League is selling photo of James Harrison's illegal hit

[CloakNNNdagger]

Whenever I think the greedy sleeze of the NFL has reached an all-time low............

Posted by Mike Florio on October 19, 2010 11:12 PM ET

The folks at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh have uncovered an interesting angle regarding the hit that resulted in the imposition of a $75,000 fine against Steelers linebacker James Harrison.

The league currently is selling photos of the incident involving Harrison and Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, at anywhere from $15.95 to $249.95.

Sorry, but the NFL can't have it both ways. If the league wants to legislate dirty hits out of the game, the NFL should do nothing to profit from those dirty hits.

For now, the NFL is.

UPDATE: It appears that the spike in traffic from PFT Planet has crashed the servers of the NFL Photo Store.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR VERY OWN OFFICIAL NFL PHOTO OF THE BIG HIT

[hradhak]

Looks like they're just trying to make some more scratch. They get $75,000 from the player and several thousand more from the pics.

My thinking is that the NFL could care less about violent hits, but they don't want to get legislated to do anything by Congress, so they're being "pro-active"

[awtysst]

NFL talking out of both sides of their mouth.

1)Commish telling us these kinds of hits are unacceptable and expect fines/suspensions moving forward.

2) Come one come all and Buy your very own copy of the hit!

[Texan_Bill]

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by awtysst

NFL talking out of both sides of their mouth.

1)Commish telling us these kinds of hits are unacceptable and expect fines/suspensions moving forward.

2) Come one come all and Buy your very own copy of the hit!

Any time now, I expect the NFL to come out with a new official NFL SUSPENSION SERIES of collectible cards depicting Rothlisberger drunk with bikini clad nymphs in a hot tub, Cushing visiting a fertility clinic, and Brett Favre's weener. Just think how well they'll sell and how valuable they will become, especially if you are fortunate enough to have the one depicting Falcon's Quinn Ojinnaka throwing his wife down the stairs and spitting on her.

[Blake]

lol @ the NFL. They look so stupid here selling a photo of a hit that they just fined a player for being to vicious or illegal.

[gtexan02]

Originally Posted by hradhak

Looks like they're just trying to make some more scratch. They get $75,000 from the player and several thousand more from the pics.

My thinking is that the NFL could care less about violent hits, but they don't want to get legislated to do anything by Congress, so they're being "pro-active"

This is exactly it. Goodell had to defend himself in front of congress and make the claim that they didn't need a 3rd party breathing down their necks in terms of player safety. That they had it under control.

they don't care, they just want the government out of it.


PS: The photo is kind of gross if you know the outcome. Massoquoi looks like he's hurt pretty badly, and is just crumpling to the ground

[False Start]

[Texan_Bill]

Originally Posted by False Start

Enter Dexman's racial diatribe, in 5..... 4.......3........2........

[awtysst]

Originally Posted by Texan_Bill

Enter Dexman's racial diatribe, in 5..... 4.......3........2........

HA HA HA!

Rep to you sir!

[thunderkyss]

It's not exactly a picture of the hit.



But I agree, the point is still valid. It's just the way it's being reported, it makes it sound like a photo of the hit.

[JB]

It has already been removed from the site.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by JB

It has already been removed from the site.

You're right. Here's a copy of the photo that was on sale.



And here is a duplicate of the NFL STORE link showing that another revised photo and prices have been substituted (that is less graphic). This is now available. Same sleezy concept.

http://www.replayphotos.com/nflphoto...uoi_321155.cfm

[Double Barrel]

The NFL is pathetic sometimes. They sell their product with sexualized images but expect players to tow the PC line. They sell big hits in promotional advertisement (and in photos, too, I see), but then come down hard on players for making those hits.

Apparently, the only standard for the greedy is a double standard.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Just released..........pathetic. Blame someone else when the world calls you on it.

The NFL made a "mistake" having photos of Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison's hit on Cleveland Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi available for sale through its website and will take the photos down, spokesman Greg Aiello said Wednesday.

The NFL was selling this photo of James' Harrison's hit on Mohamed Massaquoi before removing it Wednesday. Harrison was fined $75,000 for the hit. Pittsburgh television station KDKA first reported that the photos were for sale.

"We regret the mistake," Aiello said. "The photos will be taken down and we will ensure that no photos of illegal plays will be available again. An outside vendor uses an automated process to post photos for sale to fans. We will fix the process immediately."

The NFL is cracking down on illegal hits to the head, vowing to suspend players for infractions starting with this weekend's games.

In the past, players were either fined or ejected for illegal hits. However, after the series of recent flagrant tackles, several of which resulted in concussions, the NFL ramped up the punishment.

Football operations chief Ray Anderson indicated the suspensions could start immediately -- that is, involving play from last weekend's games. However, Aiello said the league wanted to give teams fair warning and would send a memo Wednesday, outlining the changes.

The NFL, which also fined New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather and Atlanta Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson $50,000 each for hits on Sunday, noted Harrison is a repeat offender; he was fined $5,000 for unnecessary roughness in Pittsburgh's win over Tennessee on Sept. 19.

In letters to the three players, Anderson said: "Future offenses will result in an escalation of fines up to and including suspension."

Harrison's agent, Bill Parise, called the fine "staggering" and said it would be appealed. He emphasized that neither play drew a penalty.

"I've talked to James, and he's very upset," Parise said. "He's quite confused about how to play football."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

link

[Dread-Head]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

You're right. Here's a copy of the photo that was on sale.



And here is a duplicate of the NFL STORE link showing that another revised photo and prices have been substituted (that is less graphic). This is now available. Same sleezy concept.

http://www.replayphotos.com/nflphoto...uoi_321155.cfm

Okay, in all fairness...the Dunta photo where you could clearly see him making contact proves his hit was "clean". This pic looks "After the fact" and you can't really tell it it was an unjust hit or not.
I DO however want to get a copy of the six Lombardi trophies in a row and send them to EVERY Cowboy fan I know.

[infantrycak]

Before jumping on the NFL too hard understand that they had licensed the right to sell photos out to another company which selected the photos. Poor coordination maybe but we're talking a lot of moving parts here and they corrected the problem promptly.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Before jumping on the NFL too hard understand that they had licensed the right to sell photos out to another company which selected the photos. Poor coordination maybe but we're talking a lot of moving parts here and they corrected the problem promptly.

As has been explained to me, there is a a concept called NFL "intellectual property" which governs NFL Properties (NFL proprietary sales division). Any vendor is to obtain individual approval of any property they sell. They do not simply enjoy an implied carte blanche blanket of approval because they are named as an NFL-approved vendor. From the initiation of their acceptance as vendors, they are left with no delusions of autonomy. That's why I feel that this story of a "mistake" is more than a little suspect.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

As has been explained to me, there is a a concept called NFL "intellectual property" which governs NFL Properties (NFL proprietary sales division). Any vendor is to obtain individual approval of any property they sell. They do not simply enjoy an implied carte blanche blanket of approval because they are named as an NFL-approved vendor. From the initiation of their acceptance as vendors, they are left with no delusions of autonomy. That's why I feel that this story of a "mistake" is more than a little suspect.

I'm not saying it was a mistake other than information and policy changes not being fast enough. The vendor selects the photos it wants to sell. Assuming the review process you describe those are reviewed by some low level person in the NFL. It isn't surprising to me that within 24 hours of a flap arising at the commissioner's office level that either a new policy hadn't already been developed for vendor review or the low level person on their own didn't decide on a new policy. As soon as somebody higher up heard about it they shut it down in very short order.

[Stemp]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

Just released..........pathetic. Blame someone else when the world calls you on it.

link

Hey James, since your "confused about how to play football", he's a tip:
Don't use your helmet to hit another player on their helmet.