Was the James Harrison Suspension Fair?

So the Pittsburgh Steelers' James Harrison was issued a 1-game suspension for his hit on Colt McCoy. So, was it a fair penalty?

I'm struggling with this one. Starting with Harrison, yes, the hit was vicious and could have caused some major injuries, but I'm just not convinced that Harrison should be blamed on this one. Here's a video I found (NFL.com doesn't like you to embed their video). Watch the play and then hear me out on this.



Just to set the record straight, the NFL has it right on their helmet-to-helmet rule. You should not be able to use your helmet as a weapon on a defenseless player.  The NFL actually defines what a "defenseless" player is.  It's too lengthy to go over here, but in short, it's a player with his mind focused elsewhere (A QB in the pocket, a WR cutting across the middle focused on the ball, a kick returner trying to field a fair catch, etc.).  An example of a player not being classified as "defenseless" is a running back with the ball tucked away.  Helmet-to-helmet contact is actually allowed in this instance (it happens several times on a goal-line stand).

So, with all that said, was Colt McCoy a "defenseless" player?  The answer is, yes and no.  At the point he released the ball, he was defenseless.  The problem is that McCoy up until about a half a second before he threw actually had the ball tucked and he was in essence a running back.  He made the decision to pull up and throw it at the last second (you can even hear the announcer say that he threw it at the "last second").  This was a stupid move by McCoy, especially with Harrison bearing down on him.  He paid for it with a head-snapping hit.  If anyone is to blame for this, it is McCoy.  If you're going to tuck the ball and run, you better be prepared to be treated like a running back in a "non-defenseless" position.  You rarely see this bad of a hit on running backs because their eyes are usually on the defenders and not a receiver and they can adjust/brace for the impact. 

 

Even if Harrison wouldn't have led with his head, he still was going to hit McCoy HARD.  There just wasn't any time to pull up.  He probably would have driven him into the ground and the result would have been the same, mostly because of his history of bad hits against QBs (which I will not defend here).

But there's nothing we can do about it now.  The NFL is offense-centered.  QBs, WRs, and RBs are the money makers.  Players are bigger and stronger and the game has become more dangerous to play.  The rules are there for a reason and all the intentions are good.  I just think that this was a case of one player making a foolish decision and another player getting penalized for it.  I know I'm pretty much alone in this, but it's what I honestly feel.