Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Associated Press
BEREA
The Browns will let the NFL go after James Harrison’s head.
If there’s going to be retaliation or punishment against the Steelers hard-hitting linebacker, the league will have to dish it out.
At least one Cleveland player hopes any penalty is severe.
One day after Harrison knocked Cleveland wide receivers Joshua Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi out of the game with vicious, concussion-inducing, helmet-to-helmet hits, Browns tight end Benjamin Watson said he believes Harrison should receive the harshest discipline possible.
“I hope the NFL takes care of him with the max, whatever the max is, I hope they give it to him,” Watson said Monday.
Harrison sent both Cribbs and Massaquoi off the field in a seven-minute stretch of Pittsburgh’s 28-10 win over the Browns on Sunday.
Harrison first drilled Cribbs in the left side of the helmet on a running play, a shot an NFL spokesman said was technically legal because Cribbs was a runner, but one that left Cleveland’s best player face down and unconscious on the turf.
Moments later, Massaquoi caught a short pass before he was blasted by Harrison, who appeared to launch himself at the wideout and deliver a crushing blow.
Neither play drew a penalty. And afterward, Harrison added insult to injury by saying he thought Cribbs “was asleep” and showing no remorse for the devastating hits that left the Browns without two starters for one half — and possibly another week.
Watson feels Harrison’s hit on Massaquoi went beyond acceptable limits.
“The one against Mohamed was illegal,” he said. “I can’t judge his character, I can judge his conduct. It was an illegal hit. He led with his head. He hit Mo right in the head. He dove at his head. It was an illegal play. Whether he meant to hurt him or not, I can’t comment on that.
“It was illegal and the league should take care of him.”
The two hits came on a day of seemingly extreme violence around the league.