Former Pittsburgh Steelers OLB James Harrison ran afoul of the NFL’s policy on illegal hits more than a few times in his career, and during an appearance on Cameron Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, Harrison talked about a meeting he had at NFL headquarters after being fined for a hit. While Harrison met with Goodell a number of times, this meeting was likely one that happened in 2010, when the NFL began to crack down on helmet-to-helmet hits.
It was in the wake of a hit on former Browns WR Mohamed Massaquoi that saw Harrison fined $75,000, but he insisted that Massaquoi ducked his helmet, which became a point of contention in his meeting with Goodell. Needless to say, Harrison doesn’t have much love lost for the NFL Commissioner, whom he called “King Dookie on Turd Island.”
“So they’re fining me because he just changed the rules on where you can hit someone. So we go into this meeting and there’s Roger Goodell and a bunch of other cats, a ref, Merton Hanks, long neck, shaky shelf. And they’re going through my hits, like ‘What happened here, what happened here?’ And Roger Goodell sitting off in the corner like the King Dookie on Turd Island. And I’m explaining, like ‘Yo, this is what happened, that’s what happened.’ And I’m like, ‘Let’s just get to the point. If any point in time, if my helmet is to contact the offensive person’s helmet, that’s my fault?’ He said, ‘Yes.'”
Harrison said he asked if it was still his fault even if the offensive player adjusted and put his head in the way. Goodell still said yes and basically told Harrison no matter what the offensive player does, if the defensive player makes helmet-to-helmet contact, even incidentally, it would be his fault. Harrison left the meeting after some choice words for Goodell.
“You don’t care about anything other than the NFL looking like they’re worried about player safety, and you just wanna fine so it looks good,” he recalled of what he told Goodell. “So we had nothing else to talk about. So I left.”
He added that Merton Hanks, who at the time was the league’s vice president of operations in charge of player conduct, told Harrison that they were just trying to make the game safe and weren’t out to make him look like a bad guy. Harrison said he replied, “Go out there and say it in front of your boss.”
Harrison said the meeting wasn’t productive, as if that wasn’t clear enough. During an appearance on Ben Roethlisberger’s Footbahlin’ podcast, Harrison defended himself against the Massaquoi hit and all his hits and said they’re all legal. He clearly still believes that’s the case.
Obviously, player safety was and is a huge emphasis in the NFL, and back in the early 2010s, it became even more so when data about concussions and CTE started becoming more prevalent. Harrison was an easy target for the NFL, and his hit on Massaquoi was one that was photographed and made to look like Harrison was the poster child for illegal hits and violence in the NFL. Obviously, he took exception to that and also how defensive players were treated.
The discussion came in the wake of talking about the new hip-drop tackle ban, and Harrison’s frustration that defensive players have to fundamentally change the way they play in the name of player safety. Heyward pointed out earlier this offseason on his podcast that it’s only defensive players who need to change and things like cut blocks are still allowed.
Harrison’s story is a fun little inside tidbit of what went down, and his descriptions for Goodell and Hanks are pretty damn funny. Harrison didn’t endear himself to Goodell during his career and comparing him to poop probably isn’t going to do him any favors in retirement. I don’t think we’ll see Harrison working for the league office any time soon, but he’s been a really fun personality in retirement, and it’s always good to hear from one of the best pass rushers in team history.
