PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) — Steelers linebacker James Harrison plans to appeal the one-game suspension he received Tuesday afternoon.

Harrison was suspended for a hit on Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy from Thursday night. Although Harrison didn’t expect to be suspended, the NFL chose to ban him from Monday night’s game at San Francisco.

The suspension will cost Harrison more than $73,000.

Harrison’s agent, Bill Parise, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac he’s asking for an expedited hearing because the punishment is a suspension and not solely a fine.

Parise added that NFL history will hopefully work to Harrison’s favor — this is the first player suspension because of a tackle in 25 years, when Green Bay Packers defensive end Charles Martin was suspended for body slamming Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon.

Harrison wasn’t available for comment after the suspension was issued and is banned from the team’s practice facility until his suspension is served or an appeal removes the suspension. He did respond to the punishment on Twitter, though.

Harrison first tweeted “LOL!!!” He followed that up with a message to his fans: “Thank you to all my fans and supporters, I’m just going to move on from here and get ready for my next game.”

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin responded to the suspension Tuesday afternoon at his weekly press conference.

“We are disappointed, we are disappointed for James because we know quite frankly how hard he has worked to play within the rules,” Tomlin said. “He has worked extremely hard to adjust his game. Unfortunately the incident happened. Of course it was a penalty. We have to be accountable for that; he has to be accountable for that. We accept the judgment rendered by the league office and we’ll move forward.”

RELATED LINKS
Steelers news
NFL news
CBS Steelers