Harrison apologizes for comments; Steelers sign No. 1 pick Heyward

Associated Press

LATROBE, PA.

James Harrison is an emotional guy. The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker plays with an intensity few in the NFL can match.

Yet the four-time Pro Bowler knows that fury has its limits, and Friday he admitted he blew right past them in a magazine article earlier this month in which he used an anti-gay slur when talking about commissioner Roger Goodell and criticized teammates for their play in Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl loss to Green Bay.

“The comments I made about Roger Goodell were inappropriate at the least and way out of line,” Harrison said. “I was speaking out of anger and frustration at the time and any comments that I may have made that offended anyone with my careless use of words, I apologize.”

Harrison used the slur while expressing his aggravation with the league’s new player safety rules. One of the NFL’s fiercest hitters, the volatile 33-year-old drew $100,000 in fines for illegal hits last season. He thought he was venting about the new rules — and not Goodell personally — while calling him a “crook” and a “devil.”

It didn’t read like that, and Harrison now knows he should have used a “better vocabulary” when talking about the issue and the commissioner.

The 2008 AP Defensive Player of the Year hasn’t spoken to Goodell since the article was published and isn’t sure whether he’ll be disciplined by the league.

The team has not indicated it will discipline Harrison, though coach Mike Tomlin agreed with Harrison’s assessment that his words were inappropriate. Harrison spoke to owner Art Rooney recently but hasn’t been excluded from any team activities.

One place where the article didn’t create a stir appears to be the locker room. Harrison reached out to running back Rashard Mendenhall — whom Harrison called a “fumble machine” — and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — whom Harrison said needed to “stop trying to act like Peyton Manning” — after the issue hit newsstands.

Both players said there were no hard feelings and are well aware that Harrison’s temper can sometimes get the best of him.

The Steelers on Friday released veteran offensive tackle Flozell Adams. The 36-year-old Adams became expendable after free agent linemen Willie Colon and Jonathan Scott were re-signed.

Colon and Scott, along with the cornerback Ike Taylor and kicker Shaun Suisham, can’t practice until next week, though the Steelers received a boost on Friday when first-round pick Cameron Heyward signed and participated in a rain-shortened practice.

The only draft pick unsigned remains third-round pick, cornerback Curtis Brown out of Texas.