Contrite Harris vows to atone for ejection
BEARS | Returning to Pro Bowl form would be good start
Tommie Harris nearly got it right with a perfunctory apology Monday, the day after he was kicked out of a game for punching Cardinals lineman Deuce Lutui four plays into a blowout loss.
Harris said he called Lutui Sunday night and apologized. He said he already apologized to Bears coach Lovie Smith and his teammates. He offered his regrets to fans, the league, the franchise and, of course, ''the little kids out there that saw that action.'' Let's not forget the children. Then he casually offered a promise of sorts, saying ''I'll make up for it.''
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
What's that?
''I feel like I hurt my team. I was very embarrassed, and hopefully I'll make up for it the next time I get out there,'' Harris said.
Here's where the disconnect comes it: Exactly how is Harris going to make up for his actions? Is he going to try real hard now? Is he going to play to the best of his ability? Is he going to recapture the form and passion that once made him a Pro Bowl player?
Isn't he already supposed to be doing all those things anyway?
''Yes, you're expected to play at a certain level always, every time you go on the football field,'' Bears coach Lovie Smith said. ''You're expected to play every time you go out. When you make a mistake, what else do you do, except for that? So it's always good.
''I knew right away Tommie was sorry for his action, but still, the action stood. He didn't play a football game. He didn't help the Chicago Bears play yesterday, and we just have to get past that. For the rest of our team to see how much it hurts when you lose a player like that, hopefully it will help us in the future too.''
Football is all about life lessons. Every game is a chance to learn. Harris, however, doesn't seem to understand the message. A cursory apology hardly changes the fact that he has missed two games now, or exactly one quarter of the 2009 season. He was given one game off for not practicing, and he played four plays in the second.
Remember, all of that comes a year after the Bears suspended him for a game in 2008 for conduct detrimental to the team. He missed and skipped treatment sessions with the medical staff.
Forget about his bum knee and various physical ailments. The simple fact is that Harris already picked up a $6.67 million bonus for this season and has another $2.5 million coming next year, leaving the obvious question whether he wants to earn his money. Harris became downright indignant when asked if he threw a punch knowing he'd be kicked out of the game. Did he really want to play in that game?
''I really don't have to respond to that,'' Harris said. ''I hit the quarterback on the second play of the game. Why wouldn't I want to play?
''I've seen a lot of guys get punched, a lot of guys get kicked. I've seen Adewale get jumped by a team of Buccaneers and ... nobody got kicked out of the game. I didn't know I was gonna get kicked out. I was talking to my teammates after the play. If you notice, I still didn't recognize I was kicked out, ejected from the game. I stayed on the sideline, and then Lovie told me I had to leave. I didn't know I was ejected. I didn't hear anything Ed [Hochuli] said out there.''
Is Tommie listening? Can he hear the communications the franchise has been sending him? Did he see what happened to guys like Tank Johnson and Cedric Benson? It's typical of the Bears to send a message, to run off problem players only to see the meaning of such action lost on the guys they're trying to reach. Harris more and more looks set to become the next ex-Bear making a Pro Bowl for another team. He'll be a cautionary tale for the next group of players who miss the signal.
Maybe it's not a coincidence that the Bears' two most-lopsided losses of the year came without Harris on the field. But as Hunter Hillenmeyer said Monday, ''He certainly would have made a difference, but he wouldn't have made a 45- or 41-point difference.''
Smith said the Bears would let the league make the call on discipline for Harris, and the team hopes any suspension won't come before the game Thursday at San Francisco. It's all hands on deck for that one, and Harris has vowed a make-up date -- for whatever that's worth.
Mike Mulligan and Sun-Times colleague Brian Hanley host ''The Mully and Hanley Show'' from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays on WSCR-AM (670).