James Harrison, who was arrested in 2008 on domestic assault charges, has re-signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the National Football League team announced on Tuesday.
Harrison rejoins the club he spent 10 of his 11 NFL seasons with, winning two Super Bowls.
The signing also comes less than a month after linebacker Harrison announced his retirement after being released by the Cincinnati Bengals in March. He played last season for the Bengals.
The move to sign Harrison is a controversial one, as it comes amid a furor over the way the league and several teams handled a series of off-field incidents, including the Ray Rice domestic abuse case. Harrison was charged with assault and criminal mischief following a fight with his girlfriend in March 2008.
Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges and ordered Harrison to undergo anger management and psychological counseling.
The Steelers said they are not worried about bringing in a player with a checkered past.
“I have discussed directly that climate change [in the league] with James,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “Knowing James, he’s grown a lot, and I don’t anticipate that being an issue at all.”
Tomlin also posted a photo of himself with Harrison on Twitter with the caption: “Deebo is back. There goes the neighborhood.”
In 2011, Harrison did an interview with a US men’s magazine in which he called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a “crook and a puppet.”
Harrison also made negative comments about his quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and several other NFL players.
Steelers president Art Rooney’s son, Dan, is in charge of the league’s internal probe of the Ray Rice domestic abuse case.
The league has been heavily criticized since the Rice incident surfaced.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
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