RUSH: Contrasted with the commissioner trying to keep that from happening, especially with helmets. And are we correct or incorrect as fans: We look at Super Bowls and it seems that for the most part, unless it's really flagrant, the refs let you play.
HARRISON: Yeah.
RUSH: They're not throwing a lot of flags in the Super Bowl.
HARRISON: Well, you know what? Now with all these rule changes and the heightened awareness of concussions and legal hits and things of that sort -- especially with James Harrison, all the publicity that he received this year -- they're gonna throw the flag. There's a hundred million people that will be watching the Super Bowl and you'd best believe the commissioner, he'll be one of those people and they're gonna be very conscious and cautious of those dirty hits. James Harrison talked about it all year. I think you just go out there. You can't think about it. You have to go out there and play. But James Harrison, he's too good of a player to put his team in a situation where it may cost them the game or a critical third down or something if he lowers that helmet. You gotta play within the rules -- and really what I'm looking at from a standpoint of a guy that's done it and done it for a long time and finally stepping away from the game: Rush, you realize that, "You know what? The league is trying to protect these players," because I go out on the golf course, Rush, and sometimes the light hurts my eyes. Sometimes I have dizzy spells because of the sun, because of the sensitivity to the light because of all those concussions I sustained playing football. So I suggest to these young players: You got a life after football, man. You know, you're gonna play ten or 12, 13 years if you're fortunate. But life after football is more important because you have family, you have kids, and you have to take care of yourself.
RUSH: Rodney... I mean you, you were one of the hardest hitters the game has ever seen. How do you balance that with what you just said? How do you dial it back?
HARRISON: I -- I didn't, Rush. I didn't. It didn't matter to me because I was in a different mind-set. I went out there and I played hard and I tried to be intimidator, and I tried to make my reputation taking guys out. Not like trying to hurt or kill 'em and anything like that or injure them, but just trying to establish my reputation. But as I've gotten away from football and I realize, "You know what? There's life after football." I'm removed and I have four kids and I have a wife and I realize how much they depend on me and they need me to be able to function mentally. You know, I realize that. That's why I'm using my experience and my platform to let these guys know. And fans call me, "Oh, he's a hypocrite." I'm not a hypocrite. I made mistakes during my years of playing, but at the same time I'm trying to keep these guys from sustaining concussions and dealing with the headaches and the migraines and the lack of sleep sometimes that I go through.
RUSH: Yeah, but Rodney, you know half the time you had a concussion you wouldn't even tell 'em.
HARRISON: No question.
RUSH: If they couldn't figure it out, the staff, you wouldn't tell 'em because I didn't want it to come out. You didn't want anybody thinking you were susceptible to them.
HARRISON: Right. But that was part of my mind-set when I was playing football, because I had this gladiator mentality. I didn't care, because I had no regard for my body and the future. It was all about the moment now. But if you can educate these players and let them know that football is not everything and that your family and your life for the next 30 years after you retire or 40 years is more important, then that's my job. And that's what I'm gonna use my experience for.
