The day after tomorrow, sarcastic reference to the cushion can be used to soften the blows he will oppose to the players, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker named the league to talk about wanting to protect players "show."
Harrison said before practice Wednesday to Sunday before the Super Bowl that the owners of the unit for a 18-game regular season and the possibility of a lockout to try the NFL is more interested in maximizing revenue for health players.

“It’s not about player safety,” Harrison said. “It’s about them making money.”
Among the key issues in the NFL and the European Union is expected to discuss during the few weeks to push the league to extend the regular season 16 games in 1918, a rookie wage scale, benefits for retired players and the owners and the more players to donate one billion U.S. dollars gross income is in front.
"I do not think that's a good thing if you're so concerned about player safety," said Harrison, the 18-game season, calling it "crazy."

"You do not lock your players and portable health insurance from people who have wives and children in this way," he added. "For us, a lockout and health insurance is gone."
The NFL declined to comment on Harrison.
Steelers, Dan Rooney, owner recently went against the idea of extending the season, something Harrison believes it will hurt the cause of the owners.
"He is the most important person," said Harrison. "He is the most respected voice, I think. He came out and said what was, what it is. So much for the money. It is not about us, it comes to player safety. They're doing all this great stuff. It shows something to give people watching. "
Harrison was fined $ 100,000 by the NFL for illegal hits this season, albeit briefly and even threatened to quit because he said it was very difficult to adapt to the new form of rules apply.
"It 's been a hot-headed decision," he said. "You can sit back and see what it was. And when I sat in the back, there are some things that can not be controlled, everything happens for a reason. Looking good, I know, most were not justified. It feels as if anyone needed a poster of their rule, and the boy seemed to be the biggest name there at that time. So, they chose me, I think. "
The league and union players face a deadline in early March to try to negotiate a new labor agreement.
"There is no doubt in my mind," said Harrison, whose Steelers play the Green Bay Packers NFL Sunday for the championship. "I think we're going to crash."
And Harrison insisted will not only affect the players and teams.
"I think if we are locked out, they will lose many fans," he said. "To be honest, not going to kill us. They kill people who depend on year after year out, seasonal revenues of bars and restaurants,mom-and-pop shops ."
On the day of the media Tuesday at Cowboys Stadium, Harrison said he feels as if the league was "looking for a poster boy" when he started to hit.
In deadpan delivery, Harrison said: "I do not want to hurt anyone I do not want to step on someone's foot, or damage to its tip does not want that dirt or any part of this rubber sector flies in his eyes, and make the injured eye ...
"I want to address the soft ground and if all you can, set the pad down, if I'm going to deal with them, so as not to hit the ground too hard, Mr. Goodell."
Asked Wednesday whether he is concerned about the dangers of concussions violent hits on the field, he was rebellious, as expected.
"My playing style is how you go play the game," he said. "This is no more dangerous for me than for someone else. It is part of the risks you take. There are risks in everything you do. You just have to try to minimize risk and if something happens it happens. Everything happens for a reason. Like everything else that you can not control in the hands of God. ... When I was knee high to a grasshopper, it's how you play the game. "
Someone asked if the League could groped to remove violent blows Harrison became famous.
"If you want to get completely out of the game, putting flags on us," he said. "We'll pull tabs and flags each other and we'll see how the game is so popular and how many people come to see."
Speaking of looking, Harrison is not worried about the fact that officers are following his every move and hard hit.
"If I worried about the officiating staff, I will not be able to concentrate on what I do," he said. "I just play the game, and if they make calls that are questionable, it is just something you have to live with. "
AP Sports Writers Jim Litke and Howard Fendrich contributed to this report.

Well, if things remain as they currently are, betting on the NFL Rookie of the Year is going to be pretty easy at your favorite sportsbooks – just put your money down on the Cowboys’ Dez Bryant and get set to collect the cash. This of course, is because Bryant is the part of a pretty lonely group – he’s the only member of the Class of 2010’s first rounders who has signed and in training camp.

The Cowboys came to terms with their first-round wide receiver out of Oklahoma Sate (which is amazing considering Bryant is good friends with San Francisco 49ers wideout Michael Crabtree, who held out until Halloween last season).

Bryant has been anything but a wallflower since arriving at camp.

Early reports are that he was “electrifying” with a number of “one-handed catches” during the weekend workouts…and oh yeah, there was that whole “Screw you, I’m not carrying anyone’s pads” rookie hazing incident with fellow wideout Roy Williams.

Don’t fret if your favorite team as yet to wrestle their first-rounder into a contract as a good percentage will sign before the regular season kicks off. But missing even a portion of camp makes things more difficult.

The fact Dez Bryant will have a full camp under his belt should bode well for the upcoming season, as he will be ahead of the curve compared to his counterparts.

Bettors have picked up on this and are getting some action down on him to be the “NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year” at online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.COM.

They currently have Bryant listed as the odds-on favorite at +200. Said Sportsbetting.com sportsbook manager Brian Taylor, “Bryant had some heat on him before camp started, but with him being the first guy to put the pads on and then have all the media attention on him the last few days due to that rookie hazing incident, we have seen a bit of a spike in wagering volume on him.”

 - Another top contender for the award will have his work cut out for him in St. Louis. The Rams selected Heisman trophy-winning QB Sam Bradford first-overall and it sounds like they’re getting close to a deal, one that would be, according to ESPN,  the richest contract in NFL history.

The question obviously is, does he have a shot at winning the offensive rookie award? He’s playing for the Rams after all.

Bradford’s NFL odds are currently listed at +500 to take this year’s honor.

All NFL training camps will be in full swing soon, some before others, and the stragglers should start to roll in, albeit late.

Dez Bryant has a leg up on them; will it make the difference for bettors backing him?

Keep an eye on the camps.

Check out all the NFL odds

It took all of 10 minutes for the first two maximum wager bets to come in at online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com after they posted up the prop “Which NFL running back will lead the league in rushing this year”.

And who was it that attracted the money right off the top? Not surprisingly it was the Tennessee Titans’ Chris Johnson.

Said sportsbook manager Brian Taylor, “we put up a bunch of betting options for the upcoming season focused on specific positions such as QB and running back and the “most yards” ones have been very popular. Bettors are tipping Johnson for another big season, with Adrian Peterson as the second most popular choice so far.”

The Titans’ Johnson was the king of the NFL’s rushing hill last season, becoming only the sixth player in NFL history to crack the 2,000 yard mark in NFL history (he ran for 2,006).

After that performance, a raise was in order. Johnson has only been around two years and was still earning rookie wages, but he’ll be making a tidy sum more this season.

Will the boost in salary lead to a repeat of Johnson’s 2009 performance?

The last repeat rushing champ was LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 and 2007.

Suffice to say, it’s tough to lead the league in back-to-back years. Bring over-worked is one of the issues and Johnson was certainly used a lot last season, rushing the ball 358 times with 14 TDs; he also had 50 receptions for 503 yards.

Online sportsbooks have him listed at +250 to capture the rushing crown again this season.

In the last 10 years, the defending rushing champ hasn’t fared well the following season.

Not counting Tomlinson, Ricky Williams, Jamal Lewis, Shaun Alexander and Adrian Peterson are the last four backs to capture the NFL’s rushing title.

After rushing for a league-high 1,853 yards in 2002 for the Miami Dolphins, Ricky Williams still had a good season in 2003 but didn’t come close to matching his stats from the year before, with only 1,372 yards rushing.

Like Chris Johnson in 2009, Jamal Lewis also cracked the 2,000 yard mark in 2003 as a member of the Baltimore Ravens and followed that up rushing for 1,000 yards less (1,066) in 2004 in only 12 regular season games.

Strap on the helmets boys, the NFL offseason has come to an end and pigskins are about to fly again.

Training camp draws near for a number of teams, including the defending champion New Orleans Saints, who begin prepping for the regular season on July 29 in Metarie, Louisiana.

It’s been a good offseason for many of the returning Saints, especially quarterback Drew Brees.

Brees has done the talk show circuit after leading his team to the Super Bowl back in February and more recently, he took home a number of ESPY awards.

On top of that, he was selected to be on the cover of the Madden 2011…queue the scary music…as we all know this honor can be more of a curse than anything else.

Will the “Madden Curse” strike Brees?
Online sportsbooks are weighing in on that exact question. SPORTSBETTING.com posted up a “Madden Curse” prop. Bettors can wager on whether Brees will start all 16 games this season. Currently they have Brees listed at -150 not to be the Saints’ starting QB in all 16 regular season games and on the other side, he is +120 to start each one.

Last season the New Orleans Saints’ pivot completed 70.6 percent of his passes (NFL record) for 4,388 yards with 34 TDs and a league-high 109.6 QB rating.

Brees is also a popular choice in a couple of other NFL Future betting related categories. The sports betting public have been betting that he will lead the league in passing yards this season. Last year he ranked sixth overall amongst all quarterbacks. He is listed at +400 to toss for the most yards in 2010-2011.

He is also getting action in the MVP category. Brees has odds of +1400 to be the MVP of the league. So far, he is right in the mix with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in terms of wagering volume. Manning has the most action, but Brees is second with 15% of all MVP betting on him.

As for the actual team, the Saints went 13-3 during the last regular season, jumping out to a 13-0 record before losing their final three games and would regain that winning form in the playoffs en route to a Lombardi Trophy.

What about this season?

The Saints are listed at +450 and +900 to repeat as NFC and Super Bowl champions respectively.

Saints Season Win Totals:
As for the regular season, the Over/Under on New Orleans’ regular season wins is set at 10.5.

Are the defending champs headed for another 13-win regular season?

The Saints haven’t done well against teams from within their own division, going 5-6 straight up and 3-8 against the spread in their last 11 overall vs. NFC Southerners.

The AFC division that New Orleans will be playing this season is the North and the Saints are once again on the losing end of things as they are 3-5 SU and 2-5-1 ATS in eight games against the likes of the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens  dating back to 2002.

Regardless, as you’d expect, the Saints are still the odds-on favorites to take the NFC South division, currently listed at -175.

It was a magical season for New Orleans last year, but the party is over as they start the defense of their championship.

You can check online sportsbooks for all the updated NFL Future Odds.

Sports fans all over the world are less than 96 hours away from dealing with a painful withdrawal as World Cup 2010 wraps up. But there is one thing left to do – crown a champion!

All eyes will be on that championship game in Soccer City Stadium on Sunday, featuring the all European matchup between the Netherlands and Spain.

The Dutch earned a berth by defeating Uruguay in a 3-2 thriller in the semifinal, while the Spanish played their best game of the tourney in defeating the Germans 1-0.

Online sportsbooks have released odds for the title game. SPORTSBETTING.com have the Dutch at +198, while the Spaniards have been established as -111 favorites.

Over/Under bettors note that the Total has been set at 2.5.

Spain is no stranger to championship games recently, as they are the defending Euro champion, having taken the 2008 tournament in Vienna. In fact, looking at the World Cup odds heading into the 2010 tournament, Spain was the favorite to win it all at odds of +400.

The Spanish, however, have been slightly one-dimensional on their offensive attack.

The team has only netted seven goals through six games in South Africa, but five of them have come from forward David Villa.

On the other hand, goalkeeper Iker Casillas has been brilliant, allowing only two goals and making 12 saves thus far.

Spain has amassed 5 wins, 0 draws and 1 loss during its 2010 campaign and with that, 1 Over and 5 Unders as well.

Despite being listed as underdogs by sportsbooks, the Netherlands have come through to the final game boasting a nicely balanced attack.

The Dutch have scored 12 goals, which is good enough for second amongst all the teams in this World Cup (Germany currently is the highest scoring team with 13).

Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder leads the squad with five goals, like Villa, but has had more support.

Fellow midfielder Arjen Robben has a pair of goals followed by four players with a goal each.

But while the Netherlands has scored more goals than Spain, they have also allowed more as well – goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg has watched five balls go by him.

The Dutch have had the honor of going through South Africa 2010 without conceding a loss thus far (6-0-0 SU) but then the question is, will they finish with a perfect record or are they due for a loss?

They have 4 Overs and 2 Unders to go with the six wins.

SPORTSBETTING.com manager Brian Taylor gave us some insight into the World Cup betting for the final, “it’s been pretty even action so far, with 41% on Spain, 36% on the Netherland and 23% on the “Draw after regulation” option.”

Total bettors have 61% on the “Over” 2.5 goals heading into Friday betting action.

As a side note, Uruguay and Germany will play the third-place game on Saturday and sportsbooks have the Uruguayans listed as heavy +410 underdogs and the Germans as -188 faves with a Total of 2.5.

It’s been a fun month filled with great goals and some really bad officiating (we won’t dwell on the negative though).

Enjoy the World Cup final.

The Netherlands booked their spot in the World Cup final game with a 3-2 victory over Uruguay on Tuesday. Now we see who slots into the other spot when Germany faces Spain in the other Semi-Final game on Wednesday.

Spain began the tournament as the favorites, but the 2008 European Champions have failed to impress, despite finding themselves one game away from the final.

On the side, not much was expected of the German team, but their performance to this point has their fans reminiscing of 1990 when West Germany beat Argentina 1-0 to be crowned champs.

The Germans have been an offensive machine this tournament, netting 13 goals so far. Miroslav Klose and Thomas Mueller both have 4 goals apiece, Lukas Podolski has 2 goals and Cacau, Mesut Ozil and Arne Friedrich all have a goal.

Online sportsbooks have Germany listed at +108 going into the semifinal match with Spain.

The Spaniards are going into the semis with an identical 4-0-1 mark as the Germans. Unlike the Germans however, Spain has received a bulk of its scoring from David Villa, with the forward popping in five of the Spanish’s six goals.

The Spaniards are listed at +147 vs. Germany.

There has also been plenty of action on the World Cup prop betting options. One of the more popular is the “Man of the Match” prop bets.

SPORTSBETTING.com has are the favourites for those odds:

Man of the Match Odds and Betting

Fernando Torres 5/1
Mesut Ozil 9/2
Bastian Schweinsteiger 9/2
David Villa 11/4
Miroslav Klose 5/2

Manager Brian Taylor stated, “It’s all Klose and David Villa money so far, with those two making up about 80% of all the volume”

Also, Taylor said the “First Goal Scorer” has been popular with SPORTSBETTING.com’s players.

Here are the favorites for those odds:

First Goal Scorer
No Goalscorer 6/1
Fernando Torres 11/2
Miroslav Klose 5/1
David Villa 10/3

It should be a very entertaining Semi-Final, with the potential to be an epic battle.

Good luck.

And then there were four…the World Cup tournament is down to the last few games, with the big ones, the Semi-Finals, kicking off on Tuesday.

It has been a thrilling tournament thus far, with plenty of drama, upsets and controversy.

Uruguay is looking to score their second World Cup championship…a scant 80 years after booking their first. Uruguay actually won the first-ever World Cup when they hosted the inaugural tournament some eight decades ago, but they are longshots out of the four remaining teams. Online sportsbooks have them listed at +1100 to be crowned champs.

Their path to the 2010 World Cup title game wasn’t going to be easy no matter what happened in the quarter final between Brazil and the Netherlands. But the men in Orange pulled off an upset to send Brazil home and move through to play Uruguay.

This is a very tough task for the South American side. Sportsbooks have the Dutch as the odds on favorite at +160 to take the title.

World Cup Odds:
Going into their semifinal matchup, the Uruguayans are seeing the odds stacked against them, listed as +400 underdogs; they are 3-2-0 through the tournament.

Thus far, Uruguay has scored seven goals with both Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez leading the team with three goals apiece.

The Dutch are riding high after that big win over Brazil and are also big faves going into the semifinal against the Uruguyans, listed at -303.

The Netherlands have netted eight goals this World Cup and are a little more balanced offensively than their opponents; they are also perfect at 5-0-0 in South Africa 2010.

While Midfielder Wesley Sneijder leads the team with 4 goals, the Dutch have spread the rest of the scoring out with five players – Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt, Robin Van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – tied with one goal each.

SPORTSBETTING.com manager Brian Taylor reported that “68% of all the betting volume on this match has come in on the Netherlands.”

You can watch the game live at 2:30 PM ET on Tuesday.

We’ll have a full breakdown of the Germany vs. Spain match Tuesday evening.