Steeler James Harrison is a felon.

Why didn't NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Steeler James Harrison get kicked out of the Super Bowl yesterday for his absurd behavior - punching Aaron Francisco and then tossing him back down to the turf after the play? The refs clearly saw what happened. A flag was tossed. 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Here's the tape of the felon at work. Go to the 1:07 mark.

When you watch the tape, it's very clear that after Harrison's initial hit on Francisco, Harrison hit him FOUR additional times. Francisco was out of the play and not going anywhere. Then Harrison hovers over him like some psychopath. Game face, maybe? No - psycho face. Just ask his girlfriend who had him arrested once for assaulting (charges were dropped contingent on Harrison attending anger management classes). He must have failed. Refs screwed that one up.

Here's an interesting quote which appeared in the Kansas City Star just prior to the SB. Harrison, who had a reputation as an uncoachable player, realized he had to make an attitude adjustment if he was going to stick with the Steelers in his fourth attempt (he had been cut 3x before). “The difference is maturity,” Harrison said. “I handled situations a lot differently than my rookie year. The way I took coaching, the way I talked to coaches...that was all different. I had to change all of that because it was basically the last hurrah."

Differently? Like beating up your girlfriend and beating up a fellow football player?

Incidentally, Harrison set a record for the longest play in SB history - intercepting Kurt Warner and running 100 yards for a TD. Here's the 99-yard kick-off return by Desmond Howard in Super Bowl 31 (Pack beat Patriots) that was formerly the longest play in SB history. I'm not showing Harrison's INT because I don't condone felon-like behavior.

Oh yeah...the Silverback picture (above). Apparently in some circles, Harrison is referred to as "Silverback" - something about the style of his play. I don't want a picture of that asshole on my blog. The Silverback gorilla photo will do just nicely.