There are divorces, messy divorces and then there is what took place this week between the Steelers and James Harrison.
The only saving grace is that there were no children involved.
As we heard from several of his teammates this week, Harrison basically orchestrated his release by the Steelers. The only question still remaining: What took so long?
Readers of this site know that Harrison wasn't happy. And, apparently, he wasn't afraid to let his teammates know he was unhappy with his situation going all the way back to Latrobe.
According to a source, Harrison refused to practice as early as training camp when the Steelers were dealing with some injuries at the linebacker position. At the time, Mike Tomlin said Harrison wasn't practicing because the team had a plan for him. Harrison said he was just doing what he was told.
But Harrison was seeing the writing on the wall, even then. The Steelers inserted rookie T.J. Watt as their starter at outside linebacker, and the kid was making plays. People were raving about him, including the coaching staff.
Then, linebackers coach Joey Porter told me the Steelers planned to, "go with the young guys and use Harrison if needed." He would be a relief pitcher. And relief pitchers don't get into the game if the starter is being effective.
That wasn't what Harrison wanted to hear.
Harrison apparently asked to be traded following the team's first game of the season, when he played just four snaps despite Bud Dupree missing the game with a shoulder injury while Anthony Chickillo and Watt started and played most of the snaps.
Tomlin told him to be patient, but Harrison wasn't active for the Week 2 win against Minnesota, then played just three snaps in a loss at Chicago.
He continued to ask Tomlin for his release but was told there was a plan for him. But after he played a season-high 15 snaps in a win at Kansas City, the playing time dried up. And Harrison began to be less and less involved not only in the game plan, but also with his teammates.
In fact, while everyone was making a big deal about Martavis Bryant missing practices with illnesses three times, Harrison was doing the exact same thing, most recently skipping the Friday practice the day before he was released.
To make matters worse, he slept through a linebackers meeting on at least one occasion once the team stopped playing him. He made himself unavailable to teammates. The player the Steelers hoped would help mentor Dupree and Watt was showing them all the wrong ways to go about his business.
Then, he began skipping out early on home games if he wasn't active, leaving before the games were completed. Hey, it worked for LeGarrette Blount.
Still, the Steelers held onto him because of what he had meant to the team in the past.
At midseason, Porter said he kept trying to keep Harrison calm throughout the process, telling the 39-year-old, "Nobody plays linebacker here at 39. When we hit 30 we’re always looking to do something different. So the simple fact that they still have you here, that just shows you how much loyalty they have to you and they still think that you can still play. As long as you know that, you can’t be mad at the situation."
But mad he was. And he wasn't afraid to show it.
Thing is, Harrison was who he was. He was always the same guy. In his first training camp with the Steelers, it was obvious he had talent. But he was released because he refused to listen to the coaches. It took Porter, then a player, and Jason Gildon talking to him and convincing him that the coaches were yelling at him because they cared, not because they didn't like him, to get him to realize what was going on.
His former teammates did a good job of covering up for Harrison. But he also covered up for it himself with his trademark surly attitude. Harrison had never made himself particularly approachable. He would only speak to reporters on Fridays. And on many Fridays, especially once he was no longer playing, he wasn't in the locker room. That's why I approached him when I did before the game against Baltimore. It was the first time he was in the locker room on a Friday in a while.
Were there mistakes made on both sides of this? Sure.
The Steelers could have been more up front with Harrison when they re-signed him in the offseason. They could have told him he was nothing more than insurance if Watt showed he wasn't ready to play -- much the same way he had been with Jarvis Jones.
And Harrison could have been more mature about the situation. He chose to act as he did. He chose to orchestrate his own release. Then, he chose to join the Patriots.
His former teammates said all the right things about Harrison after their win Monday at Houston. They were willing to keep up the charade because of what Harrison had meant to the Steelers over the years.
But once he made the decision to sign with the Patriots and then rub their noses in it by posting photos posing with Tom Brady, all bets were off. Not only had he orchestrated his release, he did so to sign with the one team that few people in Pittsburgh could forgive. His teammates couldn't look the other way on that one.
It's made for a messy, and very public, divorce.
MORE STEELERS
• Can Harrison be an impact player for the Patriots? Perhaps. But I had one player tell me that he didn't believe Harrison fit into New England's pass-rushing plan because of how he rushes the quarterback. According to this player, the Patriots like to have one edge rusher go outside and the other inside on every play to fill up both lanes. Harrison's trademark move is getting to the outside edge and using his leverage to get past the left tackle. He also can bull-rush with the best of them. But you don't often see him make a move to the inside. "This smells a little bit like desperation for the Patriots," the player told me. -- Lolley
• Another player told me he doesn't think Harrison knowing the Steelers' playbook and/or offensive or defensive hand signals will be a problem because a potential rematch with New England wouldn't happen for another month. A month is an eternity in the NFL and the coaching staff will have plenty of time to make adjustments. -- Lolley
• How this whole thing played out now makes a lot of sense out of something I was told very early in training camp this year when a Steelers official was asked about Harrison, who had not practiced at all during the offseason program. "You see all of the videos he posts of him lifting and pushing around all kind of weights. What you don't see is him running." As it turns out, the Steelers didn't think Harrison could run enough any more to play in the NFL at a consistent level. Could he still rush the passer at times? Perhaps. But we only saw it this season at Kansas City, against Eric Fisher, a player he has owned in his career. In his last outing against Baltimore Dec. 10, he played 11 ineffective snaps. -- Lolley
• The Steelers' game against Cleveland Sunday was very nearly flexed to a 4:30 p.m. start by the league because the NFL wanted Pittsburgh and New England both playing at the same time for the top seed in the AFC would bring good ratings. Both teams were saved from the later start by the fact so many other teams remained alive for Wild Card spots. -- Lolley
• One of the main questions about what happened with Harrison is how Tomlin could allow it to happen when he suspended Bryant earlier in the season for conduct detrimental to the team regarding social media posts he made about JuJu Smith-Schuster. Tomlin suspended Bryant for one game for those actions. Harrison was inactive four consecutive games from Nov. 12 through Dec. 4 and six games total this season. He also did not play in three others despite dressing. The only reason we knew Bryant was being disciplined was because Tomlin had to announce it after the situation with Smith-Schuster. Tomlin prefers to keep his disciplining of players behind closed doors via fines, etc. -- Lolley
The full edition of Friday Insider will be back next week.