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PITTSBURGH -- Steelers linebacker James Harrison was fined $25,000 on Tuesday for his penalized hit on Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Harrison has four fines this season totaling $125,000.

Harrison drew a roughing-the-passer penalty for hitting Fitzpatrick helmet-first during Pittsburgh's 19-16 overtime victory Sunday.

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"James Harrison was fined $25,000 for roughing the passer, specifically he made helmet contact to the chest of the Buffalo quarterback, who was in a defenseless position at the time the contact was made," the NFL said in an e-mail Tuesday to The Associated Press.

After the game, the three-time Pro Bowl linebacker said the play didn't warrant a fine. He compared it to his Nov. 21 roughing-the-passer penalty against Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell that did not draw a fine.

"I'm not expecting a fine," Harrison said. "It's the exact thing as last week. It was the same exact hit. I hit him [Fitzpatrick] the same way I did the quarterback from Oakland and I got the same flag but I didn't get a fine. ... I'm expecting the same thing on this."

Harrison previously was fined $75,000 for a helmet hit on Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, $20,000 for a helmet-to-the-back hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees and $5,000 for a hit on Titans quarterback Vince Young.

On Monday, the league rejected Harrison's appeals of the $75,000 and $20,000 fines, although the Steelers supported Harrison's appeal.


Harrison
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin declined Tuesday to debate whether Harrison should have been fined for the Fitzpatrick play. But Tomlin suggested Harrison needs to alter his tackling style to conform to the NFL's stricter enforcement of dangerous hits -- a toughened stance that was prompted, in part, by the Massaquoi hit.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5867825
"Obviously he does because the league doesn't agree with him," Tomlin said. "My opinion doesn't matter."

Tomlin also was asked if it's fair that the league keeps singling out Harrison for large fines.

"Man, life isn't fair," Tomlin said. "I'm not concerned about fairness. I'm really not. I'm concerned about preparing for the Baltimore Ravens" on Sunday.

Earlier this season, Tomlin and Steelers President Art Rooney II defended Harrison, and Tomlin told his players he doesn't want the league's stance to affect the way they play. Rooney also said the league was wrong for disciplining players for what he felt were legal hits, including the Harrison hit on Massaquoi.

Absolutely Ridiculous!!! I'm not a Steelers fan but I love watching James Harrison, he plays the game like it should be played.

So Harrison gets fined the same amount as two players who actually ripped each other helments off and threw multiple punches. All he did was hit a QB too hard. Something is wrong with this picture.

MVP2 Wrote:Absolutely Ridiculous!!! I'm not a Steelers fan but I love watching James Harrison, he plays the game like it should be played.

Not Roger Goodell

^

Yeah, he'll probably change the rules to two hand touch or flag in a couple of years.

MVP2 Wrote:^

Yeah, he'll probably change the rules to two hand touch or flag in a couple of years.

If it doubles the revenue for the owners, you can bet that it will happen!

MVP2 Wrote:Absolutely Ridiculous!!! I'm not a Steelers fan but I love watching James Harrison, he plays the game like it should be played.

I feel like the league is picking on this guy. There was nothing dirty about that hit and the QB was not defenseless. This is so unfair because he plays all out as hard as he can and gets in trouble for it.

WALL2WALL Wrote:I feel like the league is picking on this guy. There was nothing dirty about that hit and the QB was not defenseless. This is so unfair because he plays all out as hard as he can and gets in trouble for it.

:Thumbs:

Agreed.

They let players fight but fine them bigger for playing the game?

Roger Goodel is a ratard.

This is starting to get REAL STUPID!!!!! I think the players should start a fund and have every player toss in $10,000 each and when a player gets fined....they just pull it out of the fund. BUT, if it was just plain blatant....it comes out their own pocket.

I agree with John Gruden's statement on Mondy Night Football earlier this week, "I don't know how to play football anymore."

I didn't see this one.
Did he go into the air for this one?
Or did he just hit him with his helmet?

He hit his chest with his helmet. Just a great hit.

Roger Goodell is ruining football. He is a poison to the NFL, let them play and quit trying to police everyone. I hope someone gets some sense and gets rid of him, I can not stand that man.:igiveup:

Where are all the folks who say the NFL bends the rules for Steelers!?!?!? This is ridiculous!!!

The NFL acting like this is worse than college basketball taking away hand-checking. It is getting ridiculous, and I'm not an NFL fan, it still is getting on my nerves.

Did he hit him late?

I feel like, they should keep fining him until he retires. Lost all respect for this punk when he held the Cardinal player down and punched him in the Super Bowl a few years back.

zaga_fan Wrote:Did he hit him late?

no. He was less than a step away from the QB when he released the ball.

Belfry0304 Wrote:I feel like, they should keep fining him until he retires. Lost all respect for this punk when he held the Cardinal player down and punched him in the Super Bowl a few years back.

I think he's a punk too....
but I try to look at each incident individually.
I think we can all agree that Harrison has been known to play dirty though, and leading with your helmet should be a thing of the past by now.

It sucks that it is in fact a thing of the past now.....
but that's the rules....
so if you are told that leading with the helmet is illegal you need to practice doing something else.

He has had some helmet to helmet hits that I believe could have killed some smaller players.

Belfry0304 Wrote:I feel like, they should keep fining him until he retires. Lost all respect for this punk when he held the Cardinal player down and punched him in the Super Bowl a few years back.

I didn't see the punch. Can you tell me when it happened?

It makes no sense to me that you have guys behind desks, some of whom have never played football in their lives, making rules like these. Ask most of the players, they disagree with the fines and hits, even the offensive players. Let them define a dirty hit.

The true hypocrisy of this rule is that players can actually fight on the field and they get a significantly smaller fine and no suspension for it?!?!?!?