Harrison Poll

[Bostonian1962]

I never, ever thought Harrison was dirty. I thought he was just a tough dude, and great player. Other teams fans WISH he played for their team, really.

Check out this poll: NFL - Patriots safety Harrison announces retirement - FOX Sports on MSN

 

[mgteich]

And I'm sure that patriot and charger players and fans everywhere agree.

I never, ever thought Harrison was dirty. I thought he was just a tough dude, and great player. Other teams fans WISH he played for their team, really.

Check out this poll: NFL - Patriots safety Harrison announces retirement - FOX Sports on MSN

 

[jmt57]

I think Harrison got labeled by the media as a dirty player after the hit on Rice. If he delivered the same hit to somebody that was not as well known as Rice then it would have never received so much publicity, and Rodney would not have been the recipient of so much notoriety. After a while the 'dirty player' phrase just got repeated so many times that most opposing fans that seldom saw him play just accepted that label as being true. It's one of those things where once a player gets a certain reputation, it becomes nearly impossible to shed that image.

 

[Jackson 2]

I never, ever thought Harrison was dirty. I thought he was just a tough dude, and great player. Other teams fans WISH he played for their team, really.

Check out this poll: NFL - Patriots safety Harrison announces retirement - FOX Sports on MSN

Honestly, I'm genuinely shocked at the poll results. I thought the numbers would be reversed, at best, frankly. The comments in response to Florio's piece on Rodney reflect a lot of the NE hatred out there. Screw 'em.

 

[PatsChowder]

These days, if you hit hard you're a dirty player. Look at Hines Ward. The guy has been a model citizen for the most part and then when he lays out those huge blocks half the league turns on him.

Rodney just played the game hard.

Thank you, Rodney. You will be missed.

 

[efin98]

I'm not the least bit surprised that after he's out of the league he would get respect from people in a poll about his actions. I think fans can see through the jealousy and hatred of him and respect the toughness that he played with...

 

[TrueBeliever]

Some dorkwad poster on CBS Sportsline said he could PROVE Rodney was the dirtiest player ever... and then posted a link to an ESPN article about it.

I told him that wasn't exactly the best foundation for an argument; kinda like building a house on quicksand.

 

[mgteich]

There have been polls for years, of players, of fans, and articles by media folks. I would suggest that the results have always been the same. Harrison is always listed in the top 5 dirtiest players currently playing. Some have him #1, some a bit lower.

This is the opinion of others. Patriot fans and charger fans don't have to accept this assessment, and we can say this is all perception and Harrison is justplaying with passion. Or we could, as raider fans would, be proud of his syle of play, and make no apologies.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Now there is a poll on the same link as to whether he is a Hall of Famer, and the majority say that he is. I agree with that as well.

 

[jmt57]

Here's another article looking back at Rodney's career, his reputation, and whether or not he's a hall-of-famer.

Rodney Harrison backed up everything he said by Glen Farley from the Quincy Patriot Ledger:

The problem with Harrison is, his career was wrapped up in politics.

Put him in the home team’s uniform, and Harrison was an aggressive playmaker to embrace.

Put him in an opponents’ uniform, and he was a villain who knew the rules of fair play yet often exceeded them.

Let’s be honest here. Harrison didn’t merely push the envelope; at times he shoved it down his foes’ throats.

That was the way Harrison played the game.

Harrison was intent on making plays, not allies.

Harrison was intent on winning football games, not friends.

There is also Harrison's exit the end of a Boston era by Adam Smartschan from Metro Boston, where he talks about the void in Boston area sports with Rodney and Curt Schilling's retirement:

To Bostonians, the Patriots safety played the game the way it’s meant to be played. After all, as Harrison noted in his retirement conference call yesterday, it’s not volleyball. Around these parts — for the last six years, that is — he was a crusader for the game’s very soul; a fighter bent on restoring the hard-scrabble NFL of yesteryear.

To the rest of the league — and New England, before his 2003 arrival — Harrison was a jerk, the dirtiest of dirty players whose stats (already marked with the asterisk of $200,000 in fines) were tainted by a drug suspension.

Shalise Manza-Young from the Providence Journal also writes a column, Rodney Harrison announces his retirement with this to say:

While the hard-hitting safety earned the impossible-to-shake and not truly valid reputation as the dirtiest player in the league, he took particular pride in delivering on-field punishment. In a radio interview Wednesday afternoon said the helmet-to-helmet hit he delivered on Jerry Rice in 2002, which cost him over $100,000 in fines due to a one-game suspension, was "worth it."

But off the field, Harrison was the consummate team player and leader, who brought passion to every practice and meeting. That passion is evident in non-football situations as well.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I never, ever thought Harrison was dirty. I thought he was just a tough dude, and great player. Other teams fans WISH he played for their team, really.

Check out this poll: NFL - Patriots safety Harrison announces retirement - FOX Sports on MSN

Thanks for the link and let's all keep bumping this up.

Also, notice that there are TWO places to vote, one towards the top of the page on "dirty" play and the other towards the bottom on the HOF for Rodney.

Vote early and vote often, Pats Fans!

 

[Bostonian1962]

Thanks for the link and let's all keep bumping this up.

Also, notice that there are TWO places to vote, one towards the top of the page on "dirty" play and the other towards the bottom on the HOF for Rodney.

Vote early and vote often, Pats Fans!

You're very welcome! I must admit, I am a tad surprised at how well Rodney is doing in the polls. I agree, but I didn't expect it. It's kind of nice to see, and I hope Pats fans are voting.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

You're very welcome! I must admit, I am a tad surprised at how well Rodney is doing in the polls. I agree, but I didn't expect it. It's kind of nice to see, and I hope Pats fans are voting.

it's interesting, the ratio 60/40 in "tough" vs. "dirty" and 69/31 in the HOF vote have remained the same.

bumping this again. vote often Pats fans. let's give Rodney a great send off!

 

[jmt57]

Just wanted to pass along a couple more articles on Rodney, his retirement, and his new career.

Rodney Harrison put personal stamp on Patriots by Ron Chimelis of the Springfield Republican

For the last six of his 15 seasons, Harrison was on our team, the New England Patriots. A lot of guys helped define the character of this team, but most were homegrown - Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour and Tom Brady among them.

Of the imports, Harrison applied the most distinctive personal stamp on the entire operation. With his retirement Wednesday, the Patriots face not only the task of replacing his talent, but of sustaining the intangible element that makes them the Patriots.

True to form, Harrison went out in a hard-hitting manner. He is headed for the TV booth, and I, for one, will listen. ...

The Patriots will move on, but this franchise is a little bit diminished, now that he's gone.

Harrison trades in helmet for headphones by Mark Farinella from the Attleboro Sun Chronicle

But that's Harrison, one of the very few Patriots who could talk to the media without having to filter his comments to suit Bill Belichick's preference for non-controversial utterings. And despite all of the love he professed for his former teammates in an earlier conference call to New England reporters, if the players think they're going to avoid his jabs and zings on the Pea**** Network, think again.

"Sometimes you have to be brutally honest with guys that you've played with and guys who are your friends," he said. "But you can't shy away from certain questions. When the Patriots play against the Colts and if Tom Brady's not performing, everybody's going to question his knee. And if it's his knee that's bothering him, then I'm going to have to mention that.

"Tom would have to respect that," he added. "As a player, you have to respect the fact that you're going to get criticized. I'm not going to be afraid to do that when I played, I didn't have many friends, and I'm sure I'm not going to make a lot of friends now."

Jim Donaldson from the Providence Journal once again reprises his recurring role as Debby Downer the contrarian in this (warning: I do not recommend you click on the link and give him another web hit) column Harrison was a great player, not a hall of famer. Though it is indeed very debatable whether Rodney makes the Hall, Donaldson's logic is flawed: he bases it on only two Pro Bowls (while Pro Bowl and All Pro voting is acknowledged to be a joke) and a suspension for HGH (how many NFL players does he think would be would be suspended if the NFL tested for HGH? Donaldson doesn't stop there; he goes on to imply it was Harrison's fault for the Super Bowl loss to the Giants and warn NBC that Harrison won't be as honest in his analysis as he said he will be.


Chargers recall playing with - and against - Harrison by Kevin Acee from the San Diego Union-Tribune

“Everyone knows his play on the field was amazing,” (Quentin) Jammer said. “He was a different player on the field than off. People labeled him a dirty player. But he was one of the best dudes I've ever met as far as honesty and being a genuine guy.”

Harrison faced the Chargers only twice as a Patriot, but his name still means something here even to those who were not his teammate and only played against him.

“For me, since I never played with him, it was knowing all the things he did for this organization and watching him play and knowing the impact he made at the strong safety position, which is not an easy position to make an impact,” tight end Antonio Gates said. “He was one of those guys you always needed to know where he was at. Even when he wasn't making all the plays anymore, you needed to know he could make them.”

Quarterback Philip Rivers appreciated matching wits with Harrison.

“You always needed to know ... whatever was drawn up on the blackboard, Rodney was going to play football,” Rivers said. “I don't care if he was the midfield safety or rolling down (for) run coverage, he's going to play what he feels and sees. That's what made him great and a dangerous player.”