Helmet-to-helmetgate, or Harrisongate, or whatever you'd care to call it, continued today in the Colts' matchup against the Eagles. The Colts' Austin Collie was on the receiving end of a hard hit today against the Eagles, and he was down on the field for several minutes and has a concussion, although he is now alert. Here's video of the hit:
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At halftime, Bill Cowher said the 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty the Eagles received was for the second hit, by Kurt Coleman. (The first hit was clearly to the shoulder.)
↵The Twitter feed of Steelers safety Ryan Clark, who has already been vocal about this issue, went into overdrive following the hit:
↵↵↵We can't flag people because a hit is hard. May God bless Austin Collie but that hit was not illegal. The game is ruined!
↵A Twitter tough guy, he was not defenseless, he protected his self. Collie balled up. It was not intentional.
↵Special thanks to all the media. The little league world series in now more physical than professional football. You've been heard!
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There's a bunch more to check out over there. It's easy to understand Clark's frustration here. This helmet-to-helmet issue is a controversy primarily because of his teammate James Harrison, and Clark is right that Collie was curled into a ball. That has to be a tough situation for a defender to avoid. Safety in the NFL and in football in general are very serious issues, but by punishing individual players for debatable hits like this, the NFL is trying to use band-aids to fix a massive problem. Expect the Steelers' defenders to continue to be vocal about situations like this, as they should feel very close to this issue thanks to the NFL's treatment of Harrison.