(Part 3)
This is the final installment of a 3 part series based upon Steelers great James Harrison and his family.
Merriam Webster defines the noun gold digger as 1. “One who digs for gold. 2: a person who uses charm to extract money or gifts from others.”
As far as athletes and entertainers are concerned there are always individuals standing at the ready, waiting to steal homesteading rights in regards to usurping the gold and property of some naïve “blinded by the booty,” love-struck athlete or entertainer. Tiger Woods is a perfect example of meeting, falling in love with and eventually marrying a “Gold Digger.”
The cash cow then hooks up with a so-called “marriage partner” who after the relationship is discontinued ends up owning a significant percentage of the gold mine without ever lifting a finger or mining one nugget of gold. On one of the talk shows that I happened to run across during the highly publicized Tiger Woods divorce from his former wife Elin Nordegren, a caller who seemed to have had maybe one too many sips of the “vino” proclaimed in a loud and slurred voice that; “Elin Nordegren went from serving as a high class nanny to displaying and using; “the golden fanny.”
Although the potential for that same scenario occurring in the life of James Harrison is remote, according to his family, he can never be too careful. Harrison has two children, James Harrison III, born in 2007, and Henry, born in 2009, he is not formally married to their mother. Beth Tibbott. The Harrison family is adamant and is crystal clear in regards to anyone thinking that they will enter into the life of James Henry Harrison Jr. and pull the financial “wool” over his eyes, directly or indirectly without a fight. “We are always going to be on guard as far as gold diggers are concerned,” proclaims Mrs. Harrison.
The noun bounty hunter is defined by Merriam Webster as:
1. One who tracks down and captures outlaws for whom a reward is offered. 2: one who hunts predatory animals for the reward offered. That being said, there are all types of bounties and rewards, spoken and unspoken in the world of sports. However, there has been one particularly highly publicized “pay for play” bounty hunting scandal that was associated with the New Orleans Saints during the past decade that resulted in the suspension of their Head Coach Sean Payton. The following is a timeline and a partial list of the alleged offenses. “Jan. 15, 2010 – Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma reportedly offers $10,000 to any teammate that knocks Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner out of the game the next day. Jan. 16, 2010 – The Saints rout the Cardinals, 45-14, to advance to the NFC championship game. Defensive lineman Bobby McCray’s block on the 38-year old Warner during an interception sent him out of the game for several plays, although Warner returned in the second half. Jan. 24, 2010—Vilma reportedly offers another $10,000 to knock Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out of the NFC championship game the following day.” (www.nola.com)
2. However, sometimes bounties can be offered from a personal perspective and placed on specific plyers just because of a dislike for that individual. Take for example former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver and often times “mouth of the south,” Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson. When the Harrison family was asked if there was a memorial hit that James had applied to a particular player over the years, his sister Christal had this to say immediately. “Ocho Cinco. “ Sister Sylvia quickly chimed in saying; “that’s what she [Christal] wanted him to do.” Christal said: “that’s right, Ocho Cinco got on my nerves and I told James to hit him.” Now that is love. If you even indirectly offend one of siblings, in the world of James Harrison, there was a price to be paid. When it was suggested that there might have been an unspoken bounty out on James from the media and the NFL because of his “spirited and passionate” approach to the game, his mother Mildred had this to say.
“The coverage from [Roger] Goodell, (the commissioner of the NFL) is prejudiced based on jealousy. This is from a man that really knows nothing about football. I can’t understand why the owners don’t get rid of him. He’s the judge, jury, prosecutor and the hangman. Who gets to have all that power? He has never played an NFL game in his life but he has all of this power and makes all of this money. After while it’s going to be flag football. They have to get rid of him, if they don’t the game is going to be gone.”
The James Harrison story is about the journey and struggles of a man attempting to find his place in the world while aspiring to achieve and maintain greatness. However, there is always, something, someone, somewhere that fuels the engine of legends. Most, if not all of the time, that fuel is family. When James Henry Harrison Jr. is inducted into the NFL Hall-of-Fame in Canton, Ohio. It will truly have been a “family affair.”
(The sources for this article were; nola.com and espn.com)
(Aubrey Bruce is the Senior Sports Columnist for the New Pittsburgh Courier. He can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741. Follow him on Twitter@ultrascribe.)
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