Quotes From James Harrison's Interview In Men's Journal

Looks like James Harrison is trying to backtrack from his earlier quotes aimed at his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. ESPN's Merril Hoge, who is little more than a mouthpiece at the World Wide Leader for current and former Steelers players, is telling Adam Schefter that Harrison believes his words were 'twisted' by the writer of the Men's Journal article. Roethlisberger is taking Harrison at his word on this, and their relationship is considered 'fine.'

Ha. Whatever.

I'll quote Doug Farrar here:

If you twist that which is already twisted, doesn't that make it straight?

The whole 'my comments were taken to of context' argument is the coward's way of not owning up to what they said, especially when they are taking justifiable heat for it. I agree with Mike Freeman. The move is gutless on Harrison's part. Own the words. If not, then you shouldn't have opened your fat, dumb mouth and said them on-the-record in the first place.

In case those of you are interested in reading what those words were, Deadspin has kindly posted several of the more juicy quotes from the article (which is not online). If you want the quick guide to the quotes (because you are just THAT lazy), James Harrison believes:

• Clay Matthews is all hype
• Brian Cushing is juiced out of his mind
• Tedy Bruschi is a complete f*cking idiot
• Rodney Harrison was a roided up cheater
• Roger Goodell is a 'faggot'

While Harrison might be able to squirm his way out of owning his quotes related to Roethlisberger, calling the Commissioner of the NFL a 'faggot' is not something that he can take back. And unless the writer of the article flat out made the quote up (doubtful, because if he did he's going to get so sued it isn't even funny), James Harrison is likely going to be suspended for a few games next year.

Oh, and in case any anyone complains that 'This isn't a Colts story,' here's my way of bringing it back to our base. If any Colts player, and I mean any Colts player, said what Harrison said (insulting Peyton Manning, calling former players idiots, insulting players from rival teams, referring to the commissioner of the NFL as a 'faggot'), that person would be cut from the team within 24 hours. I firmly believe that. If they didn't cut him, that player would get booed at home the second they stepped out on the field.

Harrison's quotes after the jump...

Harrison, on what he'd have done had the Steelers won Super Bowl XLV and Goodell presented him the trophy:

"I'd have whispered in his ear, 'Why don't you quit and do something else, like start your own league in flag football?' "

On Clay Mathews:

"Clay Matthews, who's all hype — he had a couple of three-sack games in the first four weeks and was never heard from again — I'm quite sure I saw him put his helmet on Michael Vick and never paid a dime. But if I hit Peyton Manning or Tom Brady high, they'd have fucked around and kicked me out of the league."

On Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison:

"I hate those motherfuckers, especially those two clowns [Rodney Harrison and Teddy Bruschi] who talked about me after the fines. ... Sayin' I'm dirty — shit, Harrison was the dirtiest player ever, a steroid cheater who was known by the whole world to be a headhunter and late hitter. And Bruschi's an idiot, straight-up simple. I'd like to meet them both in a dark alley."

On his defensive coordinator, Dick Lebeau, who (according to Harrison) coaches his players to make these illegal hits:

"That's what we're told by Coach LeBeau — blow through the guy, not to him. When the fines came down he said, 'Don't change a damn thing.' You're doing it the way we do it on this team."

On Brian Cushing:

"That boy is juiced out of his mind."

On Roger Goodell, after a meeting Harrison had in November 2010 with Goodell, executive vice president Ray Anderson and the league's director of football operations, Merton Hanks (again, via Deadspin):

Harrison goes on to describe Goodell as "Faggot Goodell," a "punk," a "dictator." He says Anderson is "another dummy who never played a down," and he says Hanks, a former Pro Bowler for the 49ers, "needs to be ashamed because he played D before, though he never was what you'd call a real hitter." The league, Harrison says, targets the Steelers because they have "too much force, too much swag, and are predominantly black."

James Harrison truly is the Charlie Sheen of the NFL. Check out Deadspin for the rest of the quotes (yes, there are indeed more).

And, yeah, James Harrison's getting suspended, and might get his ass cut too.