HARRISON AND THE HEAD SHOT

I'm not sure I talked about this before but now that James Harrison has been suspended I think it's indicated.

1. This hit was in a very unusual situation. Colt McCoy ran out of the pocket, tucked the ball as if to run, realized he was still behind the line of scrimmage then floated a pass to an open receiver: A. He was quite close to the line of scrimmage when all of this went on with the ball tucked away as if running and B. James Harrison committed to stopping this "run" when he was hoodwinked by a subsequent pass when he was already committed in the tackling position. Lots of decisions being made in a very short period of time.


2. Harrison DID show some discretion as his arms were in FRONT of him, not out at the sides to clear his helmet for a big hit. His hands in fact "broke" part of the impact. I'm curious what would have happened if Harrison had decided he'd better not go for the head and had "mercifully" hit McCoy in the knees? My point is, he could have hit him as hard as some bunyaks do Ben Roethlisberger IN THE POCKET who get away with it but he DIDN'T.


Question: When was the last time a defensive player was penalized for a hit on Roethlisberger DURING THE PLAY? Yeah, Richard Seymour hit him AFTER the play in the game against the Raiders last year and was penalized. 


Seymour Punches Roethlisberger


The LAST time the offense occurred during the course of a play was last year against the Ravens when Ben's nose was rearranged. 


Ben's nose re-arranged


But when was the time before THAT. I'll bet you have a hard time coming up with the answer. This crap about the Steelers NOT being singled out is just that CRAP! As the joke goes Harrision gets fined even when someone on another team get as a helmet-to-helmet penalty.


Further on helmet-to-helmet. Why does this only apply to defensive players? Ever see a 350 pound tackle pull and give a H-to-H on a corner back? Yeah, many times. Now THAT'S gotta hurt. How about when a linebacker comes free through the line and puts a H-to-H on a running back who hasn't really built up any steam yet. Yeah, a lot! So, Mr. NFL Comissioner, do something smart for a change, consider ALL H-to-H contact as penalize-able or fine-able or suspend-able. Those other guys can hit, too. Idea: How about protecting EVERYONE?

And while we're at it. A player who is suspected of being concussed has to go through a series of checks on the sideline before he can be sent back in. I would think at a minimum this should take two or three minutes. In this case McCoy missed TWO PLAYS! And in the shots of him on the sideline it didn't really appear he was being "checked out" by ANYONE except perhaps the head coach and offensive coordinator. I believe the NFL rules call for someone with MEDICAL TRAINING to do this. So, should the Browns' head coach be fined or suspended? Just asking but, Roger, ya might wanna check into that re the CBA, too! OK?