A day after his comments suggesting Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin paid him for a 2010 helmet-to-helmet hit on Cleveland Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi went viral, ex-NFLer James Harrison attempted to clarify his comments, saying there was no “Bountygate” system in place.
In a posting to Instagram on Friday, Harrison, 42, shared screenshots of the media coverage his comments received and vehemently denied the notion that Tomlin ever put a bounty on someone.
“Wow y’all really comparing what I said to BOUNTYGATE?!?,” Harrison wrote, referring to the New Orleans Saints scandal in which where players were enticed with bonuses for injuring opposing players. “Mike T. Has NEVER paid me for hurting someone or TRYING to hurt someone or put a bounty on ANYBODY! If you knew the full story of what happened back then you’d know that BS fine for a Legal Play wasn’t even penalized during the game.
“The league was getting pressure because the first concussion lawsuits were starting and they had to look like they cares about player safety all of a sudden.”
Harrison was compelled to respond after his comments on Barstool Sports’ “Going Deep” podcast gained traction on Thursday, a week and a half after he discussed the brutal hit for which he was initially fined $75,000 by the NFL before it was reduced to $50,000.
James HarrisonGetty Images“The G-est thing Mike Tomlin ever did, he handed me an envelope after that [hit on Massaquoi],” Harrison said. “I’m not going to say what, but he handed me an envelope after that.”
The two-time Super Bowl champion didn’t explain his comments about the envelope or say what was in it, but he did point out that the NFL was initially selling photos of the hit on Massaquoi, who suffered a concussion as a result of the hit.
After Harrison’s comments went viral, Steelers president Art Rooney II issued a statement Thursday to deny the retired NFLer’s claim.
“I am very certain nothing like this ever happened,” Rooney said. “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 advisor and former agent, Bill Parise, also asserted that the story “never happened.”
“Absolutely not,” Parise told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “Never happened. I would have known that. It didn’t happen. James and I are still together. We were really close during our 18 years. He would have said something along the way.”
