Harrison on T.O.: ‘He’s a clown’
Rodney Harrison announced his retirement this summer, ending the 15-year career of one of the hardest-hitting safeties of his era.
But just because he’s done playing doesn’t mean that the former Patriot can’t still deliver a blow.
During an interview with WEEI’s “The Dale and Holley Show” this afternoon, Harrison directed some pointed comments at Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens. During a conference call with Boston media yesterday, Owens made a few mild cracks about the Patriots, including one alluding to Spygate.
That was all Harrison needed to hear.
“I’m pumped about T.O. opening up his big mouth about the Patriots,” said Harrison, who has joined NBC Sports as a studio analyst on its “Football Night in America” program. “I can actually put a bounty on T.O. if I wanted and not get in any trouble.”
Harrison said that Owens is a “phenomenal” player, but his accomplishments are obscured by his off-the-field antics.
“He’s a clown,” Harrison said. “He’s all about the circus show and the cameras. But you better believe he’ll have Shawn Springs in his grill and Brandon Meriweather putting his helmet down his throat. So, I’m excited about seeing that on Monday.”
This isn’t the first time Harrison has expressed his annoyance at T.O. Before the Super Bowl XXXIX matchup between the Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles to cap the 2004 season, Owens and fellow Eagles receiver Freddie Mitchell talked considerable trash about Harrison and the Patriots’ defensive backs.
Harrison had the last laugh, snaring the victory-clinching interception, then mocking the Eagles with Owens’s trademark celebration in which he pretended to be an eagle flapping its wings.
“He’s so miserable . . . he seeks so much attention,” Harrison said today. “Something happened a long, long [time] ago, before we even knew T.O., that just made him like this.
“His clown-act antics and his tactics just take away . . . Year after year, the story we should be talking about is his playmaking ability, the big plays and his potential Hall of Fame career.”
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