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The steepest from the 4 fines the previous Steelers linebacker James Harrison incurred in 2010 stemmed from a vicious helmet-to-helmet strike he delivered on Cleveland Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, knocking him out that has a concussion. The strike went with no penalty on the sector, but the N.File.L., intent on meting out stiffer self-discipline for violations of player protection, docked Harrison $seventy five,000 — at the least several of which, Harrison claimed over a podcast Thursday, was offset by his mentor, Mike Tomlin.

Harrison, showing on Barstool Sports’s “Likely Deep” podcast, told his former Pittsburgh teammate Willie Colon that Tomlin — who nonetheless coaches the Steelers — slipped him an envelope before long once the high-quality was levied.

“Dude, I’m telling you — seventy five,” Harrison explained, referencing the quantity of the high-quality. “And that i ain’t gonna lie to you personally: When that took place, suitable, the G-est factor Mike Tomlin at any time did, he handed me an envelope after that. I ain’t gonna say what, but he handed me an envelope following that.”

Harrison recounted the Tale unprompted, soon after Colon asked him about the heftiest high-quality he absorbed throughout his fifteen N.F.L. seasons.

“Pay attention, on everything I like, on my daddy’s grave, I strike that guy with about max fifty percent of what I'd,” Harrison mentioned of Massaquoi. “And that i just strike him since I wanted him to Enable unfastened with the ball. If I'd realized they was gonna fantastic me $75,000, I would have made an effort to destroy him.”

Harrison’s great was later decreased to $fifty,000. Despite the fact that Harrison didn't explicitly say just what the envelope contained, the mere insinuation that Tomlin compensated him in almost any way evoked comparison on the so-known as Bountygate scandal, where the New Orleans Saints’ coaching personnel was firm about a three-year period of time to acquire supplied payouts to defensive players who injured opponents, according to a league investigation. The Saints’ coach, Sean Payton, did not fork out gamers himself, even so the league suspended wholesale authentic sports jerseys him for a year, in part, for not halting the process immediately after he was designed mindful of it.

It is unclear whether the league will go over the make a difference with Harrison and Tomlin; a spokesman to the N.F.L. declined to comment on Friday. League guidelines stipulate that teams and its customers are prohibited from having to pay a participant’s high-quality.

In a statement, Steelers President Art Rooney II explained he was optimistic that Harrison’s allegations are untrue. “I am pretty sure nothing similar to this at any time transpired,” Rooney said. “I don't know why James would generate a comment similar to this, but there's just no foundation for believing something like this.”

Harrison on Friday posted a statement to his Instagram account that seemingly walked back his earlier comment. “Mike T. Hasn't paid me for hurting someone or Seeking to hurt a person or place a bounty on Any one!” it browse.

Harrison, together with the Corridor of Fame basic safety Troy Polamalu, was the snarling confront in the Steelers’ protection from the 2000s, whenever they gained two Tremendous Bowls. The league’s defensive participant in the year in 2008, Harrison designed a status for administering violent hits that teetered within the boundaries of legality. Following the hit on Massaquoi in 2010, Harrison and Tomlin argued that it had been clear and didn’t benefit a great. Tomlin, at the time, also mentioned he favored more durable penalties and rule alterations to boost participant security.

A member with the N.F.L.’s Opposition committee, Payton, and also the Saints’ Firm, have experienced a combative romantic relationship with the league given that Bountygate, and it has only deepened, after the egregious non-phone that probable denied New Orleans a brilliant Bowl berth adhering to the 2018 year. During a radio job interview on Thursday, Payton all but challenged N.File.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell to research the Steelers, stating he will be “shocked” if the league did and that individuals “shouldn’t maintain their breath” watching for it to take action.

“I believe what came about with us again in 2011 in so many ways was a sham, and still there wasn’t a great deal we could do with it,” Payton claimed on a hundred and five.7 FM in Baltimore. “The players have been vindicated, but from the league or coaching standpoint, there is no union, there isn't any representation.”

He added, “That’ll be something that’s tucked absent or underneath the rug at Park Avenue. They’ll look into it briefly. Hear, don’t get me started off on that. I shed $six million in income, and Truthfully it was something that I’ll under no circumstances genuinely recover from because I know how it absolutely was managed And exactly how it was operate and The explanations driving it. That’s just the truth.”