James Harrison: Pittsburgh Steelers Team MVP

As you can imagine, the buzz in Pittsburgh this week surrounds James Harrison being voted as team MVP.

The failure of most Pittsburgh sports writers and commentators lies in the fact that they don't understand the players. In his book The Great Game of Business, Jack Stack identifies and recommends 10 higher principles of business. With his principal, "You can sometimes fool the fans, but you can never fool the players," the fans are not only fooled, but so are Pittsburgh sports writers and commentators.

Let's own up to our ignorance of the game, inside the locker room and on the field. We can easily and comfortably (without thinking) fall into the argument that Ben Roethlisberger or Willie Parker should be MVP. And rightly so.

However, whether you've played a sport or not, we should acknowledge that despite the numbers Roethlisberger and Parker have put up this year, it doesn't always serve as THE benchmark for fellow team members to measure leadership on and off the field.

I'll acknowledge that up until his leg injury, Willie Parker was (easily) well on his way for another 1,000-yard season and the NFL's top running back. And BIG Ben has finally shaken those skeletons off and put up BIG numbers, setting team records as the season progresses despite a porous offensive line.

We are however, talking about a player who stepped up his play this season with a new coach, overcame injury, and exemplified a strong work ethic and commitment to overall physical fitness and his trade.

More tangibly, take a look at his stats: http://www.nfl.com/teams/pittsburghsteelers/statistics?team=PIT

Without a doubt, his contributions on and off the field impact the game and his teammates. Congratulations James Harrison for an outstanding season (thus far)!