For years, the NFL has championed player safety initiatives, from stricter hit rules to modified concussion protocols. However, according to former Pittsburgh Steelers stars James Harrison and Joe Haden, the league’s official stance on health and wellness is less about athlete care and more about public relations and revenue expansion.
Speaking on their “Deebo and Joe” podcast, two-time Super Bowl champion James Harrison argued that the NFL weaponized engineered safety metrics to justify expanding the regular season schedule from 16 to 17 games while shielding itself from legal liabilities.
“So now, all right, you go and you have concussion data and you have all this stuff that shows the NFL is doing what they should do. So now they can put out
their information. The game is safer. We can add an extra game now,” Harrison explained.
“Because all the people see that it’s no concussions going on. It’s less. Nobody’s laid out on the field. And now they use the data that they collected to say, ‘Yes, let’s go and do it.’ Player safety, is being safe. We add 17 games. But what the public sees is the only thing they really care about.”
Harrison stressed that true player safety extends far beyond head trauma visible on TV broadcasts, pointing to soft-tissue injuries and organizational pressure to play through pain as persistent hazards.
“Player safety is just not about head trauma. Safety is about safety period,” Harrison said. “Because you don’t see a guy laying on the field, first thing they say when a dude is fighting through an injury and playing, oh my goodness, look at him gritted out and tough it out and he’s doing everything he can. That’s not safety.”
Ultimately, both Harrison and Haden argue that until structural changes occur, the league's narrative around safety will remain secondary to its financial goals.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: James Harrison torches NFL for using safety as PR shield for 17 games
