Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

On Football

I am the first to admit that I am not really a great fan of football. I will watch a game now and then, but I could not tell you the records of any teams or who leads the National Football League in punting average. I dislike Art Modell, who moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, changed the name to the Ravens, ripped off the logo for his team from a security guard, then won the Super Bowl, because I'm supposed to dislike him.

So, I am not familiar with all the technicalities of professional football. But I do know that something is radically wrong, having read this in Sports Illustrated about the thuggish Pittsburgh Steeler hero of some Super Bowl Roman numeral, James Harrison, who hails from northeast Ohio and Kent State:

"He drew a $5,000 penalty for slamming Tennessee quarterback Vince Young to the turf Sept. 19, a play that also wasn't penalized. Harrison also was fined $5,000 last season for unnecessary roughness following a late hit on Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth. In 2008, he drew a $20,000 fine for criticizing a roughing-the-passer penalty against him."

Does anyone else see anything wrong with this situation, or am I the only idiot who thinks that things are totally whacked?

He makes a paltry salary of $755,000, but did receive a bonus of $2.8 million for showing up to training camp. In 2008, Harrison was given a $10-million signing bonus and a $2,555,000 bonus in 2008 for making the roster, on top of his $900,000 salary. So, a $5,000 fine for nearly breaking one guy's back and smashing into another guy, trying to hurt him is a ludicrous and sick joke.

That is equivalent to a parking ticket to someone making $35,000 a year -- a $50 fine.

But wait, look at the last part -- he was fined 4 times more than that for "criticizing a roughing-the-passer penalty." He said something the NFL didn't like.

And I understand that he knocked out two players on the Cleveland Browns by hitting them in the head. Maybe he'll get a fine comparable to a speeding ticket for you and me.

What kind of lunatics are running professional football?

Oops, I'll probably be fined for criticizing them.

Posted by Bill at October 19, 2010 08:45 AM