Mortensen: Rodney Harrison to be suspended 4 games for Human Growth Hormone

[denverpatsfan]

There is no test for HGH as far as I know. So he someone must have set him up, ratted on him etc. Not a stretch to believe that the league or some 3rd party could have done this.

This has ruined my weekend. This totally sucks. 4 HUGE AFC games he is going to miss. At least the team played well without him last season.

The offense can't start slow anymore. RM better be ready to go in the Meadowlands.

 

[JJDChE]

I can't understand why anyone would be shocked or stunned by this. I'd bet my house there are more than a few other Patriots doing the same thing. That's life in the NFL.

And the people who think the that Patriots players are should be held to a higher standard...give it a rest.

The only thing I'm shocked about is that he was dumb enough to get caught. If you're going to buy banned substances online at least use a fake name or have a friend do it for you.

He'll serve his suspension, he'll come back and I'll cheer for him just as loudly as before.

 

[Bella*chick]

There is no test for HGH as far as I know. So he someone must have set him up, ratted on him etc. Not a stretch to believe that the league or some 3rd party could have done this.

This has ruined my weekend. This totally sucks. 4 HUGE AFC games he is going to miss. At least the team played well without him last season.

The offense can't start slow anymore. RM better be ready to go in the Meadowlands.

The team has been without him for much of the time these last two years. It hopefully won't be a huge adjustment.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Me too, Miguel. I'm really disappointed.

I'm very disappointed about this too. But, I'm not willing to throw Rodney under the bus after reading his statement.

If other want to do that, then in my eyes they are not true fans and don't deserve to call themselves fans.

 

[JJDChE]

There is no test for HGH as far as I know. So he someone must have set him up, ratted on him etc. Not a stretch to believe that the league or some 3rd party could have done this.

This has ruined my weekend. This totally sucks. 4 HUGE AFC games he is going to miss. At least the team played well without him last season.

The offense can't start slow anymore. RM better be ready to go in the Meadowlands.

Do you enjoy Verpa?

 

[denverpatsfan]

Hey numbnut. I agree with you. That's the point I was beginning to make.

 

[fgssand]

You are a fan,aren't you? When a player of your team makes a mistake and gives a heart felt apology that goes well beyond "I'm sorry I got caught", you can't forgive and support him?

You are right Rodney is no personal friend of yours or mine, however he is a member of the team that we love. The difference between real fans and bandwagon fans is that real fans are loyal. Real fans will not condone the action but will forgive when a player shows that he is truly sorry and has paid the price.

Many post on this thread remind me of so called friends that are no where to be found when they are really needed. Which one are you?

Fans of New England, time to step up and declare yourselves. Patnutme is right a true fan of this team will be there when needed the most.

I am a die hard and have followed this team my entire life, through thick and thin, good and bad. Sure, right now it really hurts and I feel like I was kicked in the teeth. I really feel bad right now. I'll get over it and I hope the media, fans and his teammates allow Rodney to get over it as well.

I forgive Rodney Harrision as he came clean, apologized to all of us and will serve his punishment. This was HGH not steroids and there is a difference, the analogy of Heroin >pot is a good one. This should be it. There is no further story here, other than the other players that will turn up from this and other upcoming investigations.

I do hope he comes back and dedicates himself to winning football games and to this team. It will really be a shame if he ends up being forced to walk away from basically a broken heart, brought on by those unable to accept his apology.

Circle the wagon fellow fans.....there are fans in Miami, San Diego, Indy just LOVING this. They now think we are done for this season. They will try to use this to taint our dynasty...don't allow it to happen because nothing can tarnish those victories and nobody can take those rings away.

We have been in tough spots before and will be again - as far as I am concerned, we now need to show Rodney we appreciate all he has done for this team in the past and hopefully will continue to do.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

In 2003 the Patriots gave Harrison a $2.5 million signing bonus as part of his 6-year deal. In 2005 Harrison converted part of his salary (around 765,000)into a signing bonus. IMO, the Patriots should attempt to recover the prorated portion for the 4 games that he will miss. They should do this not for the money but for the principle.

All they could hope to recover, as the Michael Vick case will likely prove, is 1/24th of his original signing bonus or a little over $100K. In Vick's case they hope to argue that his roster bonus was really just a part of his signing bonus delayed and then converted for amortization purposes (which of course it was but an arbitor will not likely see it that commonsensically). In this case as in Lelie's option bonus case any arbitor would rule that converting salary is nothing more than an accounting tool since it was earned in the season it was converted. He's already losing close to half a million as a result of the suspension. Recovery of bonus money is team optional in all cases, and since they have not persued it in other instances in which they were entitled to, like retirement, the only principle here would be underscoring punishment. Although if they choose to underscore it, that's fine with me and I doubt they would get any argument from Rodney.

 

[wistahpatsfan]

@ Jets, Chargers, Buffalo and @ Cincy...Two puff games, two tough ones. Re4ally could have used Harrison for all these games goes without saying. The worst part of this offense, IMO. He should have known better and he cheated, but he's our guy and the team needs him, so I can't trash him. What he did was stupid and wrong, and my kids don't use jocks as role models, so it is what it is. Worst part of the whole thing is we lose depth in the D-backfield, and that sucks royally.

 

[mojocaster.com]

Re: Rodney Harrison to be suspended for 4 games for HGH

I can't say this comes as a surprise... the diff between Rodney and 99.9% of the NFL players out there is that he got caught... You simply can't be that big, that fast, taht resilient, and that resistant by sipping milk. We don't like to acknowledge it, but deep down we all know it.

 

[gomezcat]

I'm very disappointed about this too. But, I'm not willing to throw Rodney under the bus after reading his statement.

If other want to do that, then in my eyes they are not true fans and don't deserve to call themselves fans.

I agree. I certainly wouldn't throw him under a bus over it. He got caught and will serve his suspension. End of story.

 

[Real World]

Quick question, when did he buy, and use it? Last year? If so, did he use it when he was hurt? Cuz he didn't come back to play.

 

[Boston Jay]

I am very disappointed, but not naive enough to think that most of the NFL players are clean as a whistle.

 

[oldskool138]

Here are my thoughts, and they're probably similar to a lot of folks on these boards.

It's easy to bash Vick, Ray Lewis, and other NFL undesirables (read: Cincinnati Bengals) because they are on other teams. We laugh and kind of shake our head when they get in trouble and say "Man, I'm glad stuff like that doesn't happen on the Pats". Now, it's on our doorstep.

I'm not naive enough to believe that Rodney is/was the only guy on the Pats using HGH or something else to gain a competitive advantage. I'm sure there are other guys that are/were using them.

I hate cheaters. Rodney cheated and his career is now tainted. He says he only took it to heal faster after his knee injury. How can we be sure? If a person is caught cheating once, how do you know that he wasn't cheating before and only got caught this time? If Rodney was an honorable guy, he would have either let the knee heal naturally or hung up his spikes.

The pundits are going to paint the Pats a a bunch of cheaters based on the actions of one guy...You know they are. They've been looking for any kind of kinks in the Pats armor during their dynasty. It's not fair but such is the nature of the beast.

So, what should we as fans do? Not cheer if Rodney lays the wood to a WR going across the middle? Turn our backs on him if he gets a INT or sack? I have no idea. I'd like to defend him but I can't do that and at the same time bash Barry Bonds (different sport, I know). I'd almost like to see the Pats cut him so it would make it easier to shun him for his actions....I don't know...

 

[BoltsFan]

As the Big O would say, "you're making my point". You come to this board and are respectful and knowledgable, and you probably take little if any slack. So you're not hated. But that prick... oy!

1) Who's the big O?

2) slack? I'm assuming what you meant was "flack" which I do understand. I mean to say that if SD somehow loses in week two I'll be here to face the flack.

I know for certain that people like DaBruinz will dig up previous posts of mine and address them. Which I would have to just basically suck up. I understand that.

I'll be here to suck up whatever I have to. Maybe not same day cos I may or may not be at the game. It's STILL (grr) up in the air for me. Yes, I understand every minute I don't have a ticket costs me money. Whatever? I'll be back on this board to either congratulate and/or specifically reemphasize the obvious.

The obvious being it's all about the post season. Nobody gets a pass. Whatever either teams record is going into week 3 dosen't precisely matter.

History suggests that it behooves every team in the NFL to try and take care of their div. If you do that, then the Q is how do you stack up against the rest of the conf?

If 10-6 wins your conf you're more than likely assured of 1 and ONLY 1 playoff game at home. And you're playing the wildcard. If you Win that game then you're more than likely on the road against whomever. Which is fine. But it's like that. I bring this up because all of you pats fans should understand my level of annoyance. It's HUGE! Yea, you went to the AFCC and you were ultimately denied. Peyton actually tossed game at you for once.

Sucks for pats fans. Great for indy fans. No offense, but I could give a flying F! Yea, I'm saying I don't see the Colts coming back on SD from 21-3 down. Our D would not let that happen. Hurries and sacks would be the thing for us. Who's the last team to sack PM 4 times?

 

[pats1]

1) Who's the big O?

Glen Ordway, a sports talk host on WEEI in Boston.

 

[SuBBass49]

Not gonna sit and read all 8 million pages, but here's my 2cents...

I think it's pretty funny that so many of the people that are defending Harrison were the same ones who talked a wealth of smack about Shawne Merriman last year for using a tainted supplement. Yet Harrison went out and procured HGH with no doubt as to what he was doing and ya'll are sticking up for him.

So which is it?

Do you HATE all players that use banned substances?

Or just when they're from other teams?

How about the intent of the player?

Oh...and this isn't just hate from a Chargers fan to Pats fans...Harrison was my all-time favorite player back when he was with San Diego...and I still watched Pats games from time to time just to see him play.

Anyway...just wanted ya'll to think about that next time you want to talk smack about Merriman...

 

[DaBruinz]

Rodney's situation got me thinking back to when Jerry Rice tore his ACL I can remember that he actually had surgery and came back in the same season. And I can remember how crazy that was. Yes, he did get hurt again and had to have more surgery on that knee (ruptured patella tendon), but he did come back in record time.

Could Rice have done HGH? There are plenty of others who have probably done it and come back as well.

What Rodney did was a violation of the league rules. Nothing more. Nothing less. Unfortunately for Rodney, he got involved with a pharmacy that was under investigation. Had it just been his doctor and a local pharmacy, I'd be willing to be nothing would have come of it.

Anyways, I am saddened by Rodney's actions. I am, however, proud that he is taking his punishment like a man and NOT making excuses like certain other players have done in this league.

 

[HGH_Harrison]

Rodney's situation got me thinking back to when Jerry Rice tore his ACL I can remember that he actually had surgery and came back in the same season. And I can remember how crazy that was. Yes, he did get hurt again and had to have more surgery on that knee (ruptured patella tendon), but he did come back in record time.

Could Rice have done HGH? There are plenty of others who have probably done it and come back as well.

What Rodney did was a violation of the league rules. Nothing more. Nothing less. Unfortunately for Rodney, he got involved with a pharmacy that was under investigation. Had it just been his doctor and a local pharmacy, I'd be willing to be nothing would have come of it.

Anyways, I am saddened by Rodney's actions. I am, however, proud that he is taking his punishment like a man and NOT making excuses like certain other players have done in this league.

Saying that he only took it the recover from injury and not to gain a competitive advantage is an excuse in itself. Not to mention taking it in the first place is a competitive advantage as there are plenty of players around the league who are recovering from injuries cleanly.

 

[oldrover]

Rodney cheated. He knew he cheated. He got caught. He's paying the price.

He's done damage to the team's chances this year.

And many fans will never look at him the same way. I know I won't.

It's a shame. Is it forgiveable? Sure. But it ain't forgettable.