks completely fine to me, and I think that the way they fine him for using near perfect techinque is what is keeping players from avoiding other, actually serious, helmet to helmet hits. Why would a player avoid illegal hits if they get fined and penalized for legal hits too?

 

There is no other safe way to tackle, they way Harrison tackles in textbook. Its not like he is crushing his helmet into an earhole, the top of his helmey is meeting the guys facemask... where the hell do you want him to put it? His hit on Fitz last year - I still remember seeing an inch or two of blue jersey between the crown of his hat and Fitz's mask - but he was still fined. What the NFL is really doing is going after Harrison for hitting too hard. If he just softly grabbed McCoy there would have been no penalty but because he tee'd off on him he gets a suspension. I think its BS. Goodell sucks and the NFL has gotten worse and wrose since he took over.

 

 

Serious question: What school or program did you belong to that is teaching kids this?

 

"Dobber to dobber, facemask to facemask"?!? Wow, Could not be any farther from proper tackling.

 

Proper tackling:

 

Breakdown and drop your butt to get a good base and help you get low. Low man wins.

Keep your head up and plant your facemask between the numbers and the waist.

Slide your face to one side and drive your shoulder into body.

Wrap with your arms and keep your feet on the ground and keep them driving.

 

For the best example of proper tackling, watch how Jarius Byrd hits. I know we've all noticed how well he tackles. He doesn't do this pansy human-missile crap. He uses proper tackling and is able to drop guys of any size even though he's on the small side.

 

This crap that Harrison and other DBs try to pull, where they keep there arms tight to their body and launch helmet first at a guy's head is nothing more than them selfishly going for the "knockout blow".

 

In the last 20 years, the "big hit", helmet to helmet hits and shoulder tackles have worked their way into the game to the point where almost no one uses a form tackle anymore. Form tackles don't end up on ESPN - those huge hits do, and that's what kids mimic, and those kids are now college and pro players. Everyone wants to see themselves on ESPN.

 

Harrison and his ilk are predators - he isn't looking to tackle, or even end up on ESPN - he is looking to put a guy out of the game. You think its a coincidence he keeps doing it to quarterbacks?

 

The game isn't softer by taking out predatory hits, its just re-emphasizing the types of tackles that were common place for the first 80 years of the sport's existence.

 

^^This 100%

 

It started in the early 90s. I specifically remember Kurt Shulz was the first player I noticed that always tried doing it. I remember it because it always lead to the opposing player bouncing off of him and going for another 15 yards. Which was infuriating because had he just tackled properly, it could've been a big hit for a stop.

[mattsox]

James Harrison is a monster but he wants to knock players out to be scary but he already is scary, he a tough player he doesn't need to be a cheap shot artist

 

Exile him to the XFL, LOL. Seriously, I respect him for his talent, but not his intelligence. He is a repeat Offender. Honestly, he should have been suspended for the Playoffs. Maybe that would wake him up...