It’s always fun watching athletes make the awkward transition from player to in-studio analyst, and it’s certainly been no different with you. You were once the biggest badass to step on the football field on Sundays; now you are speaking out against violence in the game?
On NBC’s Football Night in America, you spoke as “a player with over $300,000 in fines.” You smirked when you said you put $50,000 aside before a season started, just for fines. Then you went on to offer solutions.
Do you really think the guy who just admitted to putting aside money to break the rules should have an impact on new safety rules?
You went on to say that players should be suspended instead of just the $5,000 fine, because the money doesn’t matter to them.
There was an overwhelmingly positive response to your comments the next day from the media, but one question remains: How would Harrison the player respond to Harrison the analyst?
I know you are now trying to say the politically correct thing, but don’t be a hypocrite.
When referring to your helmet-to-helmet collisions, you said they were “mostly an accident.” You made a living by brutally smashing the opposition to pieces, and now that you are done, you think the game needs to be changed.
Several of these “accidents” led to you being voted the dirtiest player in the league by your peers in 2004 and 2006, and the coaches bestowed the dishonor on you in 2008.
You could make a case for yourself that you weren’t a dirty player, that you were simply a hard-hitting safety who made players pay for coming over the middle. Still, the perception of you always said otherwise.
The NFL needs a clear stance on this issue because men are getting seriously injured every week.
The change of heart is appreciated, but no one believes it is sincere.
