It's been 10 years since James Harrison's infamous head-to-head hit on Mohamed Massaquoi, which resulted in a concussion for the former Cleveland Browns wide receiver.
Now the former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker is shedding new light on one of his most brutal tackles, including new accusations against his former head coach.
"The G-est thing Mike Tomlin ever did, he handed me an envelope after that," Harrison said on Barstool Sports' Going Deep podcast. "I'm not going to say what, but he handed me an envelope after that."
Harrison's comment seems to imply he received payment from Tomlin, either as a reward for the hit -- which wasn't flagged -- or to cover the $75,000 fine the linebacker later he received as the result of it. In a statement, Steelers owner Art Rooney II denied any such transaction took place.
"I am very certain nothing like this ever happened," Rooney said in a statement provided to multiple outlets. "I have no idea why James would make a comment like this but there is simply no basis for believing anything like this."
Despite the Steelers' denial, Harrison's comments could cause problems in Pittsburgh or at the very least trigger an investigation from the NFL. In 2012, the league suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton for a season and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely after it was found the team ran a bounty program that illegally rewarded players for big hits to opponents.
During a radio interview on Baltimore's 105.7 The Fan on Thursday, Payton expressed doubt that anything would come from Harrison's allegations.
"That'll be something that's tucked away or under the rug at Park Avenue," Payton said in reiterating his long-standing complaints about the way the NFL handled the Saints' bounty scandal. "Listen, don't get me started on that. I lost $6 million in salary. And honestly, it was something that I'll never truly get over because I know how it was handled and how it was run and the reasons behind it. And that's just the truth."