PITTSBURGH - Would it be easier if James Harrison just set up direct deposit with the NFL so commissioner Roger Goodell could extract this week's fine?
For all the wailing about the Pittsburgh Steelers' most famous scofflaw, they still played tackle football in the NFL last weekend.
There were plenty of hard hits, and almost all of them were legal.
The ones that weren't drew the league's attention.
The topic has had the talk show lines melting, but it really isn't complicated. Discern what the rules are, and stay within them.
There will be a period of adjustment, just as there was several years ago when the NHL decided to call obstruction fouls by the rulebook.
Two things, though:
n Don't make the argument that the Steelers of the 1970s would have been shackled by today's rules.
The Steelers didn't play that way. Nobody did then. Players didn't launch themselves at other players, like missiles. They tackled.
The game was still tough and physical, but techniques were different.
So were players. You don't see a lot of 218-pound tight ends like Randy Grossman was for the 1974 Steelers.
Current backup quarterback Byron Leftwich, listed at 250 pounds, is 12 pounds lighter than the biggest offensive lineman (Jon Kolb) from the Steelers' first Super Bowl team.
n Don't complain that players are being fined for plays that didn't draw a penalty flag.
There are 22 players moving on every play. There are seven officials watching them on a surface that's 100 yards long and 160 feet wide. They can't see everything.
TV cameras can offer other views, and sometimes the penalties come from those angles.
In the meantime, stop the whining. It clashes with black and gold.
What happened?
Remember the early part of 2008, when Sidney Crosby was sidelined by a high ankle sprain?
Evgeni Malkin stepped in and played like a man possessed.
How often have we seen that energy level from Malkin since?
If he could find that gear again, the Penguins might not be alternating good games with bad ones.
Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com.
