Growing up, when you got in trouble, it probably really frustrated your mother when your defense was, "yeah, but Rodney did it too!" But that's basically what St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher did this week. On Sunday, as Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was sliding at the end of a scramble, Rams' cornerback Lamarcus Joyner charged in and almost bent in half to hit Bridgewater, his shoulder drilling the quarterback's helmet. Bridgewater was knocked out by the hit, laying prone on the turf, his eyes closed. Joyner asserted after the game that it wasn't a dirty hit, in part because he'd never go after Bridgewater because they grew up near one another in Miami. Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer, as you'd expect, disagreed with Joyner, calling it a cheap shot and noting in his postgame news conference that St. Louis defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' groups "are all like that." Williams was the defensive coordinator in New Orleans during the bounty-gate scandal. Zimmer isn't the only one that feels that way. Former San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, now a commentator on NBC's Sunday Night Football, said he wasn't surprised to see a player coached by Fisher accused of a dirty hit. [ Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football: First place wins $100K in our $500K contest for Week 10 ] “ I wasn’t surprised because it happened to me in 2006. Bobby Wade came and chopped my knees and tore my knee up. I’m lying on the ground, and I look at Jeff Fisher and he’s smiling and laughing. So this is typical of Jeff Fisher type teams," Harrison said. Harrison, who has long asserted that Wade intentionally dove at his knees on the play, suffered an MCL sprain in that game, in Week 16, and was not able to play in the playoffs. Fisher did not take too kindly to Harrison's comments, and during his Monday press conference did that whole, "yeah but you did too!" thing. "I don’t want to say I took things personal, but it was kind of a personal attack on me. But, again, I think you have to consider the source. I saw it last night on the airplane. You’re talking about a guy that had a great career. I mean, the guy played a long time. He was hard to defend. He was a really active defensive player. “But, this is coming from a guy that had 18 unnecessary roughness penalties, seven personal fouls, four roughing the passer penalties, a total of 77 penalties in his career and was voted three times the dirtiest player in the National Football League and was suspended for a hit, a helmet-to-helmet hit on Jerry Rice in 2002. Okay? This is where these comments are coming from. “I’ll just say this: Since 2000, it’s been a privilege and honor for me to be on the competition committee. Our main focus, as you guys have followed this league for a long time know, our main focus is player safety. So, for Rodney to come out and say that I did something like that is absolutely absurd. So, that’s all I have to say on that.” Appearing on Boston radio station WEEI on Tuesday, Harrison was asked about Fisher's words and initally said he'd "love to really go in like I really want to do in my heart and soul" but his bosses at NBC had asked him not to respond. Harrison may not have spilled all the tea, but he backed up his claim that Fisher's teams play dirty. “But I will say this: if anybody knows about a dirty hit, it’s me. And that’s all it was. It was about addressing the issue. It was a dirty hit. That’s what I said. And I referenced to back what I experienced with his teams and what other players have told me coming from his team, and other people. People around the league know the truth, bottom line. I’m not going to get into any details because I’m just not going to go there. I was asked not to go there. But the bottom line is, if you’ve been in the league, you know the truth.” The Rams have been called for 77 penalties thus far this year; there are seven teams that have as many or more penalties to this point. St. Louis has been flagged four times for unnecessary roughness and once for unsportsmanlike conduct.
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