Jerome Bettis says that the Steelers’ James Harrison, who was recently suspended for his hit on Browns quarterback Colt McCoy on Thursday, cannot and will not change his style of play, regardless of the NFL’s punishments.
“He told me he can’t,” Bettis said when asked if Harrison would change the way he plays.
“He told me that it was laughable that this was the case — it wasn’t a funny situation but it’s laughable that he would get suspended over what he felt was a very, very small incident,” Bettis said. “In his words, ‘If I would have really hit him I would have close to knocked him out’” …
“James said that he’s concerned this will happen again and then there will be a larger suspension,” Bettis said, “But he said to me, ‘I’m not going to worry about it. I’m going to play my game. If they suspend me they suspend me, but I’m not going to change the way I play football.’”
I’m pretty sure Harrison’s hit almost did knock McCoy out, but that’s neither here nor there. While Harrison’s hit was dangerous, it was based on a split-second decision, and his suspension was what would appear to be a precedent-setting move by the NFL. It’s no surprise Harrison is upset, or that he feels he can’t or won’t be able to change.
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