Pass rushing relies heavily on following instincts rather than instructions.
The NFL wants it the other way around, Tommie Harris insisted Thursday.
After receiving a $5,000 fine for leveling Buccaneers quarterback Brian Griese after jumping offside last Sunday, the Bears’ defensive tackle blasted the league for trying to replace aggression with apprehension among pass rushers.
“They’ll get money any way they can,” the colorful rookie said. “It makes you want to walk up to the quarterback before you’re about to tackle him and ask to check out where you can hit him–`Is it all right if I tackle you here?’ . . . Come on, we’re playing football here.”
When Harris arrived at work Wednesday, a FedEx envelope sat in his locker. Harris knew from his teammates’ experience the letter meant he would have to pay for a penalty that converted a third down for Tampa Bay and contributed to a momentum swing.
The fine represented 2 percent of Harris’ 2004 base salary of $250,000–the equivalent of $1,000 to someone earning $50,000. But the first-round pick received a $2.1 million signing bonus in July that made it hard for teammates to muster too much sympathy for him.
“I’ve seen worse [calls],” Brian Urlacher said. “[But] . . . I’m sure he can afford it.”
Harris made it sound like NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was taking food out of his mouth.
“The penalty was embarrassing, but the fine hurts a lot–y’all don’t understand what $5,000 does when it’s taken out [of your check],” Harris said. “I don’t understand how the NFL gives me a 15-yard penalty and then fines me $5,000. They’re biased [against] the defense. They only fine us, you never hear an offensive guy getting a fine for cutting us below the waist.”
He chided the league for taking no action against Broncos offensive tackle George Foster for breaking Bengals defensive tackle Tony Williams’ left ankle with a cut block Monday night many considered a cheap shot.
As long as the NFL was reviewing Sunday’s game, Harris also wondered how Tampa Bay tackle Derrick Deese escaped without getting fined too.
According to Harris, a Buccaneers offensive guard held him up while Deese dived for his knees. Harris avoided injury only when “my cleat popped out of the ground.”
“It was No. 70 (Deese)–and he did it on purpose,” Harris said. “A lot of defensive linemen get their knees blown out every play. There are a lot of things like that when the offense will never see a fine, but the defense always does.”
Defensive end Michael Haynes can attest to that. Haynes also received a $5,000 fine in August after an exhibition game against San Francisco for taking three steps toward quarterback Ken Dorsey after he released the football. The league only permits two.
“The way the rules are now, every defensive player is going to get fined eventually,” Haynes said. “What if you’re at full speed or take short steps? It’s tough for a rookie to adjust to that going from college to pro.”
Haynes understood why Harris would complain, but not necessarily why he committed the penalty.
“He should have just grabbed [Griese] instead of pushing him,” Haynes said. “But it’s a split-second decision, and of course the quarterback is `Ahhhh,’ and falls a little bit.”
Griese fell so convincingly that if the NFL gave out an Oscar for Best Performance by a Quarterback, Harris knows whom he would nominate.
“He kept running [after the offside penalty] so they easily could have gotten a free play, then he did a little acting when I pushed him,” Harris said. “I heard some guy saying I was undisciplined for pushing down the quarterback. That’s just playing football.”
Given the brand of football Harris has played lately on a defense ranked 29th against the run, the Bears will tolerate the occasional outburst from him. He leads the team with 2 1/2 sacks and all defensive linemen with 30 tackles.
But Harris says no statistic shows how much he and his young defensive linemates have grown more than their 1-5 record might indicate.
“I just want people to remember these times right now because I believe we’re going to be one of the best defenses in the NFL as long as we stick together,” said Harris, who promised that he won’t change.
“If the fines keep coming, they keep coming, as long as we start winning,” he said.
