LaDainian Tomlinson probably wasn’t thinking of Chris Harris Jr. when he made a sweeping comment on the state of corners in the NFL during a roundtable discussion.
“Right now there are no shutdown corners at all, there are none.”
Former Seattle Seahawks fullback and fellow NFL analyst Michael Robinson seemed to agree.
“The rules don’t allow it really.”
The discussion, which was originally about Carolina Panthers corner Josh Norman and his exorbitant salary demands, turned to a blanket statement about the quality of cornerbacks in the NFL.
The comment sparked a sharp response from Chris Harris Jr. and other corners including Richard Sherman.
On Wednesday Chris Harris Jr. joined Dan Williams and Marcello Romano on Morning Mayhem to discuss Tomlinson’s comments.
“I definitely felt disrespected,” Harris Jr. said. “The way that the game is played today, we probably have the most difficult job as a corner, being in man, being on the island, with the penalties they call now.”
When the NFL decided to make passing penalties a special point of emphasis for the 2014 season, the league saw an increase of 18.9 percent in one season. In fact, according to NFLPenalties.com since 2009 defensive pass-related penalties have increased 35.75 percent.
“For me, maybe I need to change what the definition of a shutdown corner is, because you guys are faced with a different type of game and rule set than some of the guys that are all-time greats,” Romano said.
Former Denver Bronco Brian Dawkins said via NFL.com that one reason he retired was because players are in a gray area when it comes to contact. Instead of being able to react on instinct, players now have to stop and think about if they’re breaking the rules.
Harris agreed that the game has changed but that, despite the changes, elite corners still manage to play at a high level.
“I mean there are shutdown corners,” Harris Jr. said. “If they allow two touchdowns in three years, that’s pretty ‘shutdown’ to me.”
Between 2013 and 2015 Harris Jr. went 36 games without allowing a touchdown and his streak was only broken when Antonio Brown managed to beat him in December of last year.
Though his defensive streak ended, we all know how Super Bowl 50 ended, and Harris Jr. has moved on to other goals.
“There’s still one goal that I haven’t got in the league and that’s first team all-pro,” Harris Jr. said. “I’ve got second-team twice so that’s the number one goal for next year.”
Listen to the full discussion, and where Harris would rank the 2015 Broncos defense among the greatest of all time, in the podcast below…
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