(Screenshot of James Harrison's Instagram post on March 18)
It's not a secret that James Harrison isn't a fan of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He's been one of his biggest critics since Goodell and the league started cracking down on him hard in 2010 for hits that were deemed too violent.
Yesterday when Goodell announced that the league will work with the networks to incorporate legalized sports gambling into the new mega TV agreement, Harrison found irony in the commissioner's statement.
Harrison posted Albert Breer's tweet of what Goodell said on Instagram yesterday and put five screenshots of headlines of when Harrison and more than 30 other current or former NFL players were fined by the league for participating in an arm-wrestling event in Las Vegas in April of 2017.
The more than 30 current and former NFL players reportedly participated in the Pro Football Arm Wrestling Championship, which took place on April 12, 2017, at Hakkasan, a nightclub inside the MGM Grand Casino.
At the time, league personnel were prohibited from making promotional appearances at casinos or other gambling-related establishments. The policy pertained to all NFL personnel.
Fast forward four years later, the league has a team in Las Vegas and the league plans to work with the networks to incorporate legalized sports gambling into the new TV deal, which is collectively worth about $110 billion over 11 years, nearly doubling the value of its previous contracts, according to Ken Belson and Kevin Draper of the New York Times.
The NFL just continues to grow and they're looking for more ways to make money through legalized sports gambling. Goodell's tune sure changed when it involved the league's profits, while just four years ago he was fining current and past players for just simply being at an arm-wrestling event inside a casino. Harrison was right to call Goodell out on his hypocrisy.