James Harrison has been retired for more than two years, but he’s still causing controversy for the Steelers.
Harrison went on Willie Colon’s “Going Deep” podcast earlier this week and insinuated that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin violated NFL rules in 2010 after Harrison was fined $75,000 for a hit on Browns receiver Mohamed Massaqoui.
“The G-est thing Mike Tomlin ever did, he handed me an envelope after that,” Harrison told his former teammate as part of a 90-minute interview. “I ain’t gonna say what, but he handed me an envelope after that.”
Those words caught the attention of Saints coach Sean Payton, who was suspended for the 2012 season for his role in “Bountygate,” the NFL scandal that accused the Saints of paying players bonuses for injuring players on other teams from 2009-11.
“If people are waiting for the league to investigate that, they shouldn’t hold their breath,” Payton said in a radio interview on WJZ in Baltimore. “I think what took place with us back in 2011 in so many ways was a sham, and yet there wasn’t a lot we could do with it. The players were vindicated, but from a league or coaching standpoint, there is no union, there is no representation.”
Not only was Payton suspended for an entire season, but defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely. General manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight games, and the Saints organization was fined $500,000. They also were docked second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013.
Payton was skeptical the NFL will investigate Tomlin.
“I would be shocked,” Payton said. “That’ll be something that’s tucked away or under the rug at Park Avenue. They’ll look into it briefly. Listen, don’t get me started on that. I lost $6 million in salary, and honestly it was something that I’ll never truly get over because I know how it was handled and how it was run and the reasons behind it. That’s just the truth.”
Putting “bounties” on players is against NFL rules. Paying fines for players is against the rules, too.
The Steelers are pushing back hard on Harrison’s comments.
“I am very certain nothing like this ever happened,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement Thursday evening. “I have no idea why James would make a comment like this, but there is simply no basis for believing anything like this.”
Harrison’s and Tomlin’s relationship was strained after the Steelers released Harrison late in the 2017 season. But Harrison said the relationship has since been repaired.
At least it had been until Harrison’s hit on Massaquoi became a hot topic again.
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: May 15, 2020, 1:14 a.m.