As many have so eloquently put it, the NFL is not ballet. There are a lot of things that are just dirty about the game of football, and no amount of rules will clean that up. But it has come a long way over the last decade or so in terms of helping players stay safer and try to ward off concussions.
Alas, we have just got word from James Harrison on Thursday that none of that was on the mind of anyone back in 2010. His hit on Mohamed Massaquoi, which gave the wide receiver a concussion, was apparently rewarded by his head coach- Mike Tomlin- with an envelope. Harrison refused to say what was in the envelope, but I think we all know it was worth more than the $75,000 he was ultimately fined for. The fine was the highest he ever paid. The Pittsburgh Steelers organization quickly moved to distance themselves from such accusations, but it’s now going to always be in doubt. If Tomlin did indeed reward this sort of behavior, is it too late for the league to step in and punish? It’s got to be a valid question at this stage.
