Well, in case you're wondering how Animal House in any way relates to the Steelers and the title of this post (besides being adapted from a line in the above clip), allow me to let highlight the fact that for the third time in five weeks, the NFL has fined James Harrison for an "illegal" hit.

This time, $20,000 for this little number, which WAS at least penalized during the game this time...


You may have noticed that this season, I've basically limited most of my blog posts to previews, recaps and random other crap. I've found that at this point in interwebz history, not everything warrants an entire blog post, assuming you're using the tools available to you effectively (become a fan of OFTOT on Facebook and follow me on Twitter, **cough cough**). Besides, OFTOT has never been about hard news so much as it has been about photojobs and contributing more unnecessary cynicism to the internet. But I figured I'd throw something up about this because it's kind of getting ridiculous.

The question I have is - What's the end game here?

And by that I mean - Ok, so James Harrison is a physical player; we get it. But, is the league trying to use him as an example? Do they think he's been getting away with so-called "dangerous" hits for way too long? I'm not sure.

And how many other guys are getting fined?

Surely in the 13 games on Sunday/Monday, there had to have been more than one "illegal" hit. So, where are those fines? Maybe the league has levied them and I just haven't seen them. But are they going through the tapes from all games and looking at every hit? Or are they singling out James Harrison and looking more or less exclusively at him?

I ask because I legitimately don't know.

I don't like to make someone seem like the victim of some psuedo-conspiracy, but the fact is, it's getting excessive.

He didn't drive Brees to the turf. He didn't hit him helmet-to-helmet, although it appears he led with his head. I mean, that looks like a pretty standard football situation to me. So, what, Silverback is just supposed to put the e-brake on when he's barreling down on Drew Brees at full speed, not knowing whether he actually got rid of the ball or not? He's just finishing his play - including both the tackle and the associated motion to try and strip the ball.

Anyway, the point (I guess) is, this seems like arbitrary punishment, which is of course nothing new to the Roger God-dell administration. If they're trying to send a message to James Harrison, I think it's already been received. But if they're trying to send a message to the rest of the league, maybe they should try delivering it to those other individuals personally, rather than picking on one guy.

Just one man's thoughts.

What do you all think? Have we crossed the line yet? Do you think this particular fine was legit? And why, if he was going to be fined, was Silverback not told that on Tuesday when he met with Heir God-dell?

Oh, and when do you think Silverback's retirement press conference will be?

Give us all your thoughts in the comments!

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