James Harrison is tired of this envelope story.
Speaking on Barstool Sports' Goin' Deep podcast with Willie Colon, Harrison discussed his 2010 hit on Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi which earned him a hefty $75,000 fine.
“Listen, on everything I love, on my daddy’s grave, I hit that man with about 50 percent of what I had and I just hit him because I wanted him to let loose of the ball,” Harrison said. “If I had [known] they [were] gonna fine me $75,000, I would have tried to kill him.”
Then came the kicker that generated headlines aplenty in the wake of Harrison's chat:
“I ain’t gonna lie to you, when that happened, right? The G-est thing Mike Tomlin ever did, he handed me an envelope after that,” Harrison said. “I ain’t gonna say what, but he handed me an envelope after that.”
This, of course, led many to speculate if Tomlin had instituted a bounty program like the Saints, who were punished for similar activity from 2009 - 2011. Even Sean Payton, who was suspended the entire 2012 season as a result of the league's investigation into "Bountygate," chimed in.
And that's where Harrison draws the line. He took to his Instagram to set the record straight:
"Wow y'all really comparing what I said to BOUNTYGATE?!?" Harrison wrote. "Mike T. Has NEVER paid me for hurting someone or TRYING to hurt someone or put a bounty on ANYBODY! If you knew the full story of what happened back then you'd know that BS fine for a Legal Play wasn't even penalized during the game ... AGAIN AT NO TIME did Mike T. EVER suggest anybody hurt anybody or that they'd be rewarded for anything like that. GTFOH with that BS!!!"
That makes three strong denials, with Harrison joining Steelers president Art Rooney II and Bill Parise, Harrison's longtime agent.
“I am very certain nothing like this ever happened. I have no idea why James would make a comment like this but there is simply no basis for believing anything like this,” Rooney said.
“Absolutely not,” Parise told the Tribune-Review’s Joe Rutter. “Never happened. I would have known that. It didn’t happen … James and I are still together. We were really close during our 18 years. He would have said something along the way.”
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