Art Rooney II, Pittsburgh Steelers President, Says Team Is Being Targeted: Report

A few Pittsburgh Steelers players have ripped NFL this week about fines, suggesting that linebacker James Harrison has been targeted by referees for hard hits. On Thursday, Steelers President Art Rooney II told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he also believes his team is being treated unfairly.

"It certainly looks that way. Not that we're expecting much sympathy from other teams, but I think some of this will be part of the discussion after the season is over," Rooney reportedly said. "Hopefully we'll all have our chances to express our opinions and at that point have a better understanding of where the owners in the league stand on some of this."

Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward lashed out on the league on Wednesday, calling NFL officials "hypocrites" and saying that they don't care about the safety of the players.

Harrison, who said Wednesday that he is being unfairly targeted by referees, has been fined four times this season for a total of $125,000.

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher also voiced his opinion on NFL fines, saying he thinks the way the league fines players is "bull."

Comments

[kapalabhati]

06:58 AM on 12/06/2010

Putting aside Ben's behavior for ONE moment, anyone watching that game last night in which Ben got punched in the face (again!) broken nose with nary a flag and can still disagree with Rooney, has blinders on. Somehow the league will find a way to fine Harrison for the punch.

I will say it again, though, let's be honest, who doesn't want to punch Ben in the face?

[awa611]

07:43 PM on 12/06/2010

And I'm glad he got punched in the face. Maybe it'll help everyone get passed his incident if he gets punched a couple more times. But you're so right. Even one of the announcers said by definition, Ngata hitting him in the face on accident is enough for a flag. And that hit on Heath Miller? There's no excuse for the refs not flagging that. Unbelievable!!!!

[NatTurner1]

11:14 PM on 12/06/2010

which incident, the first, second or third rape?

[veggiehead]

02:42 PM on 12/05/2010

Big Ben is so lucky he is not in jail. They should be thanking the NFL for that...

[Sans Octavian]

08:08 PM on 12/04/2010

This is the NFL. They are professional athletes. They have chosen this life. A life most people only dream to have. Let them hit each other like it's actually professional football. The League is starting to dismantle football.

[Hendrix650]

06:55 PM on 12/04/2010

Is the coach talking about ON OR OFF THE FIELD. Has little ben been bad again?

[jfair80]

02:41 PM on 12/04/2010

Its about time a team other than the Dallas Cowboys gets targeted. No other team in history has been the subject of as many rule changes. The Michael Irvin Rule (no push off), the Emmit Smith rule (cannot remove helmet in TD celebration), the Eric Williams rule (no hands to the face mask), and the Roy Williams rule (no collar tackle) have all been created to take away Cowboy competitive advantage. This season was ruined by bad officiating.

[awa611]

07:44 PM on 12/06/2010

This season? Only one?

[NatTurner1]

11:12 PM on 12/06/2010

Nope, just an advocate for rape victims...and i support all three women.

[NatTurner1]

12:42 PM on 12/04/2010

Rooney...your QB has ducked 3 rape charges. Keep your trap shut and consider yourself lucky!

http://www.politicolnews.com/roethlisberger-3rd-rape/

[awa611]

07:45 PM on 12/06/2010

Still clinging to your gossip mags, I see.

[NatTurner1]

11:13 PM on 12/06/2010

Nope, just an advocate for rape victims...­and i support all three women.

[johndab]

11:52 AM on 12/04/2010

I never thought that the Rooney family were whiners. Suck it up Art, if this is the only way your team can play, maybe its time to make some coaching changes. To back Hines Ward, who has been one of the diritest players in football is wrong . Being a Pats fan, Meriweather deserved to be fined and possibly suspended, but if you watch his hits after that, he no longer leads with his head. Do you think that Belichick had something to do with that ? If your guy Harrison cannot make adjustments, maybe he should look for some other work. Boxing , which has been around longer that football, calls for an immediate disqualification for intententional head butting. Cage fighting also bans it. You are the only team/owner that complained. Ward was half right.......its not the NFL that doesen't care about safety, its the owners. Having 2 more games on the schedule doesn't make the game less safe......its how it is played.

[militaryfamily]

04:05 PM on 12/04/2010

A Pats fan? Can you say SpyGate?

[Gigity]

11:09 AM on 12/04/2010

Oh woe as us! Woe as us!!!!!

[QuietJim]

11:01 AM on 12/04/2010

Due to equipment changes increased strength and bulk of the players and the amount of money involved on all sides, the game has evolved beyond what would generally considered safe. Pads and helmets are now weapons rather than protection. I used to love watching Jack Tatum laying people out but times change. The NFL needs to institute a zero tolerance policy with ejections and suspensions toward hits to the head and skill players need a to be allowed time to protect themselves. Just go back to tackling. Get close to the ball and wrap the guy up. More skill players playing more minutes equal more dollars. Everyone wins. Fans get to see more of their favorite players and Players will be safer and have longer careers. More skill players means more excitement and more fan interest and more fans. Owners make more money.

[johndab]

11:58 AM on 12/04/2010

Did you really enjoy the hit on Darell Stingly. Tatum put him in a wheelchair and eventually caused his premature death due to his paralyisis. The ironic thing is Tatum fought demons for the rest of his life until he died.

[QuietJim]

01:08 PM on 12/04/2010

It was a preseason game and I didn't see it in real time, but yea, unfortunate result. I've never heard of anyone referring to Tatum as a dirty player.

[AngryHarpy]

05:28 PM on 12/04/2010

Tatum, like Harrison, argued that his hits were legal. With regard to the Stingley hit, Tatum never apologized because the hit was 'clean' according to him.

If he were in the league today, he'd be fined every game.

[AbeMartin]

10:13 AM on 12/04/2010

Hey, NumberII-Haid.  If you don't want your quarterback arrested, and your players flagged and fined for unsportsmanlike behavior, why not boss up and tell your head and assistant coaches and players that you have a zero tolerance policy for bad behavior on and off the gridiron?

It certainly seems to have worked when the Eagles management laid down the law on Michael Vick.  And he has responded by upping his game and trying to make amends for his formerly atrocious behavior.

And of course, the players and league might pay attention if you didn't constantly assign blame to those outside of your organization.

[Sheila Simmons]

04:58 PM on 12/04/2010

In other words, he should put on his big girl panties and deal with it! Big Ben certainly should NOT be playing after what he did (allegedly, some say) so if any of the Pittsburgh Knuckleheads wanna stay in the NFL, play like a real football player should! If they act up off the field, hit them where it really hurts--in the wallet!!!!! If they don't change their ways and focus on the game, get rid of them! That'll get their attention. GO RAVENS!!!!!!

[NatTurner1]

07:47 AM on 12/04/2010

Many have defended Big Ben's two rapes (3 if you count the one in college) with much zest. Ive seen folks defend and support Charlie Sheen after his drug rage and hotel destruction, even after he held a knife to his wife's neck. Ive seen people defend Mel Gibson after his racist rants againts blacks and Jews, even his domestic violence against the mother of his child...but the defense of Big Ben's rapes are almost laughable. Here is what is interesting...Big Ben, many will argue DID NOTHING WRONG. But when I ask, "well what was he suspended for if he did nothing wrong?" the answer is ...He violated the conduct policy. Well, WHAT CONDUCT? The most clever answer was... he brought "negative attention to the NFL" - I dont get that! Why would he get punished for simply being accused? Doesnt DUIs bring negative attention? Doesnt sexual harrasment bring negative attention. Why wasnt the dozens of players arrested for DUI suspended? Why wasnt Brett Favre suspended? What conduct do you display that gets you initially suspended for 6 games that sexual harrasment wont warrant 1 game?

Ben got a break. He got 3 breaks. I appreciate Rooney, but he is the last person I expect to lead this charge.

[AbeMartin]

10:16 AM on 12/04/2010

Exactly.  One sexual abuse charge is bad enough and may be explained away as "consensual" esp. if there was no evidence of physical trauma.  Two charges indicate a serious problem.  Three separate charges by three women (and I guarantee that there were a lot more than three) indicate a serial sexual predator.

If BR was a journeyman black defensive lineman, he'd be out of the league by now.

[MG Metiva]

12:48 PM on 12/04/2010

If BR was not a QB, he'd be out of the league by now.

[Sheila Simmons]

05:01 PM on 12/04/2010

That is so, so true! No man who treats women as sex objects have no idea what an experience like that does to them. Let the shoe be on the other foot and dudes like Big Ben will get the message loud and freakin' clear!

[pjburke]

11:32 AM on 12/04/2010

Of course.... because accusation is ALWAYS the exact equal of formal conviction.

Why bother with courts and trials and evidence and all other such time-wasting nonsense when the bloviating suppositions and slurred-speech inventions, speculations, and pretzel-twisted deductions of any barstool-warming loudmouth are every bit as good?

[NatTurner1]

12:40 PM on 12/04/2010

we live in a society where OJ Simson was aquitted, where civil rights advocates were murdered and the transgressors either were never brought up on charges or were aquitted after the jury enjoyed a soda pop. New DNA technology is currently exhonerating men who have been on death row....and you feel a man three times accused of rape is innocent because a bunch of Barney Fife's cant find enough evidence.

Yes, Ben is innocent the same way OJ was innocent. And those three women deserved better! If Ben was a construction worker making 10 dollars an hour he would be serving 20 to life.

I stil want to know what "conduct" got him suspended for 6 games.

[Eric Sarnoski]

04:03 AM on 12/04/2010

Only thing targeting the Steelers is Lucky Charms. I have never seen so many lucky wins in one season. Look forward to their early elimination in the playoffs.

[sja11]

07:34 AM on 12/04/2010

yeah if anything the league has been targeting the steelers to help them out.

that team has gotten away with more things than anyone and they still complain when they get busted.

They don't teach their players how to tackle correctly, they constantly lead with the helmet

[Richard Horvath]

12:39 PM on 12/04/2010

what about the jets? half their wins have been gifts.

[SirCoolBreeze]

11:11 PM on 12/03/2010

A hard hit is not slamming the top of your helmet into someone's chin, which seems to be Harrison's claim to NFL "hard-hitting" fame. Look at the videotapes. Use the shoulder (why such big shoulder pads?) and keep the helmet away from the hit. Better yet, fly in, wrap the runner up, and actually TACKLE him, instead of trying to be the one to deliver the "biggest hit" and knock the guy out, which, again, is almost always, because your helmet hits his chin. Man up, stop whining, your poster boys in Pittsburgh are James "Let me blow your head up with my helmet and call it a legal hit" Harrison and Benjy Thuglisberger.

[QuietJim]

11:04 AM on 12/04/2010

Fanned

[shastaman]

10:13 PM on 12/03/2010

Right!
Let's look back at the rediculous officiating in the stupor bowl when Seattle was shackled by the zebras and Pittsburg celebrated as the worl's best
I'm just sayin man!

[Betty Burgh]

10:46 PM on 12/03/2010

Dude, learn to spell right.

[shastaman]

09:53 AM on 12/04/2010

KNO!

[magnetplanner]

09:46 PM on 12/03/2010

This doesn't sound like Pittsburgh Steeler football. They have put 16 players and one coach in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The first player inducted was Johnny "Blood" McNally. The Steeler teams I grew with gave no quarter and asked no quarter.

[QuietJim]

11:23 AM on 12/04/2010

I guess the point here is the nickname. It was actually a pseudonym he got off a movie poster. He decided to tryout on a whim and used an alias. He only played parts of 3 seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates(yes). Most of his career was spent in Green Bay. The George Clooney character in the movie Leatherheads was based on him. He was 6'1 188. I don't think we can compare era's this far apart. Blood played in the 20's and 30's. Love the internets.

[magnetplanner]

12:31 PM on 12/04/2010

The point here is the whining. The great Steeler teams I knew weren't whiners. And neither was Art Rooney, Sr.