As a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, one particular memory of Thanksgiving NFL action comes to mind. The day was November 26, 1998. While some of the recent victories for the Steelers may have erased memories of the events of Thanksgiving Day 1998, it remains pretty prevalent in my mind. It was the day of one of the worst calls in NFL history, or at least that is the way it seemed at first.

In short, the game between the Detroit Lions and Steelers was tied 16-16 headed to overtime and it was time to flip the coin to decide who would get the ball first for the extra period. The Steelers captain Jerome Bettis was heard to call “Tails.” Only the referee, Phil Luckett, ruled the call as “Heads.” The Lions subsequently won the toss, because it was “Tails.” Barry Sanders and company would go on to win the game 19-16 and ruin Thanksgiving for Steelers fans across the country.

Of course, close review and television replay would later reveal that someone called heads at some point during the coin toss. Listening closely to the audio reveals that little tidbit, and perhaps Luckett was right. The NFL rulebook stated that the first choice is final and not subject to change, and enhanced audio would reveal that Bettis at least almost said “heads.”

Of course, the event would have lasting implications for a task as simple as the coin flip in any NFL game. In response to the embarrassment of the event, referees now ask for the “heads” or “tails” declaration before tossing the coin into the air and not when the coin is actually in the air. The change was probably a good idea, since there is enough madness during an NFL contest without adding a potential element of controversy during a coin toss.

The memory sticks out because of a few factors. Number one, I heard “Tails” and thought the referee was out of his mind. Number two, it was a good game, deadlocked and well played until the end. It is just a shame that there are only two things I can recall about the game with absolute clarity: one is the coin toss and the other is that the Lions quarterback was Charlie Batch(notes), who would later become a popular member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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I have always considered myself an NFL football fan first and a Pittsburgh Steelers fan second. I can watch most NFL games on any given Sunday and have a good time. Having several Yahoo! Fantasy Football teams probably keeps me interested in what might otherwise be considered a boring game. But even if the Steelers aren’t playing and I have no real rooting interest, I still like to watch a good football game.

Being a diehard Steelers fan I was looking forward to last Sunday night’s Pittsburgh Steelers- Baltimore Ravens battle. After the disappointing opening week loss to the Ravens I immediately circled November 6 on my calendar, anticipating a little payback at Heinz Field. While the final score was a disappointment, I still think it was a great game.

They gave us something to talk about

Within minutes of the game ending I went online to see how everyone else felt about the game. It had been a while since I had some interaction with my fellow Steeler fans and thought maybe a little friendly banter with some Ravens fans would make things interesting. I went to three different sites (ESPN, NFL and Yahoo) and found pretty much the same theme at all three, no real discussion just people slamming each other.

Not a good trend

When I go online to discuss a game I expect there to be a few “fans” who are going to blame the officiating for their favorite team losing. You’re also going to have a few fans of the winning team who think their team is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But Sunday night it seemed like the only thing Steelers fans were doing was blaming the officiating. You’re always going to have some calls you think didn’t go your way, but to blame the officials for a loss is just a lame excuse for your team losing.

Yes I think the officials missed the helmet to helmet hit that Ray Lewis(notes) put on Hines Ward(notes) . Some pass interference calls or lack thereof were frustrating to see, but poor officiating did not lose the game for the Steelers. At the same time, for Ravens fans to be celebrating Ward getting knocked out of the game and wishing more Steelers players would have been incapacitated lacks class. I like hard-hitting smash mouth football as much as the next guy but to wish injury on a player is ridiculous and immature.

I believe if the tables had been turned the Steelers fans would react the same way the Ravens fans did and Ravens fans would be blaming the officials. The blame game is not limited to one particular fan base or even one sport, the hatred and the lack of class seems to have no boundaries and is becoming a disturbing trend on the discussion boards.

The voice of reason

I don’t understand what slamming a fellow sports fan accomplishes. Just because a person likes a different team than you do or has an opinion different than yours does not give you the right launch an all-out attack on that individual. Just because I say the opposing team played a good game or offer congratulations to that team’s fan base does not make me any less a Steelers fan or a [insert your favorite expletive]. It looks like a majority of the people who go online to discuss a game now only go there to slam everyone else, guess it makes them feel more like a man. The only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner and it appears both have taken control of the sports discussion boards.

Elden Hardesty has been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan for over 40 years. Rumor has it he actually bleeds black and gold.

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Welcome to the black and blue edition of the AFC North sits and starts. With the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers getting ready to meet on Sunday night, expect to make some lineup changes in preparations for the defensive war between the two teams.

Here is a look at week nine’s AFC North games:

Baltimore Ravens

Start – The Ravens defense

This pick should go without saying. Who could forget what the Ravens’ defense did to the Steelers in the first game of the season? I’m not expecting Baltimore to force seven turnovers again, but the Ravens will cause the Steelers’ offense to make some mistakes on Sunday night. This is going to be a low-scoring game with its fair share of turnovers. That’s great news if you have the Ravens as your fantasy defense.

Sit – Joe Flacco(notes), QB

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has done a great job beating up weak teams this year, but against higher-level opponents, he’s been awful. I don’t expect much out of Flacco this Sunday, and neither should you. I wouldn’t start him unless you have no one else.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Start – Larry Foote(notes), LB

With James Harrison(notes), James Farrior(notes), and Lamar Woodley struggling with injuries, Larry Foote will start at linebacker in the remixed Steelers’ defense. Foote is a good enough player to start on most teams in the NFL, and when given the opportunity to play this year, he’s been outstanding. Look for him to pick up close to 10 tackles on Sunday against the Ravens.

Sit – Ben Roethlisberger(notes), QB

I don’t think there’s any way Ben Roethlisberger has another horrible game like he did in week one, but it’s better to bench him if your backup quarterback has a better matchup. Better safe than sorry.

Cleveland Browns

Start – D’Qwell Jackson(notes), LB

While I can’t find an offensive matchup on the Browns’ offense, I’m expecting D’Qwell Jackson to have a field day against the Houston Texans. With Andre Johnson(notes) out, the Texans haven’t been throwing down field as much. Instead, they have been relying on short-to-intermediate passing routes and the running game. This means we’re going to see Jackson making a lot of plays this Sunday. Start him if you have him.

Sit – Colt McCoy(notes), QB

The Browns don’t have a running game, and they lack big play receivers to help stretch the field. That spells trouble for Colt McCoy. I don’t see him doing much damage against the Texans’ fifth-ranked pass defense. The Browns need to get McCoy help…now.

Cincinnati Bengals

Start – Cedric Benson(notes), RB

The Bengals get Cedric Benson back after his one game suspension. With the Titans reeling and Benson fresh after his week off, I’m expecting him to have a great day in Tennessee. The Titans have the NFL’s 27th-ranked rush defense, and with their own running game struggling, the Bengals are going to be able to wear down the Titans. Benson is a great start if he’s on your roster.

Sit – None

I don’t have any sits for the Bengals this week. When the season started, I never thought I’d write that about Cincinnati, but the team matches up well with Tennessee.

Derek Ciapala has been playing fantasy football for over 10 years and has hosted an IDP league every year since 2001. He’s hoping to win another trophy in this year’s league. You can follow him on Twitter @dciapala.

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The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers each had a big day on Oct. 30. These two Pennsylvania teams were facing their arch-rivals at home and needed to make a big statement. Of course, Eagles fans like myself knew that Philadelphia needed that a lot more than Pittsburgh did.

Nevertheless, the Steelers had to prove they could beat the New England Patriots while the Eagles had to save their season against the Dallas Cowboys. As it turned out, they both made their statements in extremely dominant fashion, even though Philadelphia was the only one to get a blowout on the scoreboard.

Judging by final scores, the Eagles’ 34-7 win over the Cowboys looked a lot more impressive than the Steelers’ 25-17 triumph over the Patriots. Yet Pittsburgh could have easily blown out New England by over 20 points, since it blew the Patriots out everywhere else.

Both the Eagles and Steelers had the ball for virtually the entire game and exhausted the Cowboys and Patriots’ defenses. Tom Brady(notes) was shut down for the first time all year when he did have the ball, while Tony Romo(notes) could barely do anything and the Dallas rushing attack was nonexistent. Each Pennsylvania team put together their most complete game of the season and put their early season struggles behind them for a week.

Still, the Steelers’ struggles only resulted in two losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans, and the Eagles had many more setbacks than that. But at this time last month, both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh looked like they were either too old or too chaotic to do their usual damage this season.

Yet as ugly as they looked a month ago, the Eagles and Steelers are starting to spread fear again. After dominating the Patriots, the Steelers are now the trendy favorite in the AFC once more after it looked like the Ravens would finally unseat them in the AFC North. And with the NFC East looking weaker than usual, the Eagles now have an opening to threaten the New York Giants after all.

However, any revived Super Bowl talk for these two teams still carries some reservations. While the Eagles looked impressive, they blew out a Cowboys’ club that is as much of an underachiever as they are. And although the Steelers took care of the Patriots, they still couldn’t put Brady away until the final minute – plus injuries can derail Pittsburgh’s vulnerable stars at any time.

Philadelphia still has to make up a very big hole that it created with its 1-4 start, and it still has the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints in its conference. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has an even bigger litmus test coming up against Baltimore on Nov. 6 and has its own difficult postseason road ahead.

But even though the Eagles and Steelers have a ways to go to fulfill their championship hopes, they seemed to be within reach on Oct. 30 more than they have been all season. However, they will be even closer if they perform like this in November and December as well.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident who has followed the Eagles since he was eight years old.

Other stories by this contributor

Eagles start moving up NFL power rankings

Eagles leap from last place to second in one day

Eagles finally play 60 minute game against Cowboys

Eagles can save or destroy season against Cowboys

Giants manage to survive winless Dolphins

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For the second straight week, the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) faced a familiar opponent with only one win. This time they didn’t let an inferior team hang around as they closed out the Arizona Cardinals (1-5) 32-20 on October 24, 2011. With the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, and surprising Cincinnati Bengals looming on the schedule, the Steelers needed to work on some details before this important stretch. While there are still improvements needed, the Steelers got the tune-up they needed.

Passing game firing on all cylinders

Ben Roethlisberger(notes) tested all his weapons today. Tossing completions to eight different receivers, he showcased the short, possession game and the explosive speed burners. Reliable Heath Miller(notes) caught all four of his targets, including the first touchdown of the game. Miller sometimes gets lost among the options, but I was glad to see him used so well. The highlight play, though, was the 95 yard bomb to Mike Wallace(notes) – the longest pass play in Steelers history. Youngster Antonio Brown(notes) continued his impressive work and led all Steelers receivers with seven catches for 102 yards. The Steelers will need all these weapons for the shoot-out with the Patriots next week.

Defensive pressure revved up

The Steelers are at the bottom of the league in forcing turnovers. They forced one in this game as LB Lawrence Timmons(notes) hurried Kevin Kolb(notes) into a bad throw, and safety Ryan Clark(notes) grabbed the deflected pass for an early interception. Troy Polamalu(notes) dropped another potential interception. Lamaar Woodley brought some heat—getting two sacks and forcing an intentional grounding safety. The Steelers defense definitely created drive-killing pressure. Ike Taylor(notes) continued his impressive work against the opponent’s best receiver. He held superstar Larry Fitzgerald(notes) to just four catches for 78 yards. They did allow a 76 yard touchdown to speedy LaRod Stephens-Howling(notes), but otherwise the defense was solid. To beat the Patriots, they will have to stop allowing big plays.

Offensive line still a bit leaky

Ben Roethlisberger faced some pressure from the Cardinals today and was sacked twice. Early in the game, the line was not creating many holes for the running backs. At halftime, the Steelers only had 17 yards on the ground. I would like to say that the Steelers just took what the Cardinals gave them, but I wanted to see more push from the line. Nasty pulling guard, Chris Kemoatu returned from injury. However, his biggest “highlight” was a dumb penalty trying to pick a tackler off the pile. More work is needed here for the gauntlet ahead, but there was progress and some returning health. This was the first game of the season where the Steelers didn’t lose a lineman to injury.

At 5-2, the Steelers have won three in a row. However, their recent opponents have not been the elite teams of the NFL. Now the Steelers face the defining stretch for their season. They looked primed to play well, but each game will be a stiff test. Here we go, Steelers!

SOURCES

CBS Broadcast, October 24, 2011

Steelers-Cardinals Game Book (stats) provided to media on Steelers.com

Game Recap, espn.go.com

Sean Durity is a Terrible Towel twirling Steelers fan living in Atlanta. He grew up cheering the 1970s dynasty and appreciates the organization’s continued excellence even more as an adult.

Other Steelers content by this contributor:

Fearless 2011 game-by-game predictions

How my wife joined Steeler Nation and rescheduled birth around the Super Bowl

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In the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 16, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu received a concussion when he collided with RB Maurice Jones-Drew. While he has been cleared to play for the October 23 game against the Arizona Cardinals, Polamalu is no stranger to concussions.

Pittsburgh Steelers Troy Polamalu
Wikimedia Commons

With a history of concussions, Polamalu is at a greater risk for complications when he sustains a head injury and a severe head injury could even be fatal. Concussions are a series brain injury and I am sure Polamalu’s physicians have warned him and his wife about the possible long term affects. Because of this, Polamalu knew his wife would be worried when he took yet another hit to his head during the game. For this reason, he made a phone call that has now resulted in a fine.

NFL Fine

Because of this history of concussions and the fact that Polamalu knew his wife would be worried about him, Polamalu borrowed a cell phone from a trainer at the game and made a call home from the sidelines to let her know he was okay. First of all, as a wife, I have to give him props for thinking of his wife and how worried she must have been.

However, Polamalu has been fined $10,000 for his sideline phone call. While NFL rules state that cells phones or other electronic equipment are not allowed on the sidelines from 90 minutes before kickoff through the end of the game, I think in this instance a fine is a bit uncalled for and I am not alone. When asked about the call and subsequent fine, Coach Mike Tomlin was quoted as saying, “In this era of player safety, you would think that common sense would prevail in some of these things. It wasn’t a personal call. He wasn’t checking on his bank account.”

A Reason for Concern

Concussions are not something to take lightly and for a player like Polamalu who has a history of multiple concussions, every new hit to the head is a reason for concern. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury and causes symptoms such as a temporary loss of consciousness, confusion, headache, amnesia and nausea.

While these symptoms will get better with time, the Mayo Clinic reports that there is evidence that people who have experienced multiple concussions can experience lasting and even progressive cognitive impairment. There is also a greater risk for developing epilepsy after a serious head injury.

Take the Time to Heal

With concussions, it is also very important to make sure that an athlete has healed completely before returning to play. A condition known as second impact syndrome occurs when a person receives a second concussion before the initial concussion has healed. When your body receives a concussion, the chemicals in your brain are altered. Taking another hit to the head when these chemicals are not stabilized puts you at risk of brain swelling which can be fatal.

While I am all for following the rules when it comes to sports, I think this phone call home to the wife by Polamalu was justified as this hit was definitely a reason for concern and worry. I know as a wife, I would have wanted to hear that my husband was ok. I don’t think fining a player in this instance is needed and I am sure the men behind this decision are hearing a few choice words from their wives.

Deborah Braconnier is a former athlete and 20 year medical professional. She has personal experience with a variety of different sports injuries and has herself suffered six concussions. Working now as a freelance writer, she brings her love for both sports and the medical field together in her writing.

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LATROBE, Pa. (AP)—James Harrison(notes) is an emotional guy. Always has been. 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.

“I don’t think (Goodell) is a guy that’s going to hold something on a
personal level (against me professionally),” Harrison said. “I attacked him on
a personal level, which wasn’t right. I don’t expect anything to be done.”

There’s also the question on whether Goodell would even have the power to
suspend or fine Harrison.

The comments were made during the NFL lockout, meaning technically Harrison
wasn’t working for the league at the time. Harrison said he wouldn’t decide
whether to fight any penalty until it is levied.

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 as the defending AFC champions opened training camp.

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

“He called me that morning (the article came out) and left me a voice mail
because he was sure I wanted to talk to him and I had no idea what he was
talking about,” Roethlisberger said. “So I called him and he explained
everything and it literally was nothing, absolutely no linger effects
whatsoever.”

Roethlisberger threw a pair of interceptions in Pittsburgh’s 31-25 loss to
the Packers, with both picks leading to touchdowns. The way the quarterback
looked at Harrison’s outburst, all he was doing was stating the obvious.

“No one is going to be harder on me than I am and I told James, I told
everybody that it was my fault we lost the Super Bowl anyway, so if he wants to
reiterate what I said, that’s fine,” Roethlisberger said.

The players appear eager to put the incident behind them and move forward,
though Harrison is hardly the only Steeler to make waves off the field during a
bumpy offseason for one of the league’s marquee franchises.

Wide receiver Hines Ward(notes) won “Dancing With the Stars” then was arrested
for DUI in Georgia, a charge that drew national headlines and took some of the
shine off Ward’s image as a humble and hard-working team leader. He declined to
talk specifics about his arrest, but understands why it was a big deal.

“That’s what comes with it, the price of fame,” Ward said. “Every little
thing you do is in the media eye and the public’s eye. For me it’s a learning
process. You can’t be one of the boys and do things, you have to look at the big
picture. I’m confident in the end that everything will work out.”

Mendenhall, like Roethlisberger, shrugged off Harrison’s jabs. He also
declined to expound on his controversial tweets following the death of Osama bin
Laden in April. He’s only too anxious to move forward.

So is the team, which continued a flurry of activity by releasing veteran
offensive tackle Flozell Adams(notes) early Friday morning. The 36-year-old Adams
became expendable after free agent linemen Willie Colon(notes) and Jonathan Scott(notes) were
re-signed.

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

The team’s third-round pick, cornerback Curtis Brown(notes), signed late Friday,
meaning all seven draft picks will be in camp this weekend.

The rookies will try and help lead the Steelers back to the Super Bowl. The
loss to the Packers has hung with Roethlisberger for months. Even his wedding
last week to Ashley Harlan, a physician assistant, hasn’t made him forget about
his disappointment in Dallas.

“We can’t dwell on the past,” he said. “We have to focus on the future
and what’s to come.”

t has been a tough five days for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

First, their star wide receiver, Hines Ward, basking in a feel-good embrace after his popular “Dancing With The Stars” victory, is arrested in Atlanta for driving under the influence. Two months after he could execute a samba with dance partner Kym Johnson, police said he was so impaired he couldn’t even walk a straight line.

Then, four-time Pro Bowl linebacker James Harrison, who made headlines last year for the heavy fines he was handed for illegal hits, brings even more notoriety to the franchise with comments in a national magazine that were insulting and degrading to commissioner Roger Goodell and no doubt embarrassing to the Rooney family.

Another black eye for the Steelers, maybe the most respected franchise in professional sports?

A year after they have tried to move on from an alleged sexual-assault incident involving quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers’ national reputation has taken another hit because of Harrison — a player who knows all about delivering hard hits. His much-circulated comments have created a stir around the league, sent Twitter abuzz with opinion and cast the Steelers in a not-so-flattering light, even though Harrison’s verbal attack on Goodell and his teammates does not represent or reflect the feelings of the organization.

“We should abide by the rules, but at the same time we’re all human,” Steelers inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons said in an interview on Sporting News Radio in Toronto. “We shouldn’t drive drunk, I understand that totally. And we shouldn’t make certain derogatory comments, either. But we are human, and we make mistakes sometimes.”

Early Thursday night, Harrison issued an apology on his Facebook page that he said will be “my only response” to the article in Men’s Journal magazine.

“I did make comments about my teammates when I was talking about the emotional Super Bowl loss, but the handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation and the context was lost,” Harrison said in the statement. “Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben’s or Rashard’s fault that we lost the Super Bowl. That would be ridiculous. Both Ben and Rashard are great players and great teammates.

“Clearly the entire team bears responsibility for the loss, me included. It was a team effort and a team loss. My teammates know me well, and hopefully understand the things I said were not meant to accuse them of the loss. We all have discussed several things that went wrong in the Super Bowl since that day. What I do apologize for and take full responsibility for is for speaking in such a candid manner to someone outside the team.”

Harrison also apologized for his use of anti-gay slur to describe Goodell, who fined him $100,000 for his repeated late hits in 2010.

“I also need to make clear that the comment about Roger Goodell was not intended to be derogatory against gay people in any way,” Harrison said. “It was careless use of a slang word, and I apologize to all who were offended by the remark. I am not a homophobic bigot, and I would never advocate intolerance of gay people.”

The Harrison controversy is the latest in a series involving Steelers players. Consider:

• Roethlisberger was accused twice of sexual assault, one a civil case in Lake Tahoe, Nev., and the other in Milledgeville, Ga., in the past two years. The Nevada case remains in the courts, but Roethlisberger was never charged in Georgia. He was suspended for four games at the start of the 2010 season, though, for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

• Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes, a former No. 1 pick, was released last spring for multiple incidents and legal issues during his brief tenure with the team.

• Kicker Jeff Reed had several publicized incidents that were alcohol-related, the latest coming last summer when he jumped out of his car and assumed a fighting stance with police officers on the North Shore. After a bad start to the 2010 season, he was released.

• Harrison has been a repeat lightning-rod for controversy, going back to when he skipped an invitation to the White House because he said he doesn’t like to fly. He was also involved in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend in 2008, less than 10 days after former teammate Cedric Wilson was charged with assaulting his former girlfriend. Wilson was released; Harrison was not. The charges were later dropped against Harrison.

Those incidents have combined to probably tarnish the image of the Steelers, a team that has been owned by the Rooney family for 78 years. The most recent has likely tarnished the image of Harrison, a four-time Pro Bowler who was the NFL defensive player of the year in 2008.

“As far as the character and reputation hits I may suffer as a result of my comments in the article, I’ll take those hits and more if it brings increased attention to the re-examination and installation of rules and regulations that would create a REAL impact on player safety,” Harrison said in his statement.

Make no mistake, he has taken some hits.

Former Washington Redskins’ Pro Bowl linebacker LaVar Arrington said in a Washington Post blog that Harrison’s comments went way over the line and make him “a horrible example to the people who look up to him.”

Chicago Bears defensive end Ervin Baldwin wrote on Twitter, “Man just seen James Harrison comments. dude is a goon.”

Timmons, though, thinks his teammate is being unjustly depicted.

“James is a guy that’s misunderstood,” Timmons said, according to a transcript of his radio interview. “A lot of people think he’s a bad person, but he just sometimes says some things that he shouldn’t. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t feel this way, he probably just got kind of mixed up with his words. But he’s a great guy.

“He’s a great father, he does a lot in our community, he’s a Pittsburgh Steeler, we accept him, and I have nothing but the best things to say about him.”

— Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison apologized Thursday for using an anti-gay slur to refer to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in an interview with “Men’s Journal,” and says his critical statements about teammates were taken out of context.

Harrison posted a statement on his Twitter account, with the message: “This statement will be my only response to the Men’s Journal article.”

In the article, the Steelers’ star criticized Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Rashard Mendenhall for their play in last season’s Super Bowl loss to Green Bay.

Harrison called Mendenhall a “fumble machine” for his fourth-quarter turnover and said Roethlisberger needed to “stop trying to act like Peyton Manning.”

“I did make comments about my teammates when I was talking about the emotional Super Bowl loss, but the handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation and the context was lost,” Harrison said in his statement. Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben’s or Rashard’s fault that we lost the Super Bowl. That would be ridiculous. Both Ben and Rashard are great players and great teammates.”

Harrison’s harshest words in the article were aimed at Goodell, whom he called a “crook” and a “devil.” He also said in the article of Goodell, “I hate him and will never respect him.”

Harrison did not mention those insults, but did say the anti-gay slur directed at the commissioner “was not intended to be derogatory against gay people in any way. It was careless use of a slang word and I apologize to all who were offended by the remark. I am not a homophobic bigot, and I would never advocate intolerance of gay people.”

Harrison was one of the most vocal critics of the NFL’s crackdown last season on illegal hits. He was also heavily fined by the commissioner for delivering illegal shots. The 2008 AP Defensive Player of the Year was docked $100,000 for illegal hits last season.

In his statement Thursday night, Harrison again said that more penalties and fines for illegal hits will not make the game safer.

“I believe that the league may have been feeling increasing pressure about injuries and concussions last year, and that they panicked and put rules in place that weren’t fully thought out.”

ANALYSIS/OPINION

The thing you have to remember about James Harrison, the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ commissioner-crunching linebacker, is that he watches cartoons. Lots of cartoons. “Cartoons 24/7,” he claimed at the Super Bowl a few years ago.

And which are his favorites?

” ‘Adult Swim,’ ‘Family Guy,’ ‘American Dad’ … or I can go old school with ‘Bugs Bunny,’ ‘Daffy Duck’ and a little bit of ‘Pink Panther.’ Depends on what time it is and what’s on.”

With his Looney Tunes comments in the August issue of Men’s Journal, Harrison officially has become a cartoon character. Let’s face it, He always has been a little Daffy, but some of the cracks he made about the NFL commissioner make you wonder if, on some level, he isn’t playing Tom to Roger Goodell’s Jerry — or maybe Sylvester to the commish’s Tweety Bird.

The magazine piece, by the way, is titled, “Confessions of an NFL Hitman” — and features a picture of Harrison, arms folded across his brawny chest, holding an FN Five-Seven pistol and a Smith and Wesson 460 V revolver (both from his personal collection). So right away you think: This must be some kind of homage to Yosemite Sam.

Then his gums start flapping, and another thought crosses your mind: If he really were a cartoon character, he’d probably be voiced by James Earl Jones.

At various times in the article, Harrison calls Goodell a “crook” (perhaps he had Snidely Whiplash in mind), a “devil” (Cruella de Vil?) and a “dictator.” (I’m stumped about this last one, unless he was inspired by Bugs Bunny’s spoof of Hitler, “Herr Meets Hare.”)

But Harrison doesn’t stop there. Oh, no. Once he gets going, All-Pro pass rusher that he is, there’s no telling who he’ll blindside. He’s like the Tasmanian Devil — a veritable tornado of trouble.

He seems to relish the role, too. In fact, when the interviewer turned on his tape recorder, you can almost envision Harrison breaking out in song:

Overture, curtain, lights!

This is it. We’ll hit the heights!

And oh, what heights we’ll hit!

On with the show, this is it!

But back to the Men’s Journal story. When Harrison isn’t savaging Goodell, he’s ripping teammates Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall for their blunders in the Steelers‘ Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers. That’s not being much of a “Family Guy,” is it? Here’s what he says about Big Ben, who threw two damaging first-half interceptions:

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