stillers4me
01-31-2011, 04:57 AM
The NFL didn't necessarily single out Steelers linebacker James Harrison when it issued an edict that helmet-to-helmet blows will no longer be tolerated. But with $100,000 in fines this season -- that's with one reduced by $25,000 -- the Pro Bowler is an example of the league's intolerance to an increasingly violent game.
In a season partly defined by the league's crackdown on such contact and jaw-jarring shots to defenseless players, two unapologetically physical teams -- the AFC champion Steelers and NFC champion Green Bay Packers -- collide Sunday in Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas.
Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said the league is confident that most players have adapted to the new, stricter rules. But pressure appears to be on the game's officials to apply what players have described as ambiguous rules without adversely influencing the outcome.
"I understand where the league and officials are coming from in trying to make the game safer," said Steelers backup quarterback Byron Leftwich. "But it's hard to ask those guys, especially defensive players, to ease up.................
read more @ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_720557.html
In a season partly defined by the league's crackdown on such contact and jaw-jarring shots to defenseless players, two unapologetically physical teams -- the AFC champion Steelers and NFC champion Green Bay Packers -- collide Sunday in Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas.
Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said the league is confident that most players have adapted to the new, stricter rules. But pressure appears to be on the game's officials to apply what players have described as ambiguous rules without adversely influencing the outcome.
"I understand where the league and officials are coming from in trying to make the game safer," said Steelers backup quarterback Byron Leftwich. "But it's hard to ask those guys, especially defensive players, to ease up.................
read more @ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_720557.html