Written by: Garrett Johnson '12
On December 8th 2011 James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers laid a controversial helmet to helmet hit on quarterback Colt McCoy of the Cleveland Browns. The National Football League suspended Harrison from the Steelers game against the San Francisco 49ers.
This is not Harrison ’s first tangle up with fines and penalties due too flagrant head to head collisions. But honestly what is the game that we have all grown up watching and loving coming to? It’s the hits that people like James Harrison have on opposing players that fill the stands; the same hits that are shown over and over again on shows like NFL’s top 20 players to highlight the talents of previous great NFL players.
Sure I will agree concussions are a major issue involving the sport, but then again doesn’t everyone know the risks when they step onto the grid iron?
These are men ranging from the ages of twenty to almost forty years old. Can they not comprehend the dangers of the game of Football? I’m not going to knock the league but honestly let men be men.
“Football is a sport of collision, emotion, and ferocity.” - Kanon McVicker. Not a game to limit the brutality of one player to another. In my opinion James Harrison was in the right and always has been. Let men be men and let the men try to prove dominance on the grid iron without a bunch of spectators crying about the dangers of the game.
If you don’t like what you’re seeing… don’t watch, because when you cringe I smile.