Steelers LB James Harrison knocked out two Browns players on Sunday. The reaction to Harrison's hits haven't been very good with the public and his comments about knocking Josh Cribbs out cold won't help.
"I thought Cribbs was asleep," said Harrison. "A hit like that geeks you up -- it geeks everybody up -- especially when you find out that the guy is not really hurt -- he's just sleeping. He's knocked out, but he's going to be OK. The other guy, I didn't hit that hard, to be honest with you. When you get a guy on the ground, it's a perfect tackle."
Those comments don't look good when the NFL is now reportedly thinking about issuing suspensions for vicious hits. And it doesn't look good when his teammates, like James Farrior, say he did a good job by knocking someone out of the game (and out cold).
"Today was especially good because he took out their top dog, really. He took out the biggest weapon they had. He didn't do it intentionally, but with the intensity he plays with, it's liable to happen sooner or later."
Harrison says he doesn't think he should be fined for either hit. The league confirmed that the Cribbs hit was legal but they're reviewing the hit on Mohammad Massaquoi, which also knocked him out of the game.
It's becoming clear that $5,000-10,000 fines aren't stopping these sorts of hits so the league's suggestion that suspensions could be coming seems to make the most sense. The league has made concussions a huge emphasis this year and the next logical step in reducing the number of big hits would be taking the player out of the game.