Rooney welcomes discourse on hits policy

[fansince'76]

Rooney welcomes discourse on hits policy

By Scott Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Friday, December 3, 2010

Frustrated over James Harrison's battle of wills with the NFL, Steelers president Art Rooney II said the team has been going to bat for the outside linebacker behind closed doors.

Rooney said Thursday he is worried that the Steelers' hard-hitting defense could be compromised in the league initiative to cut down on dangerous hits.

Rooney questioned whether the NFL has overstepped its bounds in its proactive approach to player safety. He thinks the Steelers have been targeted during the crackdown.

Read more: Rooney welcomes discourse on hits policy (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_712044.html)

[SteelMember]

But, but, but Ray Anderson said. :rolleyes:

The biggest thing for me (and apparently the players) right now is the inconsistency of the amounts of the fines.

The first one was what... 25K. The next was 75K because he was a repeat offender. The next two were for another 25K each. You figure they would escalate each time if the league knew what the hell they were doing instead of arbitrarily attaching a dollar amount. For most of us, these are mostly BS, but the reality is if they were doing this in a way that made any sense at all, Harrison would have already been suspended a game by now. They haven't done that. That just compounds the problem for players "understanding" of what the rule exactly is. It's apparent they are just making it up as they go along.

[HometownGal]

"At the end of the day we have an important responsibility, and if that means at some point we have to remove a player from the field to get the message clearly in his mind and to protect players that he's violating, we will do so," said Anderson, whose office reviews every play from a given week and decides if any warrant fines. "But we hope that doesn't come to pass."

Pssssst dickweasel - how is legally tackling a QB "violating" him? Seems to me you and Goodumbell really need to go back and read up on Football 101. :upyours:

Wonder how James manages to move around the field as well as he does with that huge bullseye on his back?

[Texasteel]

I don't think that Roodey is the only owner that is concerned. Right now the "League" is concentrating, harassing, James, but if it is not stopped I see them moving on to other players and teams. It also sound as though the players are taking a long hard look at their own association. This may still settle into a tolerable state, but it may not happen till next year. I can also see a couple guys loosing their jobs, but they will probably find a couple of poor Smucker's that they can fire and say, "There, We Fixed It."

[Merchant]

I think Rooney's paying for all of Harrison's fines tbh. He can afford it.

[fansince'76]

I'm glad that up to now Harrison has basically told the league's suits to shove it.

[Moose]

I can't believe it took SO LONG for the Rooney's to finally make any type of statement !! I'm sure Jones would be screaming if the 'boys' were being picked out every weekend. And I can't believe that some of those idiot morons on the sports shows actually think that Mr Dumbell and his stripped morons aren't showcasing the Steeler's. The Steeler's are known for decades and decades on their 'style' of football....and they are wanting to change it plan and simple. Rooney's should take a stand for the Steeler tradition and tell all the idiots that this is the Steeler style of football and that's how it will be played every game day !! If you can't keep up then step aside !! Pay the fines and move on to next week. I personally, if I were Tomlin, would tell Ben to pick out a ref every so often and hit him with a nice hard pass.....or maybe have Troy run a route and level a stripe on occasion. Maybe keeping the stripes in a sense of alertness they wouldn't be able to just watch Harrison constantly. LOL

[ALLD]

Rooney also stated he is in favor of the commissioner having a very powerful office where the end decision is his. However, Rooney stopped short of endorsing Goodell and his actions.