Flacco on fines: Steelers’ Harrison is doing his job

[tony hipchest]

i dont think junior is a fan of (or even familiar with) old school, hard hitting football.

sounds more like a relative of goodells and a flag butt rugby captain.

seriously... was he even a fan before teh ravens made the AFCC game in 2008? he thinks harbaugh teaches ray lewis et al how to tackle.

[Pala_Maul_U]

I really believe the NFL is out for the Steelers and James Harrison for one most of Harrisons hits that were fined, should have never been fines. Also I remember Hines Ward was hit in the head by a player this year that actually took him out of the game, and I could be wrong but I don't think the player that hit him was ever fined. If im right something here isn't right!

[GMU Steeler]

Flacco probably is smart enough to realize that these dumb penatlies/fines that have been handed to Harrison could easily impact his team who has a similiar game to the Steelers. I hate the Ravens but it's because of the rivalry really. I mean yes I hate Flacco but only because he plays on a hated rival. I really have never seen him complain the way say Brady does when he's touched. I of course hope we win and win big Sunday night but I understand exactly why Ravens players such as Flacco and Suggs have empathized with Harrison's situation.

[Whodis]

BobbyJr- At some point it would be nice to hear some if any realistic football opinion you could bring to the board. I go to school near Balt. so I know for a fact that you all are not idiots.

I was listening to Ravens talk radio and was surprised to hear how many of their fans started off a conversation with "I really hate Hines Ward, but................" .

"Most" of their fans seem to look at this as an attack on aggresive hard hitting football which both teams play and realize it's only a matter of time before they are in the cross arrows.

[bobby jr]

Steeler fans cannot be expected to be objective about whether Harrison's fines were justified or not.
The fact is that the NFL officials are far more objective than you guys are. I think perhaps you are worried that the Steelers defense may not be as effective if the opposition is not intimidated by these type of vicious head shots

[dez09231]

Originally Posted by bobby jr

The Ravens haven't been fined because their defensive players have not delivered the kind of hits the Harrison has. Harbaugh teaches hard hitting but not dangerous or illegal hitting.

The NFL isn't out to get any team or player, the policy holds for all teams.

Dude, did you watch the Raiders game? Did you see the Massaquoi fine?


Let me get this straight. . . . Harrison has to play a 25k tax to play pretty much every week for doing things that aren't even penalized half the time, or having the league tell him that it's his fault for having offensive players duck their heads into him, yet Johnson and Finnegan can fight and be fined 25k? Dunta Robinson has a completely legit hit on Jackson and it's 50k? There is no rhyme or reason to the NFL's policy, and Harrison spoke out against being fined, so he is clearly targeted. Both T-Sizzle and Flacco have said that it isn't right; which it isn't.

Please believe, the Ravens are next. After the Steelers, you all are the most prominent defense. . . and the league wants Arena scores. . . and in order for that to happen, they can't have dominant defenses be dominant any longer.

[dez09231]

Originally Posted by bobby jr

Steeler fans cannot be expected to be objective about whether Harrison's fines were justified or not.
The fact is that the NFL officials are far more objective than you guys are. I think perhaps you are worried that the Steelers defense may not be as effective if the opposition is not intimidated by these type of vicious head shots

Yeah bud, Suggs, Flacco, and 70% of the nation who think that the Steelers are being targeted according to recent polls are all Steelers fans. : /

[SCMom]

Originally Posted by bobby jr

Steeler fans cannot be expected to be objective about whether Harrison's fines were justified or not.
The fact is that the NFL officials are far more objective than you guys are. I think perhaps you are worried that the Steelers defense may not be as effective if the opposition is not intimidated by these type of vicious head shots

100% false in so many ways.

What does vicious head shots have to do with Harrison's fines anyway? The Massaquoi hit was the only one that was considered a "head shot". The other 3 are all on QBs and have zero to do with head shots.

You better take some people's (and Flacco's) words to heart here soon. Goodell is doing whatever he can to handicap defenses. There will never be a defense like the '00 Ravens or '08 Steelers ever again. It's unfortunate that you seem more concerned with taking shots at the Steelers and fans every chance you get rather than actually discuss what is going on in the league. Say bye bye to our legendary defenses.

Meanwhile, we can all go out to our local Best Buy or go online to the NFL shop and purchase any number of NFL registered videos like "Moment of Impact" or "NFL's Hardest Hits" that glorify vicious, injury causing hits. Go figure.

[SCMom]

I'd like to give an example here too. Here's a type of hit that Harrison was just fined for (when hitting a QB). Last year, when the Steelers played the Vikings, Peterson just absolutely destroyed William Gay. Watch the video and notice how AP hits Gay when Gay attempts to tackle him. You will never, ever, EVER see a penalty called against an offensive player making a hit like this on a defensive player, nor will you ever see fines levied. You will see it happen consistently on defensive players against offensive players (especially QBs). That is because Goodell and the NFL are more concerned with the "product" (people...specifically high end QBs) that make them money, rather than all around player safety.

Pause video at :19 seconds. It's a great play by AP (and a horrible one by Gay lol), but these are the kinds of things that make the league extremely inconsistent.

[youtube]KmrAyU3HcU0[/youtube]

[i82much]

There is no anti-Ravens or anti-Steelers bias. There is (1) a general problem with poor, inconsistent officiating, (2) a league-wide trend to open up the game and reduce injuries that has taken a lot of the heart out of the game, and (3) some special treatment for certain star players, which is partly as a result of (2).

What happens is that, by favoring offenses, the NFL inherently hurts teams that are built around defense. And - not coincidentally - the NFL makes more money. At least until real football fans get sick of it.