Steelers' Harrison apologizes for criticisms
Steelers linebacker Harrison apologized Thursday night for criticisms he made about teammates Rashard Mendenhall and Ben Roethlisberger and some about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
"The handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation, and the context was lost," Harrison wrote on his Facebook page. "Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben's or Rashard's fault that we lost the Super Bowl.
"What I do apologize for and take full responsibility for is as speaking in such a candid manner to someone out of the team."
In the August issue of Men's Journal, to hit news stands today, Harrison took shots at Roethlisberger for throwing two interceptions in Super Bowl XLV — "... stop making an effort to act such as Peyton Manning. You ain't that, and you know it, man," he said — and he state Mendenhall as a "fumble machine."
In the story, contain by the Tribune-Review last night, the All-Pro linebacker also verbally attacked Goodell's top assistants — executive vice president Ray Anderson and director of football operations Merton Hanks.
Harrison referred to Anderson as "another dummy who never played a down" and said Hanks, a former Pro Bowl safety with the San Francisco 49ers, "needs to be embarrassed because he played D before, but he was never was what you'd call a real hitter."
The comments were in reference to a meeting Harrison had with the NFL's top brass during the season last year.
In the story, Harrison referred to the Pittsburgh Steelers as having "too much force, too much swag, and are predominately black," which makes them a target by the NFL.
There is also a short duration mention of an altercation between Harrison and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians in which Harrison reportedly almost punched out Arians.
James Harrison said his controversial comments have overshadowed the purpose of the interview — to shed more light on player safety.
"If player safety is the NFL's main concern, as they say it is, they are not going about it in an effective manner," he wrote. "There's nothing about extending the season or issuing exorbitant fines on defensive players that makes any shift toward the prevention of damage to players.
"As far as the character and reputation hits I may suffer as a result of my comments in the article, I'll take those hits and more if it brings add attention to the re-examination and installation of rules and regulations that would cause a REAL effect on player safety."