Former Steeler's linebacker and 2x Super Bowl Champion James Harrison went on the Going Deep podcast with Willie Colon and Steven Cheah recently, where revisited his controversial hit on Cleveland Browns receiver Mohammed Massaquoi back in 2010.
Harrison was fined $75,000 for the hit, but according to the man himself, things could've gone much worse had he exerted full force.
"Listen, on everything I love, on my daddy's grave, I hit that man with about, max, 50% of what I had," Harrison said. "And I just hit him because I wanted him to let loose of the ball. If I had knew they was gonna fine me $75,000, I would have tried to kill him."
He went on to explain how Mike Tomlin gave him an unspoken nod of approval for the football play as well. "And I ain't gonna lie to you, when that happened, the G-est thing Mike Tomlin ever did, he handed me an envelope after that," Harrison said, possibly suggesting that Tomlin paid his players a bounty for injuring opponents. "I ain't gonna say what, but he handed me an envelope after that."
It's unclear if Harrison was hinting at being paid a bounty, but it's worth noting that Saints coach Sean Payton was suspended for a smiliar situation that became known as "Bountygate."
During the rest of the podcast, Harrison revealed how much he loved being a Steeler during his career.
"I had great experiences in Pittsburgh," he said. "I still like the Steelers, I like the Rooneys, I like the Steelers. I even had heart to heart talks with Art about the situation and everything else and I’ma keep those conversations between him and me about what was going on with ourselves. But I'm thankful for everything that they done for me."
