The Steelers have had some prior issues in the past with getting some suspensions from the NFL.
The NFL has become stricter in certain instances within the league. They still have a lot of issues when it comes to dealing out the right punishment for what violation occurred. It has not seemed fair at certain points, but they continue to hand out different suspensions throughout the history of this organized league.
The Steelers have not seen any different treatment when it comes to the different players over the year getting dealt different punishments from the commissioner. When it comes to recent history, they have had some dark days in the history of the club. Some players were lost for some time based on what situation they created for themselves.
Fines are a whole other beast as the NFL can give a player a change in their financial situation just by looking at them the wrong way. Those instances will not be included in this article as it investigates suspensions from games. Those redacted game days for these players do also hit them in their pocketbook as they do not get paid either.
James Harrison was suspended for one game for the Steelers
James Harrison was one of the most feared players in the league but that came at a price. He created this image of himself on the football field and it scared most of the players that went up against him. He played during an era that went from hard-nose football to something that became difficult for defenders to hit someone hard.
This took a lot of adjusting for this linebacker and he struggled to ever get to that point fully. Harrison continuously got fined throughout his career, but this suspension was warranted. The NFL just put a no hit to the head policy in and Harrison hit Colt McCoy in his helmet, so this was one of the first punishments implemented for that policy.