Steelers fans initially reacted to the news that James Harrison was cut with outrage, but days after signing with the New England Patriots, Harrison is now facing a major backlash from Steelers fans and players. Maurkice Pouncey ripped Harrison Wednesday, and argued that Harrison “erased his own legacy” in Pittsburgh.
Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree was also unhappy that Harrison has been portrayed as a victim following his release, and vented on Twitter.
Dupree told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Harrison simply didn’t want to be a Steeler anymore, and behaved in a way that “wasn’t Steeler-like” in order to get himself cut.
Via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
“At the end of the day, he just did a lot of stuff that really wasn’t Steeler-like. It’s no one’s fault on our team, why he got cut. He cut his self. He came in, he didn’t want to do anything that made us better.
…. It feels like he went to the Patriots just to spit in Coach Tomlin and Mr. Rooney’s face. That’s all it was to us.”
Dupree also said that Harrison refused to mentor young Steelers players like T.J. Watt, even though the Steelers brought him back to do exactly that.
“When someone really doesn’t want to share wisdom with you or share knowledge with you because they feel like you’re gonna take their shine or take their limelight, that’s how we feel. We tried to hold back as much as we could because we didn’t wanna jeopardize making him look bad.”
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