Just because a guy says something doesn't mean it should be news. The coverage of James Harrison's threat to retire was laughable. How did that even make SportsCenter? It's like a little kid getting upset playing a board game, flipping the board off the table and then exclaiming, "I'm never playing this game again!" A day later, he's ready to play. Had Harrison actually retired because he can't play without trying to hurt people, good riddance.
Though Harrison's "retirement" didn't come out through Twitter (I doubt he can use Twitter because he probably can't use a computer without trying to smash the keyboard), the overreaction by other players has taught us a good lesson: just because someone tweets it doesn't mean it needs to be reported.
In terms of the league's decision to more strongly enforce existing rules, if you can't play the game without trying to hurt people, then don't play the game. It's possible to separate man from ball without trying to separate man from head. Helmets are for protection, not weapons. Hit as hard as you want below the shoulders, but no respectable coach has ever taught a player to go for the head.
The NFL isn't going to eliminate the big, legal hits that fans seem to love. They're smarter than that. They're just trying to get rid of the vicious, unnecessary hits that leave players lying motionless on the ground. They're just trying to prevent the time when one of those players never gets up.
Note: This is coming from a guy who was a 5'10" 140 pound WR in high school.
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