For a brief time, James Harrison was a New England Patriot. But that won’t cloud his judgment of whether or not the team cheated decades before at the start of Harrison’s career. In Cam Heyward’s latest Not Just Football podcast, Harrison didn’t hesitate to call out the Pats.
“Hell yeah they were cheating,” Harrison said when asked. “Whatcha mean? They only missed one blitz. Where previously, where we beat them, New England and Philly, they couldn’t see the broad side of the barn.”
This portion of the podcast was recorded during April’s draft.
Harrison is the latest Steeler to state his belief that the Patriots were stealing signs and signals. In past interviews, ex-teammates like OT Barrett Brooks and RB Jerome Bettis have made the same point along with roughly the entire Steelers fan base. By this point, the story is well-known. Spygate, the Patriots accused of illegally positioning their cameras and filming signals by coaches throughout the game to be collected, analyzed, and weaponized in future meetings.
Harrison is referring to the 2004 season. Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie year, the Steelers going on an incredible run to finish the regular season 15-1 under a rookie quarterback. That included beating the Patriots 34-20 in Week 8. Pittsburgh’s offense produced over 400 yards as the Steelers raced out to a 21-3 first quarter lead. Tom Brady had a miserable performance, completing under 60 percent of his passes, throwing two picks, and getting sacked four times.
The AFC Championship Game had a completely different tone. New England took control early and forced four Steelers turnovers, including an 87-yard pick-six by S Rodney Harrison at the end of the first half that essentially cemented the Patriots’ win. They went on to win, 41-27, beating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX two weeks later.
After being released by the Steelers, Harrison finished his career with the Patriots in 2017. By then, their cheating days were over.
“If they were doing it, they must’ve stopped when I got there,” he said.
Like 2004, the Patriots would go to the Super Bowl and play the Eagles that year. This time, the confetti fell down on Philadelphia, upsetting the Patriots, 41-33. Harrison played nearly every single snap, finishing with a pair of QB hits.
While the Patriots were fined and lost draft picks for their practices, the NFL created more questions by destroying the tapes of what New England captured. Fans will never know the exact extent of what the Patriots did and what advantage it provided them.
Winning two Super Bowls helped Harrison respond with a smile and laugh rather than resentment. But it still doesn’t completely take the sting out of that loss. And no one who played against the Patriots in that era thinks their hands were clean.
