On Rodney Harrison, Terrell Owens and bounties
by Brian Galliford on Sep 11, 2009 1:30 PM EDT
in Buffalo Bills News
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PrintBuffalo Bills WR Terrell Owens is popular because he's unpopular. His reputation is infamous; he questioned former QB Jeff Garcia's sexuality, he points fingers of blame routinely, and he's had run-ins with coaching staffs on more than one occasion. There's a reason that a player as talented as Owens moves from team to team - much of his reputation is accurate, even if the media takes every word the man utters and twists them to new levels of ridiculous.
Rodney Harrison - he of Charger and Patriot fame, and possessor of multiple Super Bowl rings from his days in New England - will be fondly remembered in league circles as one of the dirtiest players to ever don an NFL uniform. Oh, he was talented; Harrison was a fantastic field general, a vicious, difference-making physical presence, and he was a playmaker, finishing his illustrious career with 34 interceptions and 30.5 sacks.
Let's not pretend that either of these gentlemen are misunderstood. Both are, or were, outstanding, borderline legendary NFL players. Both have serious flaws.
Harrison's flaws continue to show up even after retirement. Why? Unabashedly claiming that putting a bounty on Owens now that he's retired is somehow "fair" - well, as they say, a tiger does not change its stripes.
Here's Harrison's quotes in full, courtesy ESPN.com:
"I'm pumped about T.O. opening up his big mouth about the Patriots. It's fair now. I can actually put a bounty on T.O. if I wanted and not get in any trouble...
"He's a clown. He's all about the circus show and the cameras, and it's all about that. But you best believe he'll have Shawn Springs in his grill and Brandon Meriweather will be putting his helmet down his throat. So I'm excited about seeing that on Monday.
"He's just so, so miserable. He wants to seek so much attention. I don't know. Something happened a long, long [time] ago, before we even knew T.O., that just made him like this. The guy is such a phenomenal talent, but his clown antics and his tactics just take away, year after year.
"The story we should be talking about is the playmaking ability, the big plays and his potential Hall of Fame career."
That's pretty rich. The man who was suspended for knowingly and willingly using HGH, who picked up over $200,000 in fines before 2002, and who was voted the NFL's dirtiest player by his peers in both 2004 and 2006, and again by coaches in 2008, thinks it's amusing to even joke about putting a bounty on another NFL player. Forgive me if my jaw doesn't drop. Forgive me, too, for thinking that there aren't many dumber things one can do in this league, particularly after last year's Baltimore/Pittsburgh bounty fiasco.
Perhaps this all stems from Owens' (along with Freddie Mitchell's) pre-Super Bowl XXXIX taunts of Harrison and the Patriots' secondary. Even though Owens played with an essentially broken leg and caught 9 passes for 122 yards in the performance of a lifetime, you'd think that Harrison might have let it slide, what with his Super Bowl ring and his game-clinching interception.
This isn't a defense of Owens; Owens doesn't need to be defended. Garbage like this is spewed about T.O. on a daily basis, and some of it is deserved - Owens is clearly no angel. (I don't know as I'd call Owens "miserable," though - he seems pretty laid-back to me.)
Putting a bounty on a player (or even joking about it, as Harrison undoubtedly was) - even if one doesn't like said player, and even if one is retired, sees it as "fair," and believes oneself to be beyond reprimand - is disgusting. It certainly doesn't do a ton to dispel the notion that Harrison is one of the dirtiest players in league history. Shouldn't fans be talking about the many positive accomplishments he had on the field? He is, after all, the only player in NFL history to accumulate 30 interceptions and 30 sacks over a career. He was a phenomenal talent, too - but his mouth continues to betray him post-retirement.
It's completely understandable that Harrison, in his first year of retirement, would get riled up by the taken-out-of-context-as-usual comments that Owens made regarding Spygate. The man lived off adrenaline on the football field. It's natural, therefore, that he'd relish seeing some of his Patriots ex-teammates get a shot at hitting Owens, and hitting him hard, on Monday Night Football. His commentary, however, makes him appear both ignorant of his own misgivings and every bit as dirty as his reputation makes him out to be.
Here's the kicker for me: Harrison tells us that we should be talking about Owens the player, and not Owens the act. You can do that, Rodney - you work for NBC. Go ahead; we won't stop you. Maybe you should, however, keep some of your thoughts to yourself - because we, in turn, should be talking about Harrison the player, and not Harrison the head hunter.
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This is one of the best articles you’ve ever written Brian.
The irony of Harrison, a fantastic player who will be remembered more for being dirty than for being great, criticizing TO for the way he carries himself is priceless.
Couldn't have said it better myself
Every time i think of him, I think of Tyree making the catch and Harrison not being able to wrestle the ball out of his hands/helmet.
Harrison comes of
looking like that guy who taunts his foe after the fight while fleeing the scene.
Huge dork…
"Hold ya chin up...nuh nuh nuh...gone"
-Marshawn Lynch-
Great hire, NBC…soooo not looking forward to listening to him before games. Ugh.
Penn Staters belong at Penn State. The problem with a lot of kids is they just don’t know they are Penn Staters yet. -jesse. @ BSD
by TheK-GunNeedsReloaded on Sep 11, 2009 1:50 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
The whole ‘I can put a bounty on him now’ is silly.
Who is he going to get to do this for him? It’s not like he can pay a Patriot for doing something. That’s against NFL policy (and possibly illegal).
Is he going to have someone waiting outside the team bus to give take a tire iron to his knee? That sounds criminal.
It’s just ‘big’ talk from someone who knows nothing is going to happen but wants to sound tough.
You can take the player off the roids but you apparently can’t take roid rage out of the player.
T.O. was clearly joking, trying to elicit a reaction by poking at Belichick and the Patriots, playing to his target audience the New England media. Harrison also was obviously joking and not in the least bit serious about ordering a bounty on T.O.
Both of them are trash talkers, although Harrison never trash-talked about an opponent before a game to the media. Why are you getting all hot and bothered about it? Nothing said by either man was anything worthy of getting all riled up over.
Now anything to do with Joey Porter is a different story…
Keep the faith!
T.O. joked about a spy camera.
Harrison called T.O. “miserable”, insinuating he had issues as a child, and claimed he was “looking forward to Merriweather putting his helmet down T.O.’s throat.” Apples and Oranges.
"I call him Scuba Steve. I also call him Stevie Wonder. Pretty soon, I shall call him Scuba Wonder." - B.G.
Why are you getting all hot and bothered about it? Nothing said by either man was anything worthy of getting all riled up over.
I disagree. Owens toed the line when he even mentioned Spygate, in my opinion, but Harrison crossed one here, at least as I see it. Plus, Harrison’s apparent relish – joking or not – of seeing his ex-teammates put the hurt on Owens, although completely understandable, make his bounty joke look legitimate. It just rubbed me the wrong way, particularly after he said that we should be talking about Owens’ talents.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Sep 11, 2009 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions
T.O.
was toeing the line when he mentioned spygate??? Don’t think so. Sure he said it jokingly, but he purposely meant to bring it up because he knew what a sore spot it is to New England fans. There was no other reason to mention it to the New England media.
I brushed his comments aside the same was I brushed Harrison’s comments aside. He obviously rubs you the wrong way and I can understand that. Joey Porter has had the same affect on me since he was in Pittsburgh. But just because I’m annoyed, it doesn’t make his words worth one extra bit of attention.
Keep the faith!
Joking about spy gate, and saying that you pay to see another person physically harmed are two different things IMO.
No weekend spent pantsless is a wasted weekend.
That’s what I was getting at, Eric. Spygate is Spygate. Sore spot or not, it did not involve the intentional harming of another human being.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Sep 11, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Bounty’s are an unwritten (but accepted) part of football.
I found both TO & Harrisson’s comments amusing and I don’t think bc someone threatens a bounty we should go put in a tampon. The banter is funny. That’s why we wanted TO for amusement like this. Let’s not get bent out of shape about it. THere was a bounty on Mendenhall last year by the Ravens and no-one seemed enraged over that (the game he got hurt).
I wish someone on our defense had that kind of drive…not to do something illegal (which Harrisson has done many times) but to have the drive to hit someone that much harder instead of just bringing them down to the ground.
I don’t think I’m being irrational about this. Bounties are NOT an accepted part of football – they are explicitly against league rules. I’m not condemning Harrison completely – as I say, he was a great player. I just think he’s one of the very last people in the league who should a) be judging other players, and b) be shouting about bounties in any context.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Sep 11, 2009 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t think T.O.‘s comment and Harrison’s comment are in the same stadium, let alone room. T.O. was asked byt the media if they were going to see anything special. He said no not really, then proceeded to make the camera comment (laughing). Now, if Harrison said something like, “While he is making clown comments I’ll be polishing my rings.” I could accept it. Jab = Jab. Harrison went off on a rant, and basically said I hope some dude hurts this guy.
Bounties are against league rules and still a part of the game that probably goes on a lot more than any of us realize. I really don’t think what Harrisson said was that absurd considering he is not playing and he didn’t go so far as to make a direct reference to hurting owens or ending his career. My guess is that Pats fans would feel each comment justified themselfs.
To be honest I would be more offended if someone called me a cheat than if someone said they wanted to beat the crap out of me and attempt it.
My guess is if someone other than Harrisson said it we would have overlooked it but bc Harrison played many games with the intent to injure (which I agree is awful and wrong) than we are a little harsher to the comment.
I, for one, would not. I might not have written a full post on it, but I haven’t forgotten the Suggs bounty in Baltimore last year. It may happen a lot, as you mention, but talking about it publicly is a pretty low level of stupid.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Sep 11, 2009 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions
didnt they have an entire "outside the lines" on bounties?
i think bounties are a part of the game, and a really stupid one. spygate was spygate. dude got caught and its not like it was a lie or anything. belicheat got caught and now he has to reap what he sowed. im pretty sure almost everybody in the league (especially in the AFC east) jokes about spygate and thinks it was funny that the great belicheat got caught, cuz, well, it IS funny. but i would say a very very small handful of players actually go out and say that they hope another player gets injured. Rodney is a piece of crap, and always has been. if he didnt play on the patriots, patriot fans would think so too.
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
by silverstreak3k on Sep 11, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions
This really gets under my skin
Not very much of this usually bothers me (the trash talking), but when Harrison says something like this, I tend to think he is not joking. Maybe it is because I have watched him over the years try to injure palyer after player. The problem this time is he isn’t even in this game. He is just another punk ex-player who wishes he could have one more shot at football. If I was the NFL, I would go to NBC and say they do not want him working NFL games. BY making those comments, he is openly bias and border-line crminal. THe NFL has enough problems with there image, they do not need another semi-intelligent former football players making threats to there vurrent players. COMPLETELY UNPROFESSIONAL! And before people start jumping on me about this, I actually liked the way Harrison played the game for the most part. I like the collisions. I like the intimidation effect.
by The Irishman on Sep 11, 2009 5:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Good article
Nice write up. Where does Harrison get off? How is he much different from T.O. on and off the field? It always seemed to me like he was as much a narcissist as T.O. is. Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.
He was a phenomenal talent, too – but his mouth continues to betray him post-retirement.
I think you’re just being civil, so I’ll go ahead and say it. It’s not Harrison’s mouth that betrays him, it’s his brain.
I find it revealing that Harrison would claim that there is something in T.O.‘s history that has done something negative to him. It makes me wonder what happened in Harrison’s past that would lead him to become one of the dirtiest players in the leasgue and make statements like, “Brandon Meriweather will be putting his helmet down his throat. So I’m excited about seeing that on Monday.” I know football is a violent game, but for an analyst, or anyone for that matter, that is uncalled for.
"I call him Scuba Steve. I also call him Stevie Wonder. Pretty soon, I shall call him Scuba Wonder." - B.G.
Whateva
It takes alot of ballz to put a bounty on someone when you’re not in the game taking hits yourself. Harrison was a very good player but was the type of player that played defense because he couldn’t take being hit himself. I would have taken out his knees, got a penalty and fine for free.
I must say that the obnoxious pic of Harrison makes me hate him even more….I didn’t think that was possible.
No weekend spent pantsless is a wasted weekend.
Ni kidding.
Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Ignoring the grumblings on Rumblings.
by MattRichWarren on Sep 12, 2009 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree Harrison’s comments were out of order and paint him in a bad light (even more than his previous antics)
But I’m finding it difficult to get too concerned about this.
a) Surely TO will use this as pre-game pin board material and be even more fired up? Fine by me!!
b) It’s tough to divert my energies away form the bigger fish the Bills and TO are currently frying, O-wise! I hope it’s the same for them.
Anyway, bring on MNF!!!!! (I remember when the ticker on the home page was over 100 days to go….!)
"Don't I know you?"
"Nah, that ain't me, man. I'm from Buffalo"
That article was fantastic, Brian
And spot on
It makes me kind of sick and I feel like a bad person, but when Rodney Harrison busted his leg, it was the first and only time I’ve ever enjoyed seeing a player hurt. I cannot stand that hypocrite.
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Sep 11, 2009 3:33 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Owens is miserable? Wow I’ve never seen a miserable person smile so much in my life. That’s like saying Hines Ward is miserable, the guy never stops smiling (except for when he almost fumbled away the game for the Steelers last night!)
Rodney Harrison has no class. Well written article Brian.
"Potential just means you haven’t done sh## yet"
I wouldn't be surprised
if Harrison got fired from NBC for these comments. Goodell probably wouldn’t mind making an example of him, post-football.
Twitter: helping to make anti-social people anti-socially social.
by TheAfghanTwilight on Sep 11, 2009 4:08 PM EDT reply actions
I have been surprised to hear nothing from NBC regarding it…
Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Ignoring the grumblings on Rumblings.
by MattRichWarren on Sep 12, 2009 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions
what a great hire
NBC must be oh so proud of this punk advocating the injuring of another player….sure adds a sh tload of credibility to their broadcasts…. the guys a dirty hack, in life as he was on the field.
It rubs the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again
NBC Rant
I’m sick of guys like Harrison getting hired. NBC’s Post game highlight show was horrible before, now I’m sure it will be unwatchable. They never tell the story of each game through the highlights appropriately and focus too much on the Headlines (Vick, Favre, etc.). I miss Berman and Jackson when they did Primetime. More highlights, less discussion. Anyone else with me on this?
I'm with you ...
…I miss the show because Berman kept it fair, fun and it was about what was happening on the field. This nonsense we call highlights are a far cry from “NFL Primetime” or even “Inside the NFL” when it was on HBO. Now you have to watch the football highlights mixed up with the other crap that ESPN is hyping. Oh, we’ll get to the Buffalo game after we watch the Cowboys highlights three times, highlights of Kobe Bryant showing he’s the man, the latest NASCAR point calculations and basically any sports personality with a love affair with the camera…oh yeah, sure, we’ll get to those Bills highlights (all 30 seconds of them) real soon. It’s amazing how fast a guy like Owens can put a team on ESPN’s radar. I’m glad we have the NFL channel, which still believes in parity.
"They're Killin' Me Whitey. They're Killin' Me" -- Lou Saban
When Sunday Night Football moved from ESPN to NBC the first crack at highlights moved with it as part of the contract. ESPN can’t do it until like midnight.
Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Ignoring the grumblings on Rumblings.
by MattRichWarren on Sep 12, 2009 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions
I have been watching sports for almost 40 years, and the only time I can say that I was happy to see a player get hurt was when Rodney Harrison broke his arm in a game.
He was a vicious filthy player, and there’s no need for caveats like – “intensity”, “field general” – the guy was a punk on the field and it sounds like he’ll be a punk in the booth.
I Don't think T.O. is Losing Sleep Over This
Another tough receiver once said, "I’m not worrying about what a guy says about a bounty….I’ve been having a bounty on me for five years now. I’m sure that every (team) in our division has a bounty on me. Everyone wants to knock this smile off my face." With all that T.O. has done to antagonize teams (i.e. celebrating on the Dallas star), i’m sure there are plenty of “bounties” that have been put on him by defenses. But like Hines, there is a reason that T.O has consistently been one of the more durable receivers in pro-football: he’s tougher, smarter, and a better football player.than the guy lining up opposite him.and i don’t think he’s losing one wink of sleep over some mailcious comments from a retired safety who never was half the ball-player T.O. is.
-Already getting pumped up for Monday night
What a cowardly comment
Now that Harrison’s off the field he can talk big about offering a bounty. Safe behind his NBC suit and tie.
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it highly illegal for anyone, retired or not, to offer money or other rewards to someone to purposefully injure an NFL player? Could he honestly collect the bounty money while the NFL’s hands are tied?
I’m pretty sure that’s called a hit job. You know, Rodney, organized crime.
I thought Conrad Dobler was the dirtiest player.
Maybe Harrison is jealous, Hell Conrad would bite you at the bottom of the pile. Clothes Line you if you were blitzing. I think he invented the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Anyways, I don’t mean to deminish your post it was an excellent one as usual. The guy is a punk. Always has been and always will be. T.O. never was a punk and never will be.
Only Real Men Wear Red, White, and Blue.
tasker
a couple years back, in a discussion of steve tasker’s HOF merits, dr. z quoted i believe john lynch as saying that tasker once gave the ole family jewels a healthy twist at the bottom of a fumble pile.
by LeClaireBill on Sep 12, 2009 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions
How can he be miserable? He has 6.5M reasons to not be miserable.
Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Ignoring the grumblings on Rumblings.
by MattRichWarren on Sep 12, 2009 10:12 AM EDT reply actions
Harrison is one of those ex-players that can’t let go of the game and has to find ways to keep himself relevant. He probably should check with his current employer about how acceptable it is to talk about bounties on current players, joking or not. He doesn’t have the NFLPA to hide behind after one of his transgressions.
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