James Harrison Wonders Why Richard Seymour Wasn’t Suspended

Richard Seymour’s open-handed facial of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will go down in Raiders lore as another reason to either love or hate the Silver and Black.

On Monday the NFL made it clear that Seymour’s transgression would cost him, although the $25,000 fine that the NFL slapped the Raiders’ best defensive tackle with may have been money well spent in the eyes of the fans.

Consider the apparent trash talk coming from Roethlisberger’s mouth after the Steelers QB connected with Emmanuel Sanders for a 22-yard touchdown that put Pittsburgh up 21-3 in the second quarter of Sunday’s game.

Was that not taunting? Therefore a flag should have been thrown.

Really, any NFL player with an ounce of pride would have done the same thing.

In a very chippy contest, Seymour—who was ejected from the game—had this to say about the altercation. “It was a lot of ongoing [stuff], and you’re out there to protect yourself. It’s still no excuse. I’m not sure what happened on the play. I just turned around, and he ran up on me quick, it was a natural reaction,” he told the Contra Costa Times.

When questioned about the fight in the post-game news conference, Roethlisberger laughingly told reporters this: “It is what it is. ... I wasn’t expecting that from him.” And what did Ben say that sparked the incident? “Ah, just, ‘let’s get ready for the extra point.’”

“I hadn’t seen a quarterback get punched—since I’ve been in the league—like that. ... It was unfortunate,” said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. “I got big time respect for Richard Seymour the football player. That guy’s got an 11-year resume that’s pretty impressive and that guy’s a professional. It got away from us all today.”

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