FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – Rodney Harrison confronts the perception that he’s a “headhunter” the same way he takes on wide receivers: he doesn’t back off.
“I like it, personally, because this is a fierce game,” New England’s new safety said at the team’s offseason training program. “I want to make sure people know that I’m back there.”
The NFL certainly does.
He figures he’s been fined “over a couple of hundred thousand dollars” for some of his hits but doesn’t mind because “we make an absurd amount of money anyway.”
Harrison’s reputation attracts officials’ vigilance, he said, but he doesn’t try to hurt an opponent. He’s just doing his job – trying to separate a receiver from the ball – so his team doesn’t miss crucial chances to win games.
“That might be the difference between you making the playoffs and not making the playoffs,” he said.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick likes that style, so he added Harrison as a free agent even though he already had two accomplished, hard-hitting safeties, Lawyer Milloy and Tebucky Jones.
Trade talks with New Orleans concerning Jones hit a snag, but Harrison said he expects to see plenty of action.
“I guess there’s a bit of uncertainty” on how the three players will be used, he said. “I just wanted to come to a situation where I can play and I can start full-time.”
“Coach Belichick assured me that he really wanted me here with my leadership. He liked my intensity and my preparation.”
Harrison signed March 11 after nine seasons with San Diego. He made the Pro Bowl in 1998 and 2001, but was hampered all last season by a groin injury.
He thinks Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is “a great passer,” much better than one of the San Diego quarterbacks he played with.
“I knew that (the Patriots) can put up points and that excites me that you don’t have to go out on the field like in the Ryan Leaf days, and there’s three plays of offense and you’re down 14-0. I’m glad that’s off my back,” he said.
He’s just as opinionated about the Chargers’ effort to trade 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau before having to pay him a $2.7 million bonus April 15, although they may release him.
“I just thought that that guy would be a San Diego Charger for life,” Harrison said. “He laid his heart out on the line and I really feel bad for him. I don’t think it should have ended up like that.
“The impact that he had on my career was tremendous.”
Like Harrison, Seau is a powerful hitter who played last season despite being hurt.
Harrison had two interceptions, two sacks and 88 tackles last year, starting 13 games despite suffering a groin injury in the first game of the season. His 12 tackles in the last game against Seattle tied his season high.
Statistically, his best season was 2000, when he had six interceptions, six sacks and 122 tackles. He probably won’t match that with a Patriots team that is deep in the secondary and added free agent linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, a superb pass rusher from Chicago.
But that shouldn’t change Harrison’s aggressive style.
“Part of the game is the intimidation factor. The same guys that are in the Hall of Fame, they used to play the same way I play. The Ronnie Lotts and the guys like that,” he said. “Now they’re trying to cut back on it and you’re trying to play within the rules, but I’m not going to let it stop me.
“Before the whistle blows, you have to go out there and you have to lay it on somebody.”
AP-ES-03-28-03 1657EST
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