By Justin McGonigle
SteelerNation.com
Stop me if you've heard this before.. James Harrison put his foot in his mouth on a podcast last week. Seems to be something that keeps happening since his retirement.
Harrison made remarks on the Barstool Sports' "Going Deep" Podcast Thursday when he said Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin handed him an "envelope" after he was fined $75,00 for hitting several Cleveland Browns players with his helmet during a game at Heinz Field in 2010.
Harrison let it sound like Tomlin paid him a bounty. There's no excuse for that. He's also lying according to his agent. "Absolutely not. Never happened,” agent Bill Parise told Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I would have known that. It didn’t happen.”
After much media outrage and Tomlin's name being drug through the mud for 24 hours, Harrison took to Instagram to 'clarify'.
During his final season with the Steelers in 2017, Harrison became upset over his playing time, or lack there of due to the emergence of then rookie, TJ Watt. Harrison reportedly faked injuries that required him to sit out of practice, but later the same day would post videos on social media of himself squatting 500+ pounds and doing other workouts. He also would be late to meetings, leave games early in which he wasn't playing, or just completely skip games that he was inactive for at Heinz Field.
After finally having enough, coach Tomlin released him in late December and Harrison quickly landed in New England. The Patriots would go onto lose the Super Bowl and Harrison decided to retire.
Since then, it doesn't seem like he can keep from throwing the Steelers organization, coaches, or players under the proverbial bus. First during the Le'Veon Bell hold out situation in 2018, Harrison went on television and said Bell should report back to the team and then fake an injury. Bell wasn't being paid during his hold out, but would have been guaranteed his money if he reported to the team.
You can go back to Harrison's playing days and find many more times that he defiled the Steelers name. Harrison was involved in a domestic dispute that surely would've seen him be released in today's NFL. Steelers owner Dan Rooney stood by Harrison in what was an embarrassing moment for such an amazing human. There was no excuse for Harrison's behavior at the time, but the Rooney's excused it due to the fact Harrison was trying to take his son to be baptized.
Maybe if Harrison had won a Super Bowl in 2017 with New England, he wouldn't of shown up in 2018 at Heinz Field. And maybe he would've because he wouldn't of cared about his reception.
Harrison joined teammates for a dinner, and a half time celebration for the ten year anniversary of their Super Bowl XLIII championship. He was greeted with mostly cheers that night.
His on field accomplishments won't be soon forgotten by fans, teammates, and the organization, but maybe just maybe, that should be the last time he's invited without paying to get in.
Let us know your thoughts on Harrison's recent actions below!
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