James Harrison Still Incredibly Confident He Can Win Battle Vs. Roger Goodell
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell currently wields more power than ever before, thanks to a bolstering ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The judges there gave him the power to suspend any player at any time for any conduct deemed by Goodell to be "detrimental" to the game.
Essentially, the message from that court was simple: the commissioner answers to nobody.
Veteran linebacker James Harrison remains unafraid. And James Harrison wants the commissioner to answer to James Harrison.
The two have been tangoing for months, as the NFL pursues the players accused of receiving PEDs in last December's Al Jazeera documentary. The league cleared Peyton Manning of any and all wrongdoing at any point in his entire life, but investigators still plan on interrogating Harrison, Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Mike Neal.
Back in June, Harrison said thanks but not no thanks to the league when it requested an interview during camp. Specifically, he said Roger can only interview Harrison if he personally travels to Harrison's home. Perhaps James wanted to show his pool to Roger.
It was a rather brazen statement, and it's one he's still continuing to make now, in the midst of training camp as he prepares for his 15th season of professional football.
Harrison abruptly ended his recent session with the media when asked merely to acknowledge the NFL's efforts in trying to sit him down for an interview.
According to Penn Live, Harrison said he has no plans whatsoever to schedule a meeting with the NFL.
And the outspoken linebacker took it a few steps further when interviewed by USA Today's Jarrett Bell.
"I'm not even thinking about it," Harrison told Bell. "It's not going to affect me. It's all flimsy, [expletive] allegations, anyway."
He added that his teammates "know it's all [expletive]."
To be sure, if there's any one player who's best fit to lock horns with the almighty commissioner, it's Harrison. He's done it plenty of times before, and at age 38, he's even more inspired and capable of standing his ground if he believes he's being wronged.
But, well, as the entire six-state region of New England can attest, the fact that the only evidence against him is a flimsy bunch of expletive should not leave him feeling too confident if he wants to clear his name and avoid league discipline. A high court in New York ruled that flimsy, expletive evidence is more than enough to justify the commissioner to do whatever he wants.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
