Former Pittsburgh Steelers great James Harrison has rubbed some people the wrong way with recent criticisms of his former head coach Mike Tomlin.
Harrison doesn’t think that the recently-retired Tomlin — the only NFL head coach in history to start a career with 19 straight non-losing seasons — is a Hall of Famer. He explained this to former Steelers teammate Joe Haden (who was with Pittsburgh from 2017-21) on a recent “Deebo & Joe” podcast.
“Is Coach T a Hall of Fame coach in your opinion?” Haden asked “Deebo” Harrison. “No,” Harrison replied.
Joey Porter Sr. Called Out James Harrison For Saying Mike Tomlin Is No Hall of Famer
Harrison’s former Steelers teammate Joey Porter Sr. called Harrison’s genuine dedication to the franchise into question. In a new podcast with Cam Heyward on Monday, Harrison responded to Porter Sr.’s critical comments he made about Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger during Super Bowl week.
“You think the head coach didn’t have his hand in making that player? So when you say he did nothing for you, that’s crazy,” Porter said of Harrison. “Then it’s like, damn, why would you take a shot at the guy who changed your life? Because [Bill] Cowher didn’t change your life. Cowher cut you three times.”
Porter attacked Ben Roethlisberger’s character and labeled him a great quarterback who was a “bad person” and teammate in an interview. Porter also said Big Ben is the last person who should be discussing Steelers business.
In this latest interview, Harrison countered points made by Porter.
Harrison also responded to Porter’s criticism of Harrison attempting to undermine Mike Tomlin’s Hall of Fame legacy.
“He said I should be more loyal to (Mike Tomlin) because my name is Deebo. I had three, four Pro Bowls, Defensive Player of the Year, so when you say these things, it implies he gave me it. First, he didn’t give me the name Deebo, Brett Keisel did that,” Harrison ranted on Deebo and Joe. “He didn’t make me the only undrafted player to ever win Defensive Player of the Year and $50 million. Again, implying it was given to me undeservingly. It wasn’t.”
James Harrison Says Porter Violated Brotherhood With Criticisms Of QB Ben Roethlisberger
Harrison, who says he and Porter have since had a heated discussion via telephone to hash out some things, believes that Porter violated the brother by publicly criticizing him and Big Ben.
“Something else he said, Ben and I broke the brotherhood? First, Mike (Tomlin) ain’t my brother. We broke the brotherhood? You broke the brotherhood more than we did.”
Harrison ended his rant by stating that he and Roethlisberger were great teammates, so he never had a problem with the Steelers quarterback. He also said that criticizing Mike Tomlin’s coaching is not the same as taking shots at a former teammate’s character.
“Peezy, that was just a pure-out attack on Ben’s character, and what I said about Mike (Tomlin) was an attack on his coaching, dude,” Harrison said. “Two different things. And that’s more breaking the brotherhood than what Ben said. Ben said, ‘I think, I feel that maybe Tomlin should move on.’ Like, come on, bruh. … He went on it because he obviously has a personal issue with Ben that hasn’t been resolved.”
Cam’ron & Ma$e Don’t Like James Harrison’s Wedding Crasher Approach
Rappers-turned-sports analysts Cam’ron and Ma$e didn’t agree with Harrison’s attempts at diminishing Tomlin’s Hall of Fame legacy.
In a profanity-laced rant, Ma$e said:
“We talking about a one-time AP Player of theYear, two-time Super Bowl champion, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, a five-time Pro Bowler. This person’s account matters and when all of this is something that you’ve contributed too, it’s kind of hard to hear people say stuff like this,” he said.
”As soon as something goes wrong, it’s like ‘I don’t even think (Mike Tomlin) should make the Hall of Fame.’ C’mon. It’s like a N– standing up in your wedding and somebody says, ‘Does anybody think this couple should not be married?’ And James Harrison is standing up and says ‘if you ask me I don’t think the N– is ready,’” Ma$e explained.
“C’mon, James. Sit this one out. This is not the time to be doing this. And I’m cool with James, he comes highly decorated. C’mon, whatever didn’t go right let’s talk about that behind the scene. Don’t put that on my Hall of Fame opportunities. That’s what we do it for. That’s why we are playing,” he added.
“The problem, Murda, is we are in the brother polite era,” Cam said, suggesting that at another time this situation would have been handled in a different manner. “I’m disappointed in Deebo for saying that.”
In the post-Mike Tomlin era, it seems that former players will be breaking the unified silence of the Gold & Black brotherhood and expressing their true feelings.
