James Harrison and the 12 NFL Stars Who Need to Shut Up

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You know that moment when you just want to look someone dead in the eye and, with the most serious and cold look that you possess, utter those two magical words?

“Shut up.”

The truth of the matter is sometimes people do just need to be quiet, and please spare me the comments telling me to shut up because I can see coming them from a mile away.

“Shut up”

There, I did it for you.

Anyhow, it seems like athletes are the most prone to saying stupid things, and the increasing popularity of social media outlets that won’t censor them, like Twitter, has just increased the epidemic.

The NFL is full of players who just need to shut up, be it because of stupid quotes, tweets or just being extremely annoying or shady.

Here are 12 NFL stars that just need to put a sock in it.

12. Matt Hasselbeck

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Hey, remember when Hasselbeck uttered the now infamous words during that overtime playoff game against the Packers?

The Seahawks won the toss, and Hasselbeck proceeded to say, "We want the ball, and we're gonna score."

A few plays later, he was picked off by Al Harris, who took it in for the score and eliminated Hasselbeck and the Seahawks.

For a quarterback who is good but hasn’t won anything, he sure has talked a lot of smack during the course of his career.

I appreciate the confidence, Matt, but you’ve got to shut up.

11. Chad Ochocinco

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Let me come out and say right off the bat that I actually really do like Ochocinco and find him hilarious. I just think he needs to reel it in a bit.

I know he never will, though, so that is why he is on the list.

Ochocinco talks the talk of an extremely dominant player, but to be honest, at this point he is nothing more than an average NFL receiver.

His Twitter feed can sometimes get out of control as well, but hey, anything in the name of entertainment, right?

10. Terrell Owens

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Owens may have run into some problems as far as injuries are concerned, and it looks like his football career may be nearing its end. No problem for T.O. though. He’ll just start a sitcom.

The latest reports are that Owens is trying to get a family sitcom on the air.

Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News expands a bit more on Owens’ idea:

“It’s loosely based on my life and my career. I have four kids by three different moms,” Owens told the website. “It will showcase my skills as an actor, which is something I want to do after football."

The name for the sitcom would be 8 & 1, a nod to the professional jersey number Owens has worn with the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and most recently, the Cincinnati Bengals.

The eight also refers the fictional family members who would be living with Owens' character, "Terrell O'Neal."

That includes four children, one mother, one best friend and yes, two 'baby mamas."

So who would play O'Neal (not to be confused with acting former NBA player Shaquille) in the proposed sitcom? No one but Owens, of course.

“It’s no different from football—it’s all about hard work,” Owens said of honing his acting craft. “I have a good work ethic. If I can put the same effort into acting. Now I watch a movie, and I pay attention to camera angles and body language. It’s 3-D.”

Honestly, I’m not sure how long this would last, but I’m not going to be betting on the over.

You’ve had a great career, T.O.! Why can’t you just go away?

Not only does he never shut up, but now he wants a sitcom too.

9. Donovan McNabb

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McNabb came out and all but said that he is going to be the best thing since sliced bread in 2011.

Check out McNabb’s quotes on The Real Robinson Report, which is pretty much a video blog done by fullback Michael Robinson of the Seattle Seahawks.

McNabb: "For my Facetime: 2011 is different than 2010. For those who wanna sit back and dwell on what happened last year, so be it. But 2011's gonna be a special season. A season in which I feel that I've prepared myself well—not just conditioning and strengthwise, but most importantly getting back to the fundamentals.

And I look to display that in the 2011 season. And for those who feel like it can't be possible, I'll prove you wrong."

I’m sorry for all you McNabb fans out there, but I am getting to the point where I can’t take this too seriously. He has been declining, and he was an absolute train wreck last season with the Eagles.

If it’s not a special season, McNabb is going to be wishing his momma would feed him some Chunky soup!

Hey, at least that would get him to shut up!

8. Derrick Anderson

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One fateful Monday evening cameras caught Derek Anderson goofing around with a teammate in the midst of a Monday Night Football smack down at the hands of the San Francisco Giants.

Post-game a reporter asked him what was so funny about the situation, and Anderson went off.

Quote courtesy of CBS Sports:

"It wasn't funny. I wasn't laughing about anything ... Okay, that's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. I'm not laughing about it -- you think this is funny, I take this f----- serious. Real serious. I put my heart and soul into this s--- every single week. I'm just telling you what I do right now what I do every single week! Every single week I put my freaking heart and soul into this! I study my a-- off! I don't go out there and laugh! It's not funny. Nothing's funny to me. I don't want to go out there and get embarrassed in front of everybody. I'm telling you right now -- Deuce and I were talking!"

Anderson than proceeded to scream “I’m done” as he walked off the podium.

Sir, I know that it may not have been funny, but I think you should be done speaking as well.

7. Antonio Cromartie

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Cromartie had some very strong words to say about New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during last year’s playoffs.

It’s nothing horrible, but to be honest, he may have crossed the line from trash talk to just blatant disrespect. The New York Daily News reported the quotes:

Ryan set the tone by saying it was just "Brady being Brady," referring to his finger-pointing to the Jets sideline after his touchdown pass gave the Patriots a 38-3 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on Dec. 6 in Foxborough on the way to New England's 45-3 humiliation of the Jets in their first-place showdown.

Cromartie, in his first year with the Jets after four years with the Chargers, backed up Ryan Tuesday when he was asked by the Daily News if he's ever seen Brady pointing after the Patriots score.

"We see that a lot. He does it a lot," Cromartie said. "That's the kind of guy he is. We really don't give a damn, to tell you the truth."

OK, what kind of guy is Brady?

"An ass----.

"---- him."

That may be the truth about Tom Brady, but how about a little bit of class from the Jets in this case?

Might be time for Cromartie to put a sock in it.

6. Brett Favre

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Favre is retired, right, so why would he need to shut up?

Friends, I have been a fan of Brett Favre since I was a kid, and I can all but guarantee you that 2010 was not the end of the old gunslinger.

If he doesn’t try to come back again—yes, I’m not even kidding—then I can all but guarantee you he’s going to try to get on TV at some point.

Anywhere where he can be seen or heard, that is exactly where he will be.

I used to love him, but now I just want him to shut up.

5. Ben Roethlisberger

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Can I just come out and say that I believe Ben Roethlisberger is a complete tool?

I understand that you might not agree with that and we can all have our opinions on the guy, but personally, I think he is lower than dirt.

He may have gotten off a couple rape charges “allegedly,” but the simple fact of the matter is that one rape charge is enough for me to feel a little bit shady about someone.

Two or more? I’m sorry, man, but that’s a trend.

No matter what Roethlisberger has to say about his “changed life,” I don’t really care to hear it.

I truly do hope that he does change and can grow as a human being, but I’m not interested.

Shut up.

4. Albert Haynesworth

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The Washington Redskins gave Albert Haynesworth a whole lot of money over a long period of time, and what did he do?

Talk smack to his coaches, complain about the organization and overall be a detriment to both his team and society.

He’s been accused of sexual assault, road rage and not practicing hard.

Here’s what he had to say about practice on The Kevin and Rock Show on 106.7 The Fan:

"If I didn't have a good practice, all right, sue me. Everybody doesn't go out and have a great practice every day. Doesn't mean I can't play on Sunday."

Please just shut up, Albert—you obviously don’t want to play any day.

Just take your money and go home.

3. Adrian Peterson

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Adrian Peterson was asked about the NFL labor situation in an interview with Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports and decided that the best route to take in answering that question was to compare it to slavery.

AP: It's modern-day slavery, you know? People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too. With all the money ... the owners are trying to get a different percentage and bring in more money.

I understand that; these are business-minded people. Of course this is what they are going to want to do. I understand that; it's how they got to where they are now. But as players, we have to stand our ground and say, 'Hey — without us, there's no football.'

There are so many different perspectives from different players, and obviously we're not all on the same page — I don't know. I don't really see this going to where we'll be without football for a long time; there's too much money lost for the owners.

Eventually, I feel that we'll get something done.

Now, a lot was said about that quote being taken out of context, but the pure fact that Peterson decided to reference such a dark topic like slavery is quite ridiculous in my opinion.

It would have been a whole lot better had he just shut up and let the player reps figure it out.

2. Rashard Mendenhall

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Mendenhall got himself into some real hot water right after the news of Osama bin Laden’s death was released.

He tweeted:

"What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side..."

He then went on later to imply that 9/11 was some kind of conspiracy by saying:

“I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”

Every man is allowed to have his opinion, but Mendenhall was getting very near to crossing the line.

It’s time to shut up and get off Twitter.

1. James Harrison

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Harrison’s latest comments came in a Men’s Journal article by Paul Solotaroff that will be released in August.

If you haven’t seen these quotes, let me fill you in on some of the gems you are missing out on.

“My rep is James Harrison, mean son of a bitch who loves hitting the hell out of people,” he says. “But up until last year, there was no word of me being dirty—till Roger Goodell, who’s a crook and a puppet, said I was the dirtiest player in the league.

If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn’t do it. I hate him and will never respect him.”

Whoa there, buddy—how about you telling us how you really feel!

This was just a taste of Harrison’s fire and rage towards Goodell and many others, to be exact. I’ll let you go read the article. Quite frankly, I don’t feel right posting half the stuff he had to say.

None of us like the lockout, and none of us were especially fond of all the penalties and fines that were thrown around last year, but was this really the way to go about it?

I respect James Harrison as a player to the utmost degree, but right now, I think it’s probably time to shut up.

Follow Andrew on Twitter: @AKonSports