James Harrison named defensive player of the year

[bagobonez]

This is complete BS. Both Demarcus Ware and Ed Reed deserved it over him. 3 players had more sacks than Harrison and all 3 played in inferior defenses.

[Azrael]

It doesn't just go by sacks. Harrison had 101 tackles, WAY more than Abraham or Porter and 17 more than Ware, 7 forced fumbles, more than any of them. Also a pick and a safety. None of the others had that. I'm sure the voters looked at other unquantifiable factors as well. Harrison was more consistent than Reed all year. Reed caught fire the last 6 weeks of the year. Up until that he had 27 tackles and 1 INT the first 10 games.

[logan]

alot can be said for both ware and reed's seasons but harrison deserved the honor for his body of work this year.he was better in every statistical category then porter,abraham and ware outside of sacks.it should have come down to ware or harrison and harrison's stats were better across the board.not by a lot but they were. also thrown in 4 passes defended to ware's 0.

[moochman]

A very good year for outstanding D play. I cannot fault the choice of Harrison. Anytime I watched the Stillers play he was crushing people consistantly.
In light of his recent surge, it is very hard not to think Reed should gotten Co-MVP award.
Ware suffers for the poor play of his D during too many games this season.

Kind of stunned that Lions LB Paris Lenon didn't get any votes. He single-handedly gave hope to all beer-league football players.

[stomperrob]

Kudos to another great Steeler for winning the award!!!

Harrison fifth Steelers player named defensive man of year
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

NFL scouts have a new model for outside linebackers to consider when they scrutinize prospects on the college level.

"Six-foot tall and 255 pounds," James Harrison proclaimed yesterday. "That is the new prototype outside linebacker."

Harrison's unique stature grew immeasurably yesterday when he won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in a vote conducted by The Associated Press. Four other Steelers have won it; three are in the Hall of Fame: Joe Greene (1972, 1974), Mel Blount (1975) and Jack Lambert (1976), and Rod Woodson (1993) should be elected on his first try Jan. 31.

Harrison finds himself in good company, although as a two-year starter at age 30, he says he does not belong with the rest.

"No, I do not because they did it for a long time at a high level," Harrison said. "I have done pretty well for the last two years. That doesn't compare to what they have done."

con't...

rest of article: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09006/939819-66.stm

[bigh0rt]

Not that Harrison didn't have a tremendous year and is deserving in his own right, but I can't imagine anyone other than Ed Reed laying claim to the award this year. Harrison was great, though, as well.

[mattb47]

Not that Harrison didn't have a tremendous year and is deserving in his own right, but I can't imagine anyone other than Ed Reed laying claim to the award this year. Harrison was great, though, as well.

Like others have said...you have to play well for more than the final 6 weeks of the season to win this award. Reed finished far stronger than anyone but it's defensive player of the YEAR, not defensive player of the second half of the season. Harrison was darn consistent week in and week out and put up the numbers he did in just 15 games as he sat out the last one.

[woodson_28]

Harrison isn't even the best player on his own team, let alone the DEF MVP. Take Harrison away and I don't see much of a drop. That DEF was great as a whole.

Ware should have had it all the way.

[mattb47]

Harrison isn't even the best player on his own team, let alone the DEF MVP. Take Harrison away and I don't see much of a drop. That DEF was great as a whole.

Ware should have had it all the way.

Wow....did you even watch Harrison play this year? They wouldn't have been anything NEAR the defense they were without him and he absolutely was the best defensive player on the Steelers this year. What did Ware do other than get a lot of sacks? Just look at their stats side by side and just see how much better across the board he was:

Ware: 84 tackles, 20 sacks, 6 FF, 2 PD
Harrison: 101 tackles, 16 sacks, 7 FF, 1 INT, 3 PD, 1 Safety

Now on top of that, you look at the fact that Harrison did this in 15 games where Ware had 16 and it's even more impressive. If you add in what his averages were to his final stats he would have had 107 tackles and 17 sacks which would give him just 3 sacks less but 23 more tackles. No one on the Steelers team even comes close to having the kind of impact Harrison had and no one in the NFL did either.

[steelerfan513]

Harrison is a fine choice, and I'm glad a Steeler got some recognition. But I think Troy Polamalu's return to dominance explains their defense's success more than Harrison's great season. I think he would've been the best choice for defensive POY, even over Ed Reed. Reed had two more interceptions, but not even considering he was invisible for the first half of the year, Polamalu had 32 more tackles than Reed, a pretty hefty difference.

I'm sure not many will agree with me, but that's the way I see it.