James Harrison Considering Retirement After Being Fined

Just a day after James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers received a whopping $75,000 fine for hitting another player too hard, the 32-year-old Pro Bowl linebacker is seriously considering retirement. Harrison was even excused from Steelers practice on Wednesday so that he can continue to contemplate whether or not he will retire.

According to Harrison’s agent Bill Parise, the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year is “very serious” about retiring after receiving a huge fine from the NFL. Just yesterday, Harrison was one of three NFL players who received very hefty fines from the NFL; the other two players were Dunta Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons and Brandon Meriweather of the New England Patriots. Harrison received the biggest fine because the NFL reportedly considers him to be a repeat offender.

On Tuesday, Harrison denied that he had made any kind of illegal hit. "All you have to do is look at the tape," Harrison said. "If I get fined it's because anybody out there who has a camera in their face or a pen in their hand is writing their opinion and it's all the same. I just happened to be one of the bigger names who hit somebody last weekend."

Now James is concerned about playing football at all, according to his agent. "This is a very serious issue. James is very concerned about how to play football,” said Parise. “If James is going to be fined $75,000 for making a legal tackle, then how do you go play football? It's quite frustrating to James, to Coach Tomlin, to me, to everybody."

On Tuesday, during a radio interview, Harrison said, "I'm going to sit down and have a serious conversation with my coach tomorrow and see if I can actually play by NFL rules and still be effective. If not, I may have to give up playing football."

According to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Harrison is expected to return to practice on Thursday.

(Sources: ESPN.com, FoxSports.com)

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